Reviews

Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

gwenhwyfar82's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Self harm

deedee63's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

suzy1131's review against another edition

5.0

Really a great example of the mystery genre. The subject matter is very dark, but there is comic relief. Thora, a lawyer, has a client whose childhood home has been excavated, and there are 3 corpses and a severed head in the basement...

scknitter's review against another edition

3.0

Yrsa Sigurdardottir is considered the queen of Icelandic crime fiction and she certainly earns the title with Ashes to Dust. The plot was clever and intriguing with several surprises along the way. The book also gave a captivating look at Iceland and some of its inhabitants. I am looking forward to more legal thrillers with Thora Gudmundsdottir leading the way.

A great new Scandanavian author who will hook you from the beginning in this legal crime thriller.

inknosedowl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. I thought the premise was very intriguing and clever and she took me right away. It felt very well paced to me and I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about it when I would put it down. 

the only reason I am not giving this book at least 4 stars is because of the ending. It felt almost unfair that Markús just confessed after everything that had happened. It makes sense since he wanted to keep things buried in the past, but it just felt very abrupt. There were clues like the hair in the basement and the salmon priest and knife, but it almost felt unfair. Also the last page itself was very abrupt and felt unfinished so I had to give it a lower rating.

Overall it was a pretty good mystery and I think I’ll try her other books and see if they’re just as good. 

elizamakepeace's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

doppeldom's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

andrew61's review against another edition

3.0

This is the third in the series about Þóra Guðmundsdóttir a Reykjavik lawyer who seems to stumble into investigating dark crimes in pursuit of justice for her clients. Here a house buried by a volcano explosion two decades before is being excavated and three bodies and a head are discovered under the dust, at the same time a woman is found dead in her apartment in suspicious circumstances. Inevitably there are connections.
Overall it was a gripping read and what I want from thrillers /crime novels is the mystery and suspense that keeps me turning the page which it did and I read it in a weekend. I will however probably wait a bit to read the next in the series as it is not one of those that I'm so hooked on I'll anticipate reading the next as soon as I can. generally though a good read.

406knits's review against another edition

4.0

I've never read any story that takes place in Iceland, let alone a work translated from Icelandic. Surprisingly, this was an easy read. As it's been compared to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, I often hear criticism from others who have read Steig Larsson's works that the names and locations can be a challenge. I think Sigurdardottir has kept everything reasonably simplistic and easy for Americans to understand. The characters were interesting, but the story line is what really got readers interested. I must admit that throughout the story I flip-flopped several times on "who-dun-it". The ending had an incredible surprise twist, right up to the very last page (literally).


This is actually the third novel in a series, by the way. I'm confident I'll be reading the other books in the series. Hopefully soon.

I highly recommend this read for anyone who loves a good thriller, particularly international works.

For a more thorough review of this novel, please visit my blog post at http://leahslitandcoffee.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-ashes-to-dust-by-yrsa.html

ohhkatrina's review against another edition

3.0

I like these books because I like reading about Iceland and they're not always super easy to figure out, but I could really do without all the fat-shaming Thora does of Bella, and also the gratuitous use of the word "retarded." Minor pet peeves but when they're all through the books it gets really annoying.