My Soul To Take: A Novel of Iceland [Paperback]

'The second book from Yrsa Sigurdardottir is funny as well as being a taut and accomplished novel' -- Independent, Books of the Year 'Yrsa Sigurdardottir brilliantly conjures an atmosphere of creeping menace and unreality.' -- Guardian 'This is well-written, pacey and wonderfully atmospheric, but the USP here is the character of Gudmundsdottir. Wry, very funny and valiantly trying to balance the demands of her private life with her work - she is a joy. I'm looking forward to number three.' -- Guardian 'Sigurdardotittir delivers terrific clammy atmosphere and frequent frissons of fear; she is entitled to join the front rank of Nordic crime writers.' -- The Times 'Both frightening and funny - a terrific trick if you can pull it off.' -- Observer 20090405 'Distinguished by superb evocations of extraordinary landscapes and ... rivetingly gruesome inventiveness.' -- Independent 20090415 'The numerous twists and turns are worthy of Agatha Christie and keep the reader guessing until the very end.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20090415 'A suspenseful, sophisticated story' -- Sunday Telegraph 20090415 'A welcome second outing for the good-natured lawyer-sleuth Thora Gudmundsdottir ... Yrsa Sigurdardottir's lightness of touch is refreshing' -- Daily Telegraph on MY SOUL TO TAKE 20090415 'The novel is both spooky and gruesome. But Thora's distinctly chaotic private life provides a welcome contrast and moments of very black humour ... It's rare to find a crime novel that's both chilling and witty - an agreeable combination' -- Andrew Taylor, Spectator 20090415 'Dark, rich and satisfying.' -- Woman & Home 20090406 'Yrsa Sigurdardottir has arrived, fully formed, it seems, as something of a unique talent in the field ... [She] matches Tess Gerritsen and Kathy Reichs in the bloodchiller stakes.' -- Waterstone's Books Quarterly 20080129 'Iceland is fast becoming a hotbed of fine crime writing, and Sigurdardottir is at the front of the pack. This second novel builds on her already impressive reputation ... brilliantly paced and expertly constructed.' -- The Big Issue 20080129 'More splendidly accomplished - and involving - fare from Sigurdardottir' -- Good Book Guide 20080129 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

In the mystical Snæfellsnes region on Iceland's west coast—at a New Age health resort in a renovated farmhouse—the body of a young woman is discovered, savagely beaten, with pins inserted into her feet. Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, lawyer and single mother of two, has been retained to represent the resort's owner and prime suspect. But a fresh corpse is not the only abomination Thóra encounters here—for local legend says this place is haunted . . . and a bizarre series of inexplicable occurrences soon suggests it is so.

As Thóra digs deeply into the farm's past, she unearths a shocking history of evil and depravity—and her once-solid view of reality begins to waver. But a second murder, shockingly similar to the first, pulls Thóra back to earth by making two inescapable truths abundantly clear: the killer she seeks is very real . . . and is not finished yet.