Last Rituals

Death would be a blessing...

A young man is found brutally murdered, his eyes gouged out. A student of Icelandic history in Reykjavik, he came from a wealthy German family who do not share the polices belief that his drug dealer murdered him. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is commissioned by his mother to find out the truth, with the help and hindrance of boorish ex-policeman Matthew Reich. Their investigations into his research take them deep into a grisly world of torture and witchcraft both past and present, as they draw ever closer to a killer gripped by a dangerous obsession...

“'You will now have to remember two very good Icelandic crime writers. Arnaldur Indridason, who made his mark with his Inspector Erlendur a few years ago, is now joined by Yrsa Sigurdardottir... This is entertaining, well-plotted and cleverly combines the historical and macabre with Thora's life.'”

Given the dark subject matter, this is a surprisingly funny book... a quirky and interesting read. - Guardian

..a grisly chiller set in the depths of winter... Her mystery is absorbing and, untypically, instead of the usual gloomy middle-aged man, her sleuth is a young woman... It's an accomplished debut, with credible characters and a personable heroine. - Sunday Telegraph

a unique talent in the field... an exhilarating experience... [She] matches Tess Gerritsen and Kathy Reichs in the bloodchiller stakes. - Waterstone's Books Quarterly

very good... This is entertaining, well-plotted and cleverly combines the historical and macabre with Thora's life. - Marcel Berlins, The Times

an intricately plotted tale that keeps the reader guessing whodunnit, or indeed whether it was murder at all, right until the very end. - Sunday Express

After its grisly opening, LAST RITUALS turns out to be a surprisingly light and playful novel, with a jaunty translation by the late Bernard Scudder. - Daily Telegraph

Suspenseful, compelling and unique. - Kirkus Reviews

Dark, deep and icy as an Icelandic fjord; this is a rich and rewarding debut novel of ancient mysteries and very modern murder. - Mark Billingham

Yrsa Sigurdardottir works as a civil engineer in Reykjavik. Her books for children have won prizes and great acclaim. LAST RITUALS is her first adult novel.

HOW LONG HAVE HUMANS LEFT ON EARTH? Sixty-five million years ago the dinosaurs were destroyed in a mass extinction that could not have been predicted. Out of the devastation, new life developed and the world regained its natural equilibrium. Until now. Scientists, employing radically new perspectives on the science of life are beginning to uncover signs of a similar event on the horizon: the end of man. 'Extinction' is a chilling account of the effects that humans have had on the planet and the possible future. The world will adapt and survive humanity may not. "Mike Boulter's book explores new ways of looking at extinctions. He is a pioneer and shows how new methods allow us to understand major crises of the past and how they relate to the current problems."MICHAEL BENTON, 'Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Bristol' "Boulter has an intriguing tale to tell…It is indeed a story worth telling, and a book worth reading"JOHN GRIBBIN, 'Independent' "Boulter's marvellous meditation on the role of extinction in natural history."'SCOTSMAN'

Death would be a blessing... A young man is found brutally murdered, his eyes gouged out. A student of Icelandic history in Reykjavik, he came from a wealthy German family who do not share the polices belief that his drug dealer murdered him. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is commissioned by his mother to find out the truth, with the help and hindrance of boorish ex-policeman Matthew Reich. Their investigations into his research take them deep into a grisly world of torture and witchcraft both past and present, as they draw ever closer to a killer gripped by a dangerous obsession...

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