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"I can see why so many people are enthusiastic about Yrsa's work. It's very engaging, fresh, and exciting." -- James Patterson
"Iceland's crime queen." --The Scotsman
One of the finest Nordic crime writers working today, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has been published to rave reviews worldwide. Now, with Ashes to Dust, she delivers a dynamite and timely thriller set at the site of a volcano.
In 1973, a volcanic eruption buried an entire Icelandic village in lava and ash. Now, hoping to make some cash, a crew is assembled to excavate the site and turn it into a tourist destination. Markús, who was a teenager when the volcano erupted, enlists the help of attorney Thóra Gudmundsdóttir to try to prevent the excavation from going forward.
When the digging continues and three fresh bodies (and a spare head) turn up in the basement of Markús' childhood home, Thóra begins to question Markús' motives for wanting to stop the excavation. His explanation for the bodies is complicated, and the locals seem oddly reluctant to back him up. As Markús' story begins to unravel, Thóra finds herself with an impossible task, defending Markús while trying to solve a quadruple murder that may very well implicate her client.
With unforgettable characters, unexpected twists, and superb psychological suspense, Ashes to Dust is a riveting thriller from a new international star.
- Sales Rank: #155575 in Books
- Brand: Minotaur Books
- Published on: 2012-03-27
- Released on: 2012-03-27
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.26" h x 1.10" w x 5.55" l, .71 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
Features
Review
“Excellent... Sigurdardóttir uses Iceland's past and present to full effect in this tale of hidden crimes and family secrets. Even those unfamiliar with this volcanic island nation will find themselves entranced.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Buried under all the volcanic ash, false trails and endless recriminations is a puzzle whose grim solution is worthy of Stieg Larsson.” ―Kirkus
“This darkly atmospheric psychological suspense is full of unusual characters, as well as numerous surprising twists and turns.” ―FreshFiction.com
“A fine mix of crime and vividly realized landscape.” ―Booklist
“Icelandic volcanic explosion provides a timely background... the chaos and panic caused by the 1973 eruption are vividly evoked in Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's novel.” ―The Independent (UK)
“A fascinating setting and realistic characters make this an engrossing read -- and Sigurdardóttir maintains the intrigue as her clever plot unravels.” ―Metro (UK)
“Iceland's answer to Stieg Larsson.” ―The Telegraph (UK) on the Novels of Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
“Stands comparison with the finest contemporary crime writing anywhere in the world.” ―The Times Literary Supplement (UK) on the Novels of Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
“Sigurdardóttir delivers terrific clammy atmosphere and frequent frissons of fear; she is entitled to join the front rank of Nordic crime writers.” ―The Times (UK) on the Novels of Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
“Brilliantly plotted and chilling.” ―The Daily Mirror (UK) on the Novels of Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
“Thora is an attractive heroine; she's practical, capable and intelligent as well as having a dry sense of humor and an enquiring mind….She's curious about everything.” ―EuroCrime.com on Last Rituals
“The writing is distinguished by superb evocations of extraordinary landscapes.” ―The Independent (UK) on My Soul to Take
“Icelandic attorney Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is a clever and astute woman, and a welcome addition to the pantheon of fictional female investigators.” ―RT Book Reviews (four stars) on My Soul to Take
About the Author
YRSA SIGURDARDOTTIR lives with her family in Reykjavík; she is also a director of one of Iceland's largest engineering firms.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Monday, July 9, 2007
“You’re trying to tell me Markús is just tidying the basement? You can’t possibly believe that a pile of rubbish is the reason that he didn’t want anyone to go down there before him?”
The lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir smiled politely at the man addressing her, an archaeologist called Hjörtur Fridriksson, but did not answer his question. This was getting out of hand. She was very uncomfortable; the smell of smoke and the ash hanging in the air were irritating her eyes and nose, and she was scared that the roof was going to collapse at any moment. On their way through the house to the basement door the three of them had had to make their way around a huge pile of ashy debris where the roof had collapsed onto the intricately patterned carpet, at which point Thóra had adjusted her helmet’s elastic chin-strap to ensure that it was fastened tightly. She shuffled her feet and looked embarrassedly at the clock. They heard a dull thud from the basement. What exactly was the man up to? Markús had said that he needed a little time, but neither she nor the archaeologist could guess what his definition of “a little” was. “I’m sure he’ll reappear soon,” she said, without much conviction, and stared at the crooked door in the hope that it would be pushed open and this business concluded. She glanced instinctively at the ceiling, ready to jump away if it appeared likely to crash down on them.
