Title: The Legacy
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!
Book Description:
The Legacy is the first installment in a fantastic new
series featuring the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar.
The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.
Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.
It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?
The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.
Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.
It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?
My musings:
I can hardly contain my praise for this book – it’s been a
long time since I have felt so excited over a new crime series! Bringing to
mind the way all cogs fell nicely into place when I discovered the first book
of some of my other favourite series, like Tana French, Sharon Bolton or Nicci
French, knowing I was settling in for a binge-fest of many more books yet to
come. It’s hard to believe that I have not come across any of Yrsa
Sigurdardottir’s books before, seeing how this one ticked absolutely all the
boxes of what makes a perfect read for me. Firstly, an atmospheric setting in
Iceland – even though Reykjavik may not be remote for Icelanders, it still fell
into that category for this reader from West Oz! Then there are the two main
characters, whose flaws made them all the more likeable, with interesting
dynamics between them that piqued my curiosity as to how this would develop in
future books. And of course the hunt for the murderer, brutal and original like
only Nordic Noir seems to be able to deliver with such conviction and thrill. I
have been led to believe that Iceland is a peaceful country with few murders,
so the credit must go solely to the author’s imagination here (even though she
may be in some trouble with the Iceland tourism commission).
Whilst The Legacy could probably be described as a police
procedural, it is so much more. Freyja, one of the main protagonists, is a
child psychologist, and added a whole new dimension to the mystery for me. I
found this whole aspect of the investigation utterly fascinating, and the
concept of 7-year-old Margret being the witness to her mother’s murder tugged
on my heartstrings. Sigurdardottir has a knack of making all her characters
somewhat vulnerable and likeable, even her deeply flawed ones, so I felt
totally emotionally invested in the story the whole time, despite the shifting
POVs (which is not an easy thing to achieve in a novel). Having Karl’s story as
a sideline to the police investigation, with the threads eventually coming
together, worked really well, providing a different perspective and added depth
to the novel. I loved the way the author ratcheted up the tension and suspense by
including small details, like the unexplained noise in Karl’s basement or Molly’s
injury (serving as an ominous foreshadowing). Also, I spent way too much time
trying to crack the numerical code of the sinister radio transmissions, failing
miserably (no surprise there, it was way too clever!).
I will not go into the story any more deeply, as it is best
read without any preconceptions or spoilers – except to say that I loved every
minute of it. So much that I immediately grabbed Book 2 of the series after
finishing this one, and was seriously contemplating taking lessons in Icelandic
to be able to read the third book, which sadly has not been translated into
English yet. Failing this, I am anticipating a nail-biting wait for a new book
to come out!
Summary:
In summary, The Legacy is an utterly addictive, binge-worthy first book of what I hope will be a looooong series. I am already halfway through the next book, eagerly devouring the story of Freyja and Huldar’s next case. Very highly recommended to lovers of Scandi Noir, it doesn’t get any better than this!
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