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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (m) Sigurdardottir, Y. 2015 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Sigurdardottir, Y. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | MYSTERY Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | MYS SIGURDARDOTTIR | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Bestselling and award-winning Icelandic crime author Yrsa Sigurdardottir is back with the next book in her Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series. SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, the fifth installment in the Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series, was named Crime Novel of the Year by the Sunday Times.
A young man with Down's Syndrome has been convicted of burning down his assisted living facility and killing five people, but a fellow inmate at his secure psychiatric unit has hired Thora to prove Jakob is innocent. If he didn't do it, who did? And how is the multiple murder connected to the death of a young woman, killed in what was supposed to be a hit-and-run?
Author Notes
YRSA SIGURDARDÓTTIR (pronounced UR-suh SIG-ur-dar-daughter) lives with her family in Reykjavík. She is a director of one of Iceland's largest engineering firms. Her work is climbing bestseller lists all over the world, and films are currently in production for several of her books. She is the author of Ashes to Dust , Day is Dark , and I Remember You .
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Sigurdardóttir's absorbing if unevenly paced fifth Thóra Gudmondsdóttir mystery (after 2013's The Day Is Dark), the Reykjavík attorney takes on a client named Jósteinn Karlsson, who claims that he wants his friend Jakob, who has Down's syndrome, cleared of charges that he set fire to a residential care facility where, 18 months earlier, five people died. Mysterious text messages guide Thóra to evidence of rape, financial irregularities, legal ethics violations, and other abuses, suggesting new suspects and motives for the crime, but key witnesses are less than forthcoming. As she seeks to exonerate Jakob, the manipulative, cunning Jósteinn insinuates himself into the investigation for reasons she can't identify. Sigurdardóttir adeptly weaves in the stark fallout from Iceland's recent financial collapse, while poignantly showing the despair permeating working-class families and the devastating impacts on society's most vulnerable members. A convoluted plot requires too much explanation, but readers fond of happy endings will feel gratified. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A suspicious fire in a home for the severely disabled leads to an investigation of the Icelandic social safety net in Thra Gudmundsdttir's fifth outing (The Day Is Dark, 2013, etc.).The arson has supposedly been solved, and one of the house's residents, Jakob Porbjarnardttir, who has Down syndrome, has been convicted and sentenced to a psychiatric facility. However, one of Jakob's fellow prisoners, a sex offender and all-around creep named Jsteinn Karlsson, hires Thra under the pretense that Jakob's previous lawyer missed compelling evidence that would have pointed to the true fire-starter. What Karlsson really wants, however, is to play a complex game of cat and mouse with our heroine, using her to avenge what he perceives as past wrongs. Sigurdardttir's thriller moves slowly at first but picks up speed as Thra speaks to more people involved with the burned-down facilitythe families of the other residents, the therapists and other staff who worked there, and the beleaguered former director, who is certainly hiding something (as is Jakob's first, barely competent lawyer). When she discovers that a comatose patient had been pregnant at the time of her death in the fire, the mystery deepens, and Thra's tenacity becomes more compelling and poignant. The backdrop of the novel is, of course, the collapse of the Icelandic economy, with rocketing unemployment and everyone feeling squeezed (literally, in Thra's case; her household is composed of her; her out-of-work boyfriend; her two children; one grandchild; and her financially imprudent parents). Yet there are also the moving stories Thra uncovers of families with disabled children, their sacrifices and their attempts to make the lives of society's most vulnerable members a little better. Unusual material for a mystery, but Sigurdardttir handles it deftly through Thra, who is as compassionate as she is intelligent and dogged. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The fifth mystery featuring Icelandic lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir opens with a supernatural atmosphere reminiscent of Sigurdardóttir's stand-alone I Remember You (2014). A teenage babysitter, killed by a hit-and-run driver, appears to be haunting the four-year-old she was on her way to care for. As is typical in crime fiction, this story eventually links with the main theme. Here Thóra reopens the case of Jakob, a young man with Down syndrome who was convicted of starting a fire in his care home in which four other disabled residents and a night watchman died. Despite being retained by a thoroughly distasteful sociopath who is institutionalized with Jakob and has recently inherited money, Thóra pursues the case, particularly after finding a possible motive in the autopsy report, which shows that the comatose woman who died in the fire was several months pregnant. Because one of the other victims is the severely autistic son of a high-level ministry of justice official, Thóra is offered assistance in her investigation, until she finds that the young man was obsessed with fire. An involving, dark tale set in an enlightened Nordic social structure.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2014 Booklist
Library Journal Review
When Icelandic lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir is hired to prove the innocence of an inmate at a secure psychiatric facility, those originally involved with the case assure her that the police did their due diligence. She quickly begins to question whether her new client, a young man with Down syndrome, had the ability to plan and execute the fire at his assisted-living facility that killed five people. As Thora investigates further into the case, she uncovers the many secrets that were conveniently covered up by the fire. Less clear is what connection it might have to a family haunted by the ghost of a young girl killed in a hit-and-run accident. By the end of the book, Thora has unraveled the mysteries and brought more than one person to justice. VERDICT While her plot follows a fairly predictable line, Sigurdardottir excels in the intricacies of the storytelling and in writing engaging and realistic characters. A solid bet for fans of Scandinavian mysteries or those who enjoy their suspense with a hint of the supernatural. [See Prepub Alert, 8/11/14; named Crime Novel of the Year by the London Sunday Times.]-Portia Kapraun, Monticello-Union Township P.L., IN (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.