“Don’t worry,” said Hjörtur, pointing upward. “If the roof was going to split apart it would have done so a long time ago.” He heaved a sigh and stroked his unshaven chin. “Do you know what he’s doing down there?”
Thóra shook her head, unwilling to discuss her client’s plans with someone unconnected to the case.
“He must have at least hinted,” said Hjörtur. “We’ve been dying to find out about this.” He looked at Thóra. “I’ll bet this has something to do with pornography. The others think so, too.”
She shrugged. That thought had certainly occurred to her as well, but she did not have a sufficiently fertile imagination to guess what kind of thing would be too embarrassing or disgusting to show to a stranger. A film of the homeowner’s sexual adventures? Unlikely. Few people had video cameras in the 1970s, and she doubted that the type of film used back then would have survived the destruction that had rained down on the Islands. Besides, Markús Magnússon, who was down in the basement, had been only fifteen when the house had disappeared beneath lava and ash, so he probably hadn’t been ready for much in that area. Nevertheless, there was something down in the basement that he’d been desperate to get to before them. Thóra sighed. How did she keep ending up with these characters? She didn’t know any other lawyer who attracted such strange cases, and such peculiar clients. She resolved to ask Markús what had inspired him to call her little legal firm instead of one of the larger ones when he decided to demand that the excavation be legally blocked. If he ever returned from the basement. She pulled the neck of her jumper up over her mouth and nose and tried breathing through it. That was a little better. Hjörtur smiled at her.
“You get used to it, I promise,” he said. “Hopefully you won’t have to, though—it takes several days.”
Thóra rolled her eyes. “Damn it, it’s not like he’s going to move in down there,” she muttered through her jumper. Then she pulled it down to smile at Hjörtur. It was thanks to him that things had gone so well until now, in that they’d been able to get by without demanding the injunction. In any case, that would only have been a temporary measure since Markús and his family no longer had any claim on the house. The Westmann Islands owned it along with all its contents, and there was little point in fighting this fact even though Markús had made a concerted attempt to do so. He had focused particularly on Hjörtur Fridriksson, the man now standing next to Thóra; Hjörtur was the director of a project entitled Pompeii of the North, whose task it was to excavate a number of houses that had been buried by ash in the eruption on Heimaey Island in 1973. Thóra had had considerable contact with him by telephone and email since the case had begun, and liked the man well enough. He was inclined to be long-winded, but seemed reasonable and was not easily provoked. Hjörtur had been seriously tested, since Markús so often acted like a total ass. He had refused to give even the slightest clue as to why he was opposed to his parents’ house being excavated, had gone on and on about invasions of privacy, and had generally complicated the matter for Thóra in every conceivable way. After trying to reach an agreement but getting nowhere due to Markús’s pigheadedness, in defeat she had asked Hjörtur whether he couldn’t just dig up some other house instead. There were certainly enough to choose from. But that was out of the question, since Markús’s childhood home was one of the few houses in the area built of concrete, and thus was more likely than the others to have withstood the cataclysm in any significant way. The purpose of the excavation was not to dig down to a house that was now simply rubble.
Thóra had already started reading up on how she might best obtain an injunction against the excavation when it transpired that Markús was only concerned about the basement of the house. Finally they could discuss solutions sensibly, and Hjörtur had proposed this arrangement: the house would first be dug up and aired out, and then Markús would be the first person allowed down into the basement, where he could remove anything that he wanted. After some consideration he agreed to this compromise and Thóra breathed easier. Markús had no trouble at all bearing the cost of endless litigation, since he was anything but badly off financially. His family owned one of the largest fishing companies in the Westmann Islands, and even though Thóra would never complain about being paid well for her work, she was upset about working against her better judgment, and toward a goal that would never be reached. She was immensely relieved when Markús agreed to Hjörtur’s proposal; now she could start putting the final touches to the fine details of the agreement over how Markús’s visit to the basement would be conducted, how they could guarantee that others would not be allowed to sneak in before him, and so on. The agreement was then signed, and they only had to wait for the end of the excavation.
