Last Rituals

In what has to be the worst start to the day ever, a history professor at a university in Reykjavík opens a cupboard door, only to have a corpse tumble out on top of him. And not only that, the corpse has strange symbols tattooed on it, and its eyes have been gouged out. Mercifully for the police, there is an easy suspect and a quick arrest. The family of the victim, a university student with macabre interests in witchcraft and torture, is less satisfied with the outcome. They ask Thora Gudmundsdottir to act on their behalf to ensure that the right person is brought to justice.

Despite the incredibly grim nature of the murder, and the horrific subject matter that the victim was interested in, Yrsa writes lightly and does not dwell show more unnecessarily on the details. She leavens the book with plenty of wry humour as well, as filtered through Thora. The book moves at a fast clip and Bernard Scudder's translation is smooth and largely free of distracting slang. (Sometimes you get translations of novels where the characters say things like "bloody hell" and "bugger" and it just doesn't sound quite right, even if that is the appropriate equivalent oath.)

This is a great series and I recommend it. This is the second one I've read, because I read out of order, but you wouldn't go wrong by reading this series in order. show less

Witchcraft and murder in modern-day Iceland.

Last Rituals is the first book in the Thóra Guðmundsdóttir series by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, and it is a compelling but creepy start. When German graduate student, Harold Guntlieb, is found murdered, his corpse gruesomely mutilated, his friend and drug dealer is too conveniently pegged by the local police for his death. His skeptical but wealthy parents back in Germany ask local attorney Thóra Guðmundsdóttir to conduct a private investigation to find the real killer or confirm the official findings. Along with the Guntlieb's local representative in Iceland, Matthew Reich, Thóra retraces the original investigation, discovering more questions than answers the deeper they show more dig.

Thóra is such a relatable character: a recently single mother of a son and a daughter, with a detached ex-husband who's remarried a younger replacement and is the partner in a small law firm in Reykjavik. Besides coming to terms with her new life, the lease for the office space included a receptionist, the property owner's daughter, who is completely worthless in running the office, so she's having to navigate around her. Thóra's frustration with the clueless but prickly girl leads her to make comments later in the book about the girl's physical appearance that some may find offensive. This book was originally published more than 20 years ago, so it was written even earlier, when such comments weren't viewed as critically as they are now. Thóra does step up in a big way, though, to emotionally support her teenage son when he is discovered to have made a major misstep on the path to his future.

While the murder inquiry is outside of Thóra's wheelhouse, the remuneration offered by the Guntliebs is too good (and needed) to pass up, and she and Matthew conduct a good, methodical investigation. Along the way, they learn a great deal about Harold's field of study: witchcraft and the persecution of those accused of witchcraft in Iceland during the Middle Ages. In meeting his friends, they also discover that witchcraft is more than just an entertaining topic to some of them, who may be putting what Harold had learned into practice, especially upon Harold's death.

A caution to those readers sensitive to such matters: the means and manner of Harold's death are described, as are the body modifications he had made to himself prior. Also, there is some discussion of the horrific treatment and torture of those suspected of witchcraft, and some of the charms and spells call for very off-putting elements.

I enjoyed the story, but wasn't a complete fan of the narrator of the Audible audiobook edition I listened to. Although she provided a great range of voices for the different characters, I felt her delivery of some of Thóra's dialogue did not match the scene's tone or the circumstances, making Thóra come off as a flighty, lightweight airhead who wasn't taking her job seriously. I will probably read the subsequent books in the series in a physical or ebook format.

I recommend LAST RITUALS to readers of mysteries and thrillers, especially those who enjoy grittier tales or Icelandic settings. show less

All at once, Thora began to pity him. Her maternal instinct kicked in. Or was it her grandmotherly instinct? 'Who said I wasn't going to help you?' she said. 'Let's see what I can find out. I won't touch your defence with a bargepole, but I'll be in court. I wouldn't miss the trial for all the tea in China.'

