The Absolution is the third installment in Queen of Icelandic crime fiction Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s series about the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar. The police find out about the crime the way everyone does: on Snapchat. The video shows a terrified young woman begging for forgiveness. When her body is found, it is marked with a number “2”. Detective Huldar joins the … Detective Huldar joins the investigation, bringing child psychologist Freyja on board to help question the murdered teenager’s friends. Soon, they uncover that Stella was far from the angel people claim, but who could have hated her enough to kill?
Then another teenager goes missing, more clips are sent to social media, and the body with a “3” is found. Freyja and Huldar can agree on two things at least: the truth is far from simple. The killer is not done yet. And is there an undiscovered body carrying the number “1” out there?
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This third installment of the Chidren’s House series just fell a little flat. It starts out strong by ramping up my curiosity levels about who might be behind the murder of a teenager, and the idea of sharing the murder on Snapchat. But overall, Yrsa didn’t lay down a series of suspects in the smooth and compelling way she did in the previous two books. Yes, there were suspects, but it didn’t have that, “it could be everyone!” feel to it.
Also, Freya is becoming more of a scatter-brained, slightly annoying character who seems to have little purpose other than to be the occasional sounding board. I’d like to see her have a stronger part like she did in the first book.
one thing that was done to perfection is Huldar’s annoyance with his work situation. You can really feel his frustration.
A young woman is killed in a movie theater bathroom, and her killer videoed the entire murder and then posted it on the victim’s Snapchat feed. The police are at a loss to who the killer might be because he carefully kept his face covered and left no forensic clues. They don’t even know who to suspect because everyone loved the victim – except her killer. Detective Huldar joins the team investigating the murder and brings Feyja, a child psychologist with whom he has previously worked, on the team as well.
This is a well written mystery with well-developed characters and a story line builds in tension on each page. You need not have read the previous two books in this series to enjoy reading this one.
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughten and Edelweiss for an eARC.
4 and 1 / 2 stars
Stella works at a local movie theater. When she is horribly murdered while closing alone at work, the number “2” is found under her body. Does this mean there is a number “1?”
Detective Huldar joins the investigation. Huldar is not popular at the station, either with his colleagues or his boss Erla. He works with a fairly new partner named Gudlaugur who is terribly shy, but has the makings of a good copper.
The police go through the security camera recordings and the ticket sales to see if they can identify a lone man who might have attacked and killed the sixteen-year old girl. They get precisely nowhere with the lists or the recordings, even with the assistance of psychologist Freyja.
They then get the information that Stella was a bully. Her father went ballistic at the school a couple of times. They interview Stella’s friends, but feel they are holding something back. When Stella’s phone is dropped into someone’s mailbox, the police interview the two women who live there. But they strongly suspect the woman named Asta is also not telling the complete truth.
A teenager named Egill goes missing. Is he also a bully? Is he going to be next? Frantic searches for him turn up nothing. Freyja re-thinks her idea about bullying and contacts a psychologist who specializes in bullying. Egill eventually is found and turns out to be victim number “3.”
Huldar and Freyja almost simultaneously come up with ideas about who might be the perpetrator in the murders.
This book deals with the very real and current issue of bullying in schools. We all know how cruel children can be, but these young people have taken abuse to the extreme. How frustrated the parents of the abused child must get – if they are aware of it. The solution to the case turns out to be very twisted and has some surprises. This is a very good book, although I tired of the battle between Huldar and his boss Erla. Huldar didn’t seem to have a very engaging personality. And Erla – well…I wanted to shake her or slap her or something. It is written in Ms. Sigurdardottir’s usual forthright manner and with few side trips. One event follows another logically. I must admit that I do not like this series as much as I like the Thora Gudmundsdottir novels.
I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review.