Another Netgalley read this month in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested it I fully expected some haunted doll to be at the centre of some type of paranormal going on. It wasn't what I expected given the creepy cover. However it was still an enjoyable read. A really slow burning mysterious case about sexual allegations made within a care home, a missing teenager, a creepy doll that keeps turning up, a murdered mother and two partial bodies discovered at the bottom of the lake.

I enjoyed the interaction between the investigators and how they acted in their professional and personal lives with each other and alone as the case continously developed. I've never read anything by this author before but I enjoyed the writing style and the slow pace of the book as it unfolded. So I will definitley look into their other books in the future. I loved the atmospheric feeling of where the book was set the bleakness of the country fitted well with the story.

Yrsa Sigurdardottir is an auto buy author for me and this book didn't disappoint. I did find the beginning super creepy and really gripping then the middle it became a little slower. When the cases started being wrapped up I loved how the seemingly unconnected strands of crimes and anecdotes throughout the book were pulled together into one weaving narrative.

5 years ago Disa, a widow and her 11 year old daughter, Rosa, took a trip on a fishing boat owned by a family friend. What they found in the net that came up from the water changed their lives forever and not in a good way.
They found a doll, one eyed and covered in barnacles. It repulsed Disa but Rosa begged to be allowed to keep it. Reluctantly, Disa gave in. Later that night, she posted a photo of the doll on Facebook to see if its original owner would claim it. But next morning Disa was found dead and the doll had gone….
Now in the present day, human bones have been found in the exact spot in the sea where the doll was found and Det Huldar and his boss, Erla, are investigating. Neither of them have strong stomachs as the boat bobs about while the sea unwillingly gives up its secrets.
Huldar is also assisting with interviews on a second investigation which is into claims of historic child sexual abuse which have been made against a Reykjavik care home manager. He sits in on the interviews with child psychologist Freyja.
Meanwhile, Rosa, who has been bounced around care homes since her mother’s death tells anyone who will listen that neither her mother’s nor father’s deaths were accidents until one day she tells the wrong person….
How are they all connected with the doll and each other?
This is a strange book as it seems to have been marketed as a creepy, horror novel with its title, the strapline and the cover. But it isn’t as, instead, it’s a multi layered crime thriller set in Reykjavik and is the 5th in a series featuring Huldar, Erla and Freyja. It confused me, especially after the opening chapters, and I felt that the title was a misnomer as the doll appears in the first part of the book and then only fleetingly. Although it is the key to unlock one of the book’s mysteries.
I found that the plot meandered towards the middle of the book with all the different characters and their stories and I felt that it plodded. But the pace quickened as the author began to draw them all together.
However, this led to what felt like an infodump as towards the end as one character explained it all to another and I felt that I was being told the story instead of experiencing it. But there was a good twist at the end which I didn’t expect.
But without the cover and the strapline, I would have been more prepared for a different kind of story.

rsa Sigurðardóttir is no stranger to the world of creepy images and somewhat evil, supernatural goings-on so it’s no surprise that a creepy, barnacle-encrusted, one-eyed doll is at the heart of this complex Children’s House police procedural.

We begin with Huldar and Erla at sea, looking for body parts in the form of bones on the sea bed. For different reasons both are a little unwell and that situation does not improve when they find some of what they are looking for, but not all.

That’s not a massive problem though because there are other things that Huldar Jonas can be working on, including an historic child sexual abuse case which is where Freyja, a child psychologist and formerly Director of Children’s House, comes in – and he’s quite anxious to see her again and to see if there are bridges that can be built there.

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is a master of creating a complex series of mysteries and then dropping breadcrumbs to see if we can work out what might link them all. How does a creepy doll link to the woman who first took it found it on the sea bed and took it home? Where is Rosa, the missing teenager and key witness in the sexual abuse case and what does this have to do with the murder of two campers and the death of a drug addict in a container village?

Meticulously plotted and evenly paced, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s story is dark and chilling, the more so for its pragmatic approach to the police procedural element of crime solving. The central figure here is the missing teenager Rosa, though that’s not clear until Yrsa Sigurðardóttir starts to allow us to join some of the dots. What we do know is that she is a friend of Tristan, the young man making the sexual abuse allegations of a manager at the children’s home where both were staying, and now she is missing, just at the crucial point when evidence is being taken. The more we learn about Rosa, the more worried we become for her safety.