So there they stood, archaeologist and lawyer, staring at a crooked basement door while a man who had still been a teenager in 1973 wrestled with a terrible secret beneath their feet.
“Hallelujah,” said Thóra when they heard footsteps on the basement stairs.
“I do hope he found whatever he was looking for,” said Hjörtur gloomily. “We didn’t think about the possibility of him coming up empty-handed.”
Thóra crossed her fingers and stared at the door.
They watched anxiously as the doorknob turned, then incredulously as the door was cracked open only a tiny bit. They exchanged a glance, then Thóra leaned forward and spoke into the gap. “Markús,” she said calmly, “is something wrong?”
“You’ve got to come down here,” came the reply. His voice sounded peculiar, but it was impossible to tell whether he was excited, disappointed or sad. The glow from his flashlight shone through the chink and illuminated Thóra’s feet.
“Me?” Thóra asked, flabbergasted. “Down there?” She looked back at Hjörtur, who raised his eyebrows.
“Yes,” said Markús, in the same enigmatic tone. “I need to get your opinion on something.”
“My opinion?” she echoed. When she found herself speechless she had a habit of repeating whatever was said to her, giving herself time to ponder her response.
“Yes, your legal opinion,” said the voice behind the door.
Thóra straightened up. “I’ll give you all the opinions you want, Markús,” she said. “However, this is how it is with us lawyers: we have no need to experience for ourselves whatever it is we’re dealing with. So there’s no reason for me to clamber down there with you. Tell me what this is about and I’ll put together an opinion for you back at my office in Reykjavík.”
“You’ve got to come down here,” said Markús. “I don’t need a written opinion. A verbal one’ll do.” He paused. “I’m begging you. Just come down here.” Thóra had never heard Markús sound so humble. She’d only heard him being haughty and opinionated.
Hjörtur scowled at Thóra, unamused. “Why don’t you just get it over with? It’s completely safe, and I’m keen to finish up here.”
She hesitated. What in the blazes could be down there? She absolutely did not want to go down into even darker and fouler air. On the other hand, she agreed with Hjörtur that they had to settle this here and now. She roused herself. “All right then,” she conceded, grabbing Hjörtur’s flashlight. “I’m coming.” She opened the door wide enough to step through and saw Markús on the stairs, looking pale as a corpse. His face nearly matched the white helmet that he wore on his head. Thóra tried not to read too much into it, since the only light was coming from their flashlights, giving everything an otherworldly ...
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Great protagonist
By Luanne Ollivier
3.5/5
I've been reading a number of Nordic mystery/thriller authors lately, but Yrsa Sigurdardottir was the first Icelandic author I've read. Indeed, she is known as 'Iceland's Crime Queen.'
Yrsa's recurring character is lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir. In Ashes to Dust, the third book in the series, Thora is employed by a former resident of Heimaey Island in The Westman Islands. This fishing village was covered by a volcanic eruption in 1973 and only now (2007) is her client's former childhood home being uncovered. The government owns the houses and contents, but Markus insists on going to the basement ahead of the archaeologists to recover a box, before he signs off on the waiver. (I found the setting fascinating and ended up reading all about the Westman Islands online)
He swears he has no idea what's in the box - a friend left it in the basement and she is the one who desperately wants it back he says. But when the archaeologists go down after him, what they discover changes the game - three bodies nicely laid out. And the box? It contains a head. Yes, a head. Thora's case has taken a completely different turn.
