Yrsa Sigurdardottir is a great writer and it shows. Her procedurals are a little more conventional than her standalone novels but the sense of unease the reader gets while unravelling the knots is undoubtable. We get a long list of suspects and red herrings. Most characters are hiding something but is it related to the case? Freyja gets involved against her will when Detective Huldar calls her in to deal with the young witnesses. A teenage girl has been murdered and the whole thing was posted on Snapchat. Picturing those images in my head, the creepiness of the killer, the terrified girl hiding in the bathroom and the Snapchat posts made my skin crawl. From then on the story focuses more on the investigation and interviews but, again, a boy disappears and that chapter was truly terrifying. Then an interview with a witness, and the very last sentence... brief but powerful images that can give a grownup nightmares. I again wish Freyja had more to do and that her life wasn't so terrible. She and Huldar are not completely likable but I still want them to do well.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

My first reading of this author was LAST RITUALS, and immediately I was devoted. I've also was over the top with MY SOUL TO TAKE and I REMEMBER YOU. This one? Not so much; although the first chapter, read immediately before bedtime, kept me awake all night.


THE ABSOLUTION balances a lot of violence with deeply delineated characterization and a psychological-sociological approach to one of today's pressing societal issues: Bullying--and specifically how Social Media acts as a flamethrower on the victims of Bullying--inescapable, horrific, boxing them in, sometimes with the consequence of suicide.


Multiple characters here conceal multiple secrets, and the backstories and the current consequences are often horrific, dangerous--and even fatal.




[Note: The flamethrower and "boxing in" analogies are solely my interpretation, and are not paraphrasing of the author. ]

Yrsa Siguroardottir may be my new favorite writer. Her latest book, The Absolution, is a brilliantly plotted, complex page turner that places her at the top of the Nordic noir authors. There is much to be said about this novel, but if I had to distill this review into a single word it would be this: layered. Yrsa's storyline, characters, descriptions – and even her setting – defy simple explanations. The further I read, the more I came to understand why she is touted as the queen of Icelandic crime fiction. Which is not to say the book is for everyone: this is a dark, brutal story about bullying set in a bleak moral landscape. If you're looking for a fun, fast read with a neat ending, The Absolution is not for you. On the other hand, if you're a fan of noir fiction and police procedurals that touch on social issues, the third installment in the Childen's House series may be exactly what you're looking for.

Told mostly from the perspectives of Huldur, a Reykjavik police detective, and Freyja, a child psychologist, the novel begins with the murder of a popular teenager at a local cinema. What makes this murder even more gruesome than usual is that the attacker uses the victim's own Snapchat account to broadcast her death to her followers. Not only must viewers cope with the loss of a close friend, but they must also witness what may well be her last moments. However, it soon becomes clear the murdered girl and her friends are not simply victims. They may appear to blithely share every aspect of their lives on social media, but they are hiding secrets – secrets that are as disturbing as they are dangerous. Huldur soon becomes part of the case, as does Freyja, and the story follows their efforts to catch the killer before anyone else dies. Though it is not the focus of the novel, their relationship and its difficulties also held my interest. Both Freyja and Huldur are likeable characters but I can't say whether they should be together or not, which is a nice change from the usual dynamic. And like all Yrsa's characters, they seem terribly human, with the usual stash of flaws and insecurities tucked away beneath competent exteriors. Even the darker characters in this novel are terribly human (though with more of an emphasis on “terrible”). While the acts themselves are heinous, the moral landscape in The Absolution is as gray as the Icelandic sky, with the line between good and evil hopelessly blurred. Ironically, that blurred morality becomes crystal clear on the last page, which is fantastically chilling.

On a final note, I want to say that one reason this novel resonated so deeply with me is that its topic is one that has affected me personally. I have also known more than one person who has suffered the consequences of bullying, including cyberbullying—consequences that won't ever be undone. Sadly, I don't think I'm alone in this. Cyberbullying has become so common nowadays it seems no one is untouched. So I was glad to see Yrsa raise the issue in The Absolution. That said, it's a good idea to go into this novel with the understanding that bullying, as well as suicide, are central to the story.

Much thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to the next book in the series, as well as anything else Yrsa may write. Highly recommended

Another page turner by yrsa Sigurdardottir. Very human characters, bare bones plot and a jaw dropping ending.
she never fails to deliver an engrossing crime/mystery. Plan on staying up late.