The Doll by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, translated by Victoria Cribb #bookreview #series #translatedbook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection.

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: July 22, 2021

 

Summary:

It was meant to be a quiet family fishing trip, a chance for mother and daughter to talk. But it changes the course of their lives forever.

They catch nothing except a broken doll that gets tangled in the net. After years in the ocean, the doll a terrifying sight and the mother’s first instinct is to throw it back, but she relents when her daughter pleads to keep it. This simple act of kindness proves fatal. That evening, the mother posts a picture of the doll on social media. By the morning, she is dead and the doll has disappeared.

Several years later and Detective Huldar is in his least favourite place – on a boat in rough waters, searching for possible human remains. However, identifying the skeleton they find on the seabed proves harder than initially thought, and Huldar must draw on psychologist Freyja’s experience to help him. As the mystery of the unidentified body deepens, Huldar is also drawn into an investigation of a homeless drug addict’s murder, and Freyja investigates a suspected case of child abuse at a foster care home.

What swiftly becomes clear is that the cases are linked through a single, missing, vulnerable witness: the young girl who wanted the doll all those years ago.

Taut, terrifying and impossible to put down, The Doll cements Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s reputation as a master of storytelling tension and surprise.

 

My thoughts:

This is the fifth book in Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s Children’s House series and I have been a big fan of this series. I’m not sure why only the first three books of the series were published in the US, but I didn’t let that stop me from continuing on…I purchased the English versions from overseas! And while I read book 4 a few years ago, I am determined to finally read books 5 & 6.

While this book is a chunkster, coming in at just under 500 pages, I flew through it. There is something so addictive about Yrsa’s writing – the way she is able to take different threads and build up the suspense and tension, you can’t help but keep flipping the pages. Now, don’t get me wrong, this book is dark. as Yrsa’s books typically are, and this one is downright creepy – I mean just look at that cover.

This book is more of a slow-burn than the previous books in the series, but that didn’t bother me in the least. It has a haunting sense of unease almost from the get-go and that never lets up. It really gets under your skin and I needed to see how it all played out. The book reunites us with Freya and Huldar, who start working on separate cases, then end up working together. The twists and turns this book took with all the moving parts kept me puzzled as I tried to work out the connection between the doll and the missing girl. I really had no idea where this one was going and loved that.

A brilliantly plotted, dark and gritty novel with hints of horror, this is a must read for all NordicNoir fans. I am such a fan of this author and this series in particular.

 

Books in this series:

1. The Legacy
2. The Reckoning
3. The Absolution
4. Gallows Rock
5. The Doll
6. The Fallout