Last Rituals: A Novel of Suspense

Thora Gudmundsdottir, Book 1

By: Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

At a university in Reykjavík, the body of a young German student is discovered, his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest. Police waste no time in making an arrest, but the victim's family isn't convinced that the right man is in custody. They ask Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, an attorney and single mother of two, to investigate. It isn't long before Thóra and her associate, Matthew Reich, uncover the deceased student's obsession with Iceland's grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts. But there are very contemporary horrors hidden in the long, cold shadow of dark traditions. And for two suddenly endangered investigators, nothing is quite what it seems...and no one can be trusted.

©2007 Yrsa Sigurdardóttir (P)2016 Tantor

Excellent story

Excellent writing and narration. Thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was very fascinating and well narrated.

Witchcraft in Iceland

Good background information about the history of witchcraft in Iceland. The overall story was a slow read.

An

This book was very interesting from a historical view as well as an interesting murder mystery. I love reading books set in places I have visited and this one delved into some very old history that one doesn’t often hear about when visiting Iceland. I enjoyed the story but it didn’t take very long to develop a dislike for many of the characters, including Thora, the main character who seemed rather sheltered, judge mental and passive-aggressive for most of the book. She did begin to redeem herself towards the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book, so I will probably continue with the series.

The ending was a bit rushed

The epilogue was intense, the ending was rushed but the twist was good. Curious for the second book, was surprised at how hooked I was.

Decent story, not great narration

This book is mediocre . I did not give up on it but also was not waiting in anticipation to get back to it every day... The narrator does the 2 main characters well but all the secondary characters especially the little girl and teenage son were almost unbearable . Fortunately they were not in the story a lot !

No

Possibly a good story but the narration was awful. It’s probably a better idea to respect the listener. Maybe a different story for the narrator.

Maybe it's me

Could not get invested in the characters. Struggled to finish. Maybe it us me

looking forward to Book 2

What did you love best about Last Rituals: A Novel of Suspense?

I appreciated the information and descriptions of Iceland and its culture.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Last Rituals: A Novel of Suspense?

Memorable moments does not strike me as a helpful category because there are seldom any.

Have you listened to any of Elizabeth Wiley’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I thought the performance was excellent. She kept the characters distinct.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, as I said, the special moment inquiry is annoying.

Any additional comments?

I hope Audible makes it a point to acquire other works by this author.

Thought it would be better.........

Would you try another book from Yrsa Sigurdardottir and/or Elizabeth Wiley?

What disappointed me in this book--and I am a huge fan of Scandinavian and Icelandic novels, was that first of all, the story line lacked any strength to get you involved right away. Secondly the pace of the plot became tedious, a flat line with nothing being revealed that would hold one's attention or anticipation.

Would you ever listen to anything by Yrsa Sigurdardottir again?

I strongly doubt unless the author tightens up her plot line and makes it much more interesting, less plodding,and a bit more surprising.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The other reason I did not like this audio was the narrator. Her inflections were very distracting. Ms Wiley would elevate her voice in the middle of a sentence, giving the impression of a lack of seriousness to the thought of the sentence.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Who Cares

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Neither the historical subject of this book, nor the characters, ever quite caught my interest. I usually like a mystery with history. The self-absorbed central character, Thora, seems to be very intelligent and a quick study, but initially sexually naive to no purpose and boringly caught up in the vicissitudes of her daily life. It is hard to believe she studied in Germany or anywhere abroad. Her motive for doing this investigation is the money, which she needs to maintain her house, because she's recently divorced. The mystery and other characters are treated byThora alternatively as sensational, ghoulish, eccentric or just plain foolish. This is the silliness obsessional rich academic foreigners get up to! Thora has no empathy with the victims, present or past. She laments she can't afford to eat out or stay in hotels for fun. I kept thinking that as a listener, I should be paid. When she ran home, I thought of checking my laundry. I couldn't wait for this to be over. Compared to other weakly plotted mysteries that are carried by their introspective investigators who become interested in their subjects and draw in the reader, this story seems merely reported and rather thin. Possibly this book is written to appeal to working mothers. The narrator goes on and on about the language barrier, missing her children, the vagaries of life after divorce. Maybe she is typically Icelandic in the mind of the author. My problem is I didn't much care. I did finish the book to see how it came out, despite the annoying narration, but this isn't Rome, or even Three Pines. She's not Jane Eyre or the Nanny in the Turn of the Screw.

Would you be willing to try another book from Yrsa Sigurdardottir? Why or why not?

I would try another book because she writes well, despite the fact that I cannot pronounce her name.

What aspect of Elizabeth Wiley’s performance would you have changed?

The broken English dialogue drove me crazy. I found it took enormous effort to remain attentive, which was partly the narration and partly because the character had things to do at home.

Do you think Last Rituals: A Novel of Suspense needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I wouldn't listen to the second book because Thora is not appealing.