There are some lovely character driven opportunities that help develop the series as a whole. Huldar is still trying to impress Freyja while becoming more and more intrigued by what Freyja is keeping the spare room. Freya can’t decide whether or not she wants to be impressed and has no intention of letting Huldar anywhere near the spare room. In any case she’s looking after her brother’s daughter while he is away being a tour guide, so her style is effectively cramped even if she were to be tempted. And no-one is paying much attention to police newcomer Lina who is smarter and more methodical than the rest of the station put together.

Verdict: Beautifully atmospheric, grim in parts, this is a fascinating and multi-layered story where the process of uncovering the stories is the important thing and the detailed police procedural elements are beautifully put together so that you can almost connect the dots yourself as you read. It is beautifully twisted and seriously intriguing. A slow burn of a book, it will keep you immersed and needing to know where to put those final dots as the case nears being tied up.

A great thriller from an even better author. If you haven’t read this book already then you need to!

The Doll is the fifth story in the Icelandic Freyja and Huldar series. The cover instantly had me at hello. I am a huge fan of the creepy and intriguing and that cover came from the horror gods. The Doll is discovered after being trawled by a fishing net in Faxafloi Bay by Rosa Thrastdottir. Five years later bones have been discovered in the same place as the Doll, is it a coincidence or is this more to this story than meets the eye? Also, serious sex abuse allegations have been made against Bergur Alvarsson. Three different stories and timelines but just how do they knit together?

The premise of the story is intriguing but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me, unfortunately. I’m unsure if it was because I came into it mid-series or if it just was too slow for me. I usually love stories set in Iceland and in Scandinavia, the atmosphere and the landscape were fantastic but I struggled to find myself amid the story. There is so much happening in the story, I felt the author had a lot of balls to juggle that I did find myself losing focus with the events occurring.

Child Psychologist, Freyja, and Detective Huldar are investigating just how all three events connect. The only constant they have is a girl called Rosa. After discovering the barnacled doll they took it home, her mother took a picture of it and posted it on Facebook. Her mother was found dead the next morning and no sign of the doll or the picture posted on Facebook. Rosa is connected to the boy making accusations of sex abuse but she is now missing. Could she have all the answers to make the events make sense?

You might think that this book is a horror from the front cover but it is not. The Doll isn’t a supernatural element to the story, it’s more a side note or coincidence. The writing was brilliant and the landscape was atmospheric, I just think that some things didn’t click for me, it certainly won’t stop me from reading future books written by Yrsa.

A strange read, to be expected I suppose from Icelandic crime fiction. Very convoluted crimes and we're told rather than shown how they all come together. I wonder how much of that clunkiness is in the translation though. I was caught up in the story , and wondered whether this was part of a series - I don't like reading books out of order, but I am very unlikely to be going back over the previous books in the series. If Huldar and Freyja have had a relationship in the past, their communication is so stilted that I am really not too concerned about getting to know them better. Although convoluted and rather much of a coincidence to have so many crimes connected, I did enjoy that element. I go back to Huldar's explanation to Freyja of the denouement - unbelievably longwinded, rather than showing what had happened with interviewing the suspects and carrying out searches etc. I was not expecting the ending that was thrown in mind you - that was a bit of an open mouthed moment!! Not a bad read, but not my best of recent times. #thedoll #netgalley

Freyja & Huldar #5

An old doll covered in barnacles , but with a locket around her neck, is pulled from the sea with unintended consequences. The director of an echo-home is accused of a series crime. An expert is found murdered. And tourists disappear without trace.

Freyja is a child psychologist and Huldar is a Detective. When Disa and her daughter Rosa decide to take the old fishing boat out onto the lake, they didn't think they'd catch anything. All they caught was an old doll. Rosa decided to keep it.

This is a dark, cleverly crafted and twisted tale. It starts of being quite a chilling read and continues into a well thought out crime story. This is a character driven story that's set in Iceland. The doll is the key to unlocking a series of mysteries that someone was determined to keep hidden. That plot involves a few past tragic events and unsolved crime cases linked to some recent mysteries. I did feel half the book was just full of information. It also jumps between different characters and scenes that don't seem connected. It's also a bit of a slow burner. I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but it can be read as a standalone.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #YsraSigurdardottir for my ARC of #TheDoll in exchange for an honest review.

