The Doll

Another excellent book in this series. The characters are really engaging and the plot is so twisted and surprising. I found it a really fast read which kept my attention throughout. With multiple crimes and incidents that have the detectives floundering for answers, the cleverly constructed plot keeps you guessing right up until the end.

I did not really know what to expect from this book, but what I got was totally not it. Yara Siguardardottir is a queen at taking random plots and rolling them in together, in ways you truly don't see coming. I loved it. It drew in me from the start, and held me until it finally finished. A real page turner. A recommendation to anyone who likes a thriller.

It’s been a while since I’ve read any Scandi Noir-style books (I know that technically Iceland isn't in Scandinavia but there are a lot of similarities) and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. And I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed books by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. She has a wonderful way of crafting a story that is just that little bit different from your average police procedural.

The Doll is no exception. The opening is slightly spooky, with the dredging up of a doll from the sea bed and the death of the woman who found it before moving between a number of cases, all of which slowly come together in a way that makes perfect sense – even though you kind of know they shouldn’t.

The fact that they do work well together is down to the skill of Sigurdardottir and you have to marvel at that. I was pretty impressed too by the fact that, for quite a long book, there wasn’t any ‘saggy’ bits, the parts that drag and make you wonder if you should give up.

I never wanted to do that. What I wanted was to stay up late and keep reading. I thought the plot was great (though hard to write about without spoilers), and the characters interesting – the type you want to know more about. For me, this was a real page turner. The type of book I will be thinking about for a while – and will definitely be recommending to others.

I loved this book and had to stay up late to finish it. I was worried after requesting it that it would be a horror story, so I was pleasantly surprised to read an excellent police procedural. The story is clever, the characters believable, and I appreciated the explanation at the end. I didn't realise that this book is number five in a series so I will definitely look out for the others. It was a pleasant change to read a crime novel set in Iceland, and I will definitely be recommending this book.

I’ve read several of Yrsa’s Sigurdardottir’s novels in the past but have never reviewed one before, so my advice to all prospective readers of The Doll is to read the previous Huldar and Freya novels first and then progress to this one, just to get your bearings and to appreciate the dynamics between the characters and then you will be ready for The Doll - knowing what to expect and unable to resist reading this latest instalment. I solemnly promise that you will be totally hooked.

The Doll is not the supernatural horror I expected it to be, but it’s all the better (and ultimately somehow much creepier) for that in my opinion and, like all Ms Sigurdardottir’s crime novels, it is supremely well plotted, irresistibly readable, humorous and just bursting with Icelandic atmosphere from start to finish. In a year when I haven’t been able to travel to Iceland because of the pandemic, Yrsa’s books have been the perfect cure for my cabin fever (and I have developed a ‘book crush’ on Detective Huldar, but that is another story!).

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton, to Ms Sigurdardottir and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this terrific novel.

I thought that I would be brave reading this book as I have always had a fear of dolls from being a little girl. Believe me, after reading this book, that fear feels very real now!

While out on a small fishing boat with her mother and the owner of the boat, a young girl manages to snare a very sea beaten doll and persuades her mother to let her keep it. That night the girl’s mum dies mysteriously, and the doll goes missing. The story takes on different directions as it follows a young couple working in Spain to camping in Iceland before disappearing. Again it shoots off to a case of child abuse. The stories have no relevant connections.

It is the fifth book in the Freyja and Huldar series, and I have to say here that it is my first one. I was amused at the relationship that these two had, as Huldar was more than a little skittish where Freyja was concerned. I got the feeling early on that she likes to wind this guy up whenever she could.

I did feel at times a little taken aback at how these individual stories come to an abrupt end without having any answers before moving on to a new group of people and a very different path. They all come together, and I am not sure if it was because they were left without an end or not, but I didn’t forget how each had concluded at the time. It is quite a wicked read that brought everything to a conclusion but left me a nervous wreck.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Huldar and Freyja are back and I couldn’t be happier!
Yrsa Sigurdardottir is undoubtedly a fantastic mystery/ crime/horror teller!

This book had it all. Creepiness, this constant feeling of being haunted, that cold shiver you feel when there is something eery in the air!
So atmospheric and so perfectly executed!

It may feel slow paced but I feel it was just the perfect pace for the story telling and I love how the author ingeniously can intertwine what feels “intertwinable”.

I did felt this book was slightly scarier and, being a massive scaredy cat, let’s just say the night stand lamp was kept on for a couple of days and thank god I have no dolls at home!

I am a huge fan of previous books so loved (and can’t wait to read more about) Hulda and Freyja!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a digital advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the previous books in this series was really excited about release of this new one. I certainly wasn’t disappointed although some of the words are hard to pronounce, not really surprising as set in Iceland and originally written in Icelandic, it takes nothing away from the story line. It starts with different cases which merge into one, but unlike some books that also does this it closes all stories off as well as the main story. The characters all have their own personalities which follows through from the previous books in the series without spending too much time on them and not the story. Can’t wait for the next one in the series

I think that those disappointed at not finding this a true horror story do it a great disservice, and they may not have read to the end. This is a detective story pure and simple, and a really excellent, complex and engrossing detective story at that. Yes, it centres around a revolting doll fished out the sea, but the doll simply becomes another character in the story. It was good to meet the Detective Huldar, and child Psychologist Freya again - they feel like old friends now, both absolutely determined to do their best to solve the mysterious murders the plot throws up. As always with this Icelandic author’s books, the translation is outstanding. Yes, this is a complicated story but that simply serves to keep readers on their toes - a really absorbing and brilliant book.

Just wow! Another brilliant story in The Children's House series.

The book has so many parts and smaller stories, that I couldn't believe it's possible to put them together... yet Yrsa, who is a master of plotting, did it! It was incredible.

The amount of dead bodies is probably the highest of all of Yrsa's books which I've read. The story starts with a creepy doll being caught in the fishing net. The girl who was on a boat wants to keep the doll and her mother agrees. The next day the mother is found dead, the doll disappears and no one believes Rósa that her mother was murdered.

Years later a boy comes to the police station saying that he's been abused in a care home. Rósa is his only witness. Only, she disappears. Freyja gets involved in the case because the minors need to give their statements about the care home employee, and Huldar joins the team because he had quiet time in the homicide division. They try to find more witnesses to the abuse.

The plot is really complex, it's like a web of small stories and I couldn't stop thinking how can they be joined... even a tiny tiny tiny detail about something in the interrogation room was relevant at the end! The stories come together nicely... only to get a big twist in the last chapter, something that I don't think anyone would see coming!

I loved how Freyja's and Huldar's relationship evolved and that they're not only talking with each other, but they start to like each other again. And seeing Freyja's work situation at the end of the book, I can't wait to see how it'll look like in the next instalment.

If you read the previous book, you'll know that Freyja moved into a new apartment which had an exotic and strictly illegal pet - a snake. She needs to feed him and hope he won't crawl out of his room to kill her. Even though I don't agree with keeping snakes as pets and especially with feeding them with alive animals, I found the lines around the snake quite funny.

I'd definitely recommend the book to everyone. It's brilliant to see how the characters develop over the series and I think that this book can also be read as a standalone.

Amazing! Strong 5 stars!!!

*****

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an early copy in exchange of an honest review.

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 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