A short, fun murder mystery (423 pages, but a large font ) set in Iceland. German history student Harald Schmidt has been murdered in strange circumstances, and one of his friends has been changed with his murder, but the Schmidt family do not believe that he is guilty. So one of their employees is sent to Reykjavik and hires a Rekjavik lawyer to help him investigate the crime. There is a bit too much info-dumping for my taste and show more the characters state the obvious a few too many times, but this was still an enjoyable read, as I tried to work out how the members of Harald's witchcraft society were involved in his death, and why his relationship with his parents had soured so much. show less

At the University of Iceland the mutilated body of student Harald Guntlieb falls onto one of his professors when the door to a small room is opened one morning. Police soon arrest Harald’s friend Dori, who they believe to have been his drug supplier. However Harald’s family in Germany are unsatisfied with the investigation and send an investigator they know, Matthew Reich, to Iceland who teams up with a local lawyer, Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, to find what the police might have missed. Together they re-trace the steps Harald took during his research into the history of witchcraft and magic, believing that might have played a role in his death.

As Thora and Matthew investigate the circumstances of Harald's death, Thora herself has to show more cope with a domestic crisis in her own family involving her son. Thora is a great character and I very much liked how she was portrayed in this book. She and Matthew have a bantering, witty relationship that is nicely understated. That sense of humor is part of what's notable about the story. The subject matter is quite dark, menacing and more than a little bit weird.

Last Rituals is a highly readable and entertaining debut novel which introduces two strong main characters amid some fascinating historical and cultural storytelling. I definitely plan to continue the series. show less

I think my background in magic anthropology kept me from liking this book as much as I'd wanted to; the magical aspects and magic history simply weren't well-researched enough, and were far too fanciful. I wanted more on the tradition of witch hunts and witch executions in Iceland, as they're so different than those conducted elsewhere in Europe - and the author mentions this several times, but never really follows through on the information.That said, the thriller plot itself is rather well done, and the mystery is somewhere between a hard-boiled murder and a cosy, as the detective isn't exactly a hard case herself. She cares about her kids and her family life, and is more interested in getting the job done and going home than making a show more name for herself, having adventures, and being a sex symbol, which I like.The settings are very well done, and made me want to visit Iceland even more than I already did. And the translation was excellent; I felt like I was reading an original, with nuanced and locally flavoured dialogue, rather than an interpretation. show less

I started this series by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir earlier this year, but accidentally read book 3 first. Now I followed up with book 1, Das letzte Ritual. The title of the English translation is "Last Rituals". The main character is called Thóra in the English version, but it is Dóra in the German version, so I am sticking to that one because otherwise I will be confused.

This crime novel is set in Reykjavik where a German student is found dead in the university. The body is in a gruesome state, but the murderer is arrested shortly after. However, the wealthy parents of the victim believe that the wrong man has been arrested. Dóra, a divorced lawyer and mom of two children, is asked by them to investigate and find the real murderer. She show more teams up with their handsome German employee Matthias and dives deep into the history of the Icelandic witch trials. The victim was fascinated by this topic and was researching it for a thesis, and it seems like his death might be connected to this dark topic.

"Das letzte Ritual" was an easy and quick read that kept me interested. I like Dóra as a main character and I enjoyed the mystery and the various twists. The parts involving her private life did not divert from the plot of the book, but enhanced the characterization.
What I did not like (once again - it was the same in book 3) was the constant body shaming and comments on people's looks and figures. Some of the other characters were also rather flat and stereotypical. I cannot comment on the background of the witch trials, but it seemed a little too "Dan Brown" to me and I wonder which parts of it were historical facts and which were fabricated for the sake of the novel. But then, this topic is altogether too dreadful and I am not inclined to dive further, so I will probably not find out. show less

This author's books are a refreshing change from other Scandinavian thrillers where the main character is a dark depressive brooding sort of police officer. I like those too but young lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir is a cheerful single mother whose often hilarious private life enlivens the story. A lively and entertaining read.