Thora is a wonderfully different protagonist. She is a grandmother with a young child still at home, divorced, hoping that her long distance romance will work out. She's very, very determined and undertakes to prove her client's innocence. I found this different from North American practices - the lawyer pursuing clues and the truth rather than an investigator. I loved that she took along her secretary - again another character that's a square peg in a round hole. Interspersed with Thora's investigations are chapters from other characters that we know must somehow be related to the case.
Sigurdardottir has created a winding plot that takes us down many avenues, exploring familial relationships as well as those of a small close knit village. There are no great surprises (many of the clues are plainly laid out) and some of the story seems superfluous. At times, I wanted to hurry the tellin along - it seemed it could have been done in about eighty pages less.
I did enjoy the descriptions of Iceland's culture, lifestyle and scenery. But, Ashes to Dust felt a little wooden in parts. I'm not sure if this is in the original text or a result of the translation. It was an entertaining tale, but comparisons to Steig Larsson may be a bit too ambitious.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
great Icelandic legal thriller
By A Customer
In 1973, a volcano erupts on Iceland's Heimaey Island. A village is buried under the lava. Included under the sea of ash is the family home of teenager Markus Magnusson.
In 2007, investors send a cleanup crew to excavate the site so it can become a tourist attraction. However, in the basement of the Magnusson home is found three relatively fresh corpses and a severed head. The Westmann Islands near retired Inspector Lieffson suspect Markus, who retained attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir to prevent the digging. The villagers offer little to repute the police assertion and the one person he claims who could vindicate him is dead. Digging for a viable alternative to her client, Thora defends Markus though she is convinced she represents a killer.
The third Thora Gudmundsdottir Icelandic legal thriller (see Last Rituals and My Soul To Take) is a great tale that uses the island nation's geography and history to anchor a fabulous present day murder mystery. The storyline is fast-paced with a deft investigation that leads to betrayal and secrets in a great setting. This series is a refreshing winner.
Harriet Klausner
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
And it started so well
By Alex
This book has a very similar premise to what I consider to be Peter Robinson's best Inspector Banks novel, In A Dry Season, in that they both involve murder victims being discovered when a village that has been 'buried' for decades becomes exposed.
This is the third in the series featuring lawyer/sleuth Thora Gudmundsdottir. Although I did enjoy the first two, with some reservations, I get the impression the author is still trying to decide what she wants the series to be. The first, Last Rituals, was rather gruesome in places and found Thora working in partnership with a male German visitor to Iceland who of course becomes her love interest. In the second, My Soul to Take, the nasty element had been toned down, the male character, Matthew, was very much relegated to a supporting role, and Thora's young daughter, teenage son and his very pregnant girlfriend provided a sub-plot which was so bad it would be absurd in an American sitcom. Thankfully in this latest book that 'comic' element has almost gone, but so has Matthew who is little more than a telephone tag bit part player who might or might not be moving to Iceland. His role of sidekick is taken by Thora's secretary, who until now has been completely useless, and only kept her job as it was a condition of the terms of the lease of the office Thora rented. This fact is made plain in the earlier books but not mentioned in this one, just in case you are wondering why she would be tolerated. It looks as if Yrsa Sigurdardottir may be looking to reader reaction to determine the outcome of the, 'will they/won't they', romance element of Thora and Matthew, and who should get the nod as the sidekick.
Ashes to Dust has a great opening, and probably just pips the aforementioned, In A Dry Season, by the fact that it is based around real events in Iceland in 1973, when a volcanic eruption destroyed and buried most of an island village and caused it to be evacuated. However while the Robinson book builds up from the victim discovery, this one goes downhill faster than the lava flow central to the plot. It gets convoluted enough for the author to throw in a résumé, in the form of a review of case notes, about three quarters of the way through to remind you who everyone is and what is going on. (Just like Sam asking questions at the end of an episode of Quincy). I know it is fiction but the solution when it comes is so ludicrous it makes Murder On The Orient Express seem plausible.
If there is a fourth in the series I will read it in the hope that the author will have stopped experimenting and concentrate instead on the key elements that made her first book the best by far. For anyone considering Ashes To Dust who hasn't yet read the Peter Robinson book, I would recommend the latter as the better option.
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