The Doll is the latest in the Children’s House series of books from Yrsa Sigurdardottir. She is an amazing Icelandic thriller writer and I’ve enjoyed many of her books in the past. In the Doll a mother and daughter take a fishing trip and catch a hideous, broken doll. Within hours the mother has died in mysterious circumstances. Several years later and Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are working together again dealing with several seemingly unconnected cases. When the Doll reappears it seems that maybe there is a connection after all.
This is a cleverly written, twisty thriller which shines a light on Icelandic societal issues too. There’s no need to have read any others in the series as it stands up well as a stand alone novel.
Thank you to #netgalley and #hodderbooks for allowing me to review this ARC.

Excellent read, very very atmospheric and creepy, I felt a little freaked out reading it! I loved the writing style and found I felt very tense reading it, the first descriptions of the doll made me picture it so vividly it is still in my minds eye (throw it back!!)
The way different investigations which seemed a little random at first wove together very well and it was beautifully tied up at the end.
I will read more of this author, highly recommended read.

I am so glad I had a digital copy of this book rather than a physical copy. I mean, that cover! It so creepy and unsettling.

The doll is discovered during a fishing trip by a young girl out with her mum and a family friend. Later that night the mother dies, the police agree that is was an accident. Rosa is adamant that she wasn’t and that her mum was murdered. She is ignored and her pleas fall on deaf ears.

This is a slower paced police procedural that s set in Iceland. It is a book in the Children’s House series but can easily be read as a stand alone. It did take me a while to get my head around the characters as initially a few were introduced over a short period. I did soon however remember who was who.

The plot of the story is one that is interesting and I was intrigued as to why the doll was so important. It wasn’t until the latter stages that I eventually got the answers. There is several plots going on in this story and it was complex but it did make sense during the reading.

It looks s heavier on the descriptions and details and even though I did like this it did slow the pace down considerably. Fine is you like a more in-depth procedural. It does add a tension and suspense aspect to the story as you have to wait longer for the clues to connect.

I enjoyed this story, a complex and intriguing crime thriller that I would recommend.

I had not encountered this author previously, but she has become one of my favourites very quickly.
The story opens with the discovery of a frightening doll that has been brought up in a fishing net from the bottom of the sea off Iceland. The mother wants to throw this evil looking object back into the sea but her daughter wants to clean it up and keep it. Soon after the mother is dead and the doll has disappeared.
My first thoughts is that this is a horror story, however what it is, is a very intricately involved police procedural. Meticulously plotted, you are there understanding the detectives frustrations. I wondered if it would turn into an unsolved mystery, but slowly and surely the pieces start to come together. A brilliant story reminiscent for me of the best of Sjowall and Wahloo, but with more interesting characters.
I enjoyed the relationship between Huldar Jonas ( one of the detectives ) and Freyja a child psychologist. This is the fifth book featuring these occasional lovers. I've already downloaded the first book in the series and intend to read all of this engrossing series. I want to find out how and why Freyja was replaced as director of the children's house! There are some distressing storylines but all are done with sympathy and understanding.
I can't praise this book enough. Please do yourselves a favour and get a copy, you won't be disappointed. The author also has another series I intend to explore. An excellent writer who is now in my list of favourite authors.

This book will make your mind travel into a place that you never knew you had....in a good way.
When Diśa and her daughter Ròsa decide to take the old fishing boat out onto the lake but they really didn't think that they would catch anything.
When the line was caught they were excited but the only thing on the end of the line was an old doll, it was in a sorry state and Disa going to throw it back in but her daughter begged her to keep it.
Diss decided to post a pi6of the sorry doll on social media that night thi ling it was fun but the next morning she is dead! And he doll has disappeared!
Years later Detective Huldar is investigating a case, is everything connected? If so can he find out what happened and can he stop it from happening again?

Complicated Icelandic murder thriller with Detective Huldur making a reappearance. A doll fished up on a fishing trip 10 years ago becomes linked with a child abuse case being investigated by Child services and a series of murders ensue all seemingly not linked. It all races intriguingly along until a series of revelations bring it all together. But at the end another twist to explain even more.Clever stuff!

had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I only enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of Iceland - a lot. The story, not. Too many words, strange coincidences, not enough interesting characters to hold my interest.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

An immensely gripping thriller. This book had me hooked from the first page and get me guessing right to the end. A must read.

On a family fishing trip, young Rosa finds a barnacle-covered, bedraggled doll under the waves and begs her Mother to keep her. It may not be pleasant but it seems harmless enough so she agrees but posts a photograph of the doll to see if she's missing her family somewhere.

The next day, Rosa's mother is dead and the doll