My Soul to Take (Þóra Guðmundsdóttir, #2)by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

I’m not a fan of serials, but knew I was going to continue with this one as soon as I finished book one. Yeah, it took some time to warm up to Thora and I’m not even going to try to make Icelandic joke out of it, she’s something of a stick in a mud at times, but she gets in the most darkly fascinating adventures. And the exotic quality of the locale can’t be beat. In fact, it becomes something of a character in and of itself, providing excellent and aptly eerie atmosphere.
This novel doesn’t give Thora a lot of time to rest, taking up some months after the first one ended and just in time, since she already spent all of her money of an SUV and a camping trailer. When an opportunity to visit a client who owns and operates a luxury retreat arises, Thora goes for it, it practically sounds relaxing…organic food, massages, etc. But of course, of course, things get murderously complicated almost immediately and soon her client stands accused of murder while the past all around the seemingly quiet area suddenly decides to unbury itself in a very disturbing ways.
Which is pretty much what you’d expect with a novel whose prologue reads like a scene from a certain Japanese/later American scary franchise.
Stick in a mud or not, you gotta give it to Thora, she is diligent, stubborn, smart, she is exactly the sort of person her client is fortunate to have on his side as she sets off to uncover the long buried local secrets, covered up Nazi connections, murders, etc. With her perennially good natured visiting new boyfriend as a sidekick, Thora makes quite a detective…for a lawyer or otherwise. She’s also about to become a grandma at the freakishly young age of 36 or 37, due to some interesting multigenerational reproductive choices. It’s a lot to juggle and she’s doing a great, circus worthy, job of it.
Much as with the previous novel, the author’s flirtations with the supernatural genres come through, this time in some ghostly child’s cries. That’s always fun. Maybe one day these mysteries will take that even further. For now though, they offer plenty. No matter how the protagonist strikes you, you gotta admire the intricate plotting, the clever twists and turns and the sheer excellence of just how unpredictable and exciting of a narrative the author spins. It’s all the things you’d want in a dark psychological thriller and it’s genuinely thrilling to boot. Very enjoyable, very entertaining, very good. Recommended.