Intriguing storyline which held my interest throughout. The twists and turns as the story unfolded and came together at the conclusion was cleverly done. Very well translated too, would have thought it was written in English which isn't always the case with Nordic stories. Would definitely read more from this author.

A story about an orphaned girl who links the loss of her parents to a barnacle-covered doll that was, by chance, caught in their net when she, her mother and a friend are out fishing. That night her mother dies. Was it murder or an accident and where did the doll disappear to. Over the years that follow she seeks to solve the mystery. A search full of frightening discoveries, murders and grim reality. Fortunately the experienced and somewhat world weary police officer, Huldar, is assigned to the case and it is his instincts, and the doll, that lead to justice ultimately being meted out to the guilty.
There are perhaps one or two too many coincidences in the storyline, but good writing and the endearing characterisation of Huldar combine to nonetheless provide the reader with thoroughly enjoyable novel.

The story opens with the discovery of a creepy doll being fished out of the sea. Initially, the book appears almost to be lots of different stories, without much to link them. The links gradually become clear towards the end of the book and there is a large twist to end the story. Quite sinister, and needing concentration this is a book I enjoyed, but not to the extent of the previous books I have read by the same author.

I enjoyed this - it was quite a slow burn, but a well paced slow burn with exciting parts dotted through out. When I first started I expected there to be more of the horror aspect that seemed to be present at the start, but that didn't play out but I think it was possibly more enjoyable because of that.

It has a nice tidy ending that wraps up all the small storylines going on with one I didn't expect which was a nice surprise.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review</i>

Am a fan of Yrsa’s writing but struggled with this book.
A creepy doll is found by Rosa and her mother. Her mother disappears. Five years later bones are found on the sea bed and allegations of abuse are made against a local children’s home.Freya and Hulder investigate this and a murder of a homeless man.
Complex and confusing- I found this hard to read and not particularly enjoyable.
3.5 Stars ⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

The cover image first drew me to this book. A single blue doll’s eye emerging from the overgrowth. I thought it looked creepy and was prepared for some thrills. Although don’t worry if you’re not a fan of supernatural stories, while there’s a background trace of possibility around the doll, this is very much a human-based detective story.

It’s the latest in Icelandic crime writer Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s Children’s House series. I hadn’t appreciated that before starting, but I don’t think it makes any difference not having read the previous books. In fact I was really surprised that there were as many as four books before this. While it’s clear that there’s a backstory to the interactions between the two detectives - Erla and Huldar - and child psychologist Freyja, there’s not a sense of that having been more than one or two interactions. That makes it really easy to read this book as a standalone.

Bodies in the water, missing British holidaymakers and the tragic deaths of both the mum and dad of a young runaway, all provide plenty if material to focus on throughout this book. The different plotlines are handled well both separately and where links begin to emerge.

Freyja’s a good character, committed to her job, but under pressure as she also looks after her young niece while her brother works away. She’s also a good counter for Erla’s sometimes one dimensional brusqueness. I found Huldar less engaging, there were too many references to him having a one track mind and being a ladies man to get a sense of whether he’s actually a good detective.

Unfortunately, since we are mostly focussed on Freyja’s perspective most of the final solution to the mystery is told through dialogue rather than being in the action. As she isn’t a police officer, she doesn’t hear the final confessions and isn’t involved in any takedowns. It makes for a heavy dose of exposition in the last chapter which takes away from the engaging way the story was told until that point.

I did enjoy this as a standalone story, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to explore the back catalogue based on the characters.

Firstly, wouldn’t class this as a horror story, which was a little of a let down for me as I love a good horror and the cover got me all excited. It’s still a good book, the story is really gripping and leaves you guessing, wanting to know more and there are a lot of twists and turns, however there are parts where it’s a little slow or takes a while to get to the point which I struggle with anyway. It is a very strangely mixed book with random plots and ideas all rolled together, which is quite like.
Never the less it’s a good first read by the author.

The Doll by Yrsa Sigurdardottir


I absolutely love Yrsa Sigurdardottir and the Children's House series so I was really excited about getting stuck into her latest book.
But I think my mind had already decided that there were going to be creepy doll/supernatural elements and when I realised that this wasn't the case, I think I closed down a little bit (my fault – not the authors).
This book needs your full attention. There were lots of side stories and many, many characters and I did find it a bit hard to keep up with everything. It's a very slow starter too – in fact, it only really started to come together about three quarters of the way through the book. And then things quickly fell into place and were tied up very neatly. And I think this was one of my issues which this book – everything was tied up just a bit too neatly and for someone reason, that didn't give me 100% satisfaction.
So, whilst not my favourite of Yrsa's books, I still enjoyed it enough to keep my attention on it, even though this proved quite a task for a lot of the book!

* Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC.

The whole storyline was like fishing. Cast a big net and see what comes up. Lots of little stories but you don't really know that till the end where it all gets wrapped up. Bit of a misadventure and not a good read unfortunately. A little disjointed.

Unidentified bones are found in the ocean...
A woman dies in her bathroom under suspicious circumstances...
Allegations of sexual assault are made...
But how are these events linked and what does a sinister-looking doll have to do with it all?

Having read the other Freja and Huldar books I was delighted to have the opportunity to read and review this new addition. As expected from Yrsa Sigurdardottir, this book is brilliantly written and keeps you guessing to the end. The doll of the title is accidentally caught out of the sea on a fishing trip. It’s hideous, decayed appearance is horrifying to Disa, but her daughter Rosa is smitten and insists they take it home. This event at the beginning of the novel seems unrelated to much of what follows until it is cleverly woven into the narrative. A compelling read.

I really like this book it was a bit different from what I expected but it had a good flow the story was there and it was an enjoyable read. This is the firs book from this author so it took me a bit to get into there writing style.

It was very scary but had a thriller aspect to it but would recommend this book for a bedtime read.

I did like The Doll quite a bit even though it wasn’t what I expected from the synopsis. I thought it would be a supernatural story and I was not aware it was part of a series of books. I usually can’t come into a series part the way through without feeling like I’m entering into a conversation half way through; it is a testament to the story and writing that I didn’t feel this way at all, I got into the story and liked the characters and could not figure out how the plot lines were connected until it was revealed.

I was sent a copy of this book for an honest review. I must say, I loved this book! The story had me totally gripped from start to finish. It was set in Iceland, and I liked that difference but it didn't detract from the story at all. Very well written. It flowed very easily and the characters were good.
#TheDoll #Netgalley

This is the first book I have read by Yrsa so I went into this read with no knowledge of their writing style.

I normally don't go for book with a creepy doll on the front but I thought I would give this a go as the blurb sounded right up my street. This book features Detective Huldar looking into the mystery revolving around a human skeleton that was discovered. How does the creepy doll that a little girl found years ago link up to all this?

I found this a very intriguing read, with plenty of aspects that will keep you guessing as to what could happen. I definitely wouldn't class this as a horror story which it seems to come under , that was the only part that let me down .

I will definitely look to read more books by Yrsa in the future , can't wait to see what else is to come!

A spooky doll brought up in a fishing net and a dead woman from five years ago and an allegation of sexual abuse, a teenager missing, bones found in the sea and a murdered drug dealer. Not cases that would immediately be linked but Huldar Jonas and his colleagues in Reyjkavik, along with Freya from Children's House investigate and discover links between them all.

The opening chapter of this book got me really excited. A doll brought up from the sea in a fishing net is taken home by a little girl and the same night her mother dies in the same room as the doll. It was the perfect beginning to what could have been a really spooky story about a malevolent doll but it turned out to be a bit player in a murder story and wasn't really mentioned again for several chapters. I've enjoyed previous books by the author about Huldar and Freya but found this one quite disappointing after that exciting first chapter and found it quite slow going.

Thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Yrsa Sigurdardottir for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

A solid detective story continuing the previous stories featuring Freja and Haldur as they work together to uncover a web of mystery. The characters are well written and the story intriguing. Will appeal to those already familiar with with main characters but easy to access as a new reader.

"The Doll" by Yrsa Sigurdardottir started off well with a nice list of characters' names and how to pronounce them. There were also some nice scenes with the doll and various shadowy figures which gave a thriller element. Sadly it kind of unraveled from thereon. For me, the plot was too complicated and I really struggled to follow what was happening. However I reckon it would translate to the tv screen quite well.

An enjoyable read although the doll is nowhere near as sinister as the title and tag lines would have you believe! I loved the setting and the descriptions of the area, particularly the shipping containers where the homeless community had set up home were vivid and very real. The clever winding together of the different story strands and cohesion of the characters and their relationships to each other and otherwise unrecognised connections that are teased out of the evidence make it a compelling read.
Great characters and I really appreciated the pages at the beginning which covered pronunciation of the names!

Normally I wouldn't jump in with book 5 of a series, however, it seems the case with translated crime novels that they begin partway through a series. Anyways, The Doll got off to a good start - I mean, who isn't creeped out by dolls at the best of times! Creepy and horrific until it wasn't. Disparate plots brought together throughout the book meant the ending worked, however, it just wasn't the novel I was expecting. Read this if you're a fan of European/Scandinavian/Icelandic crime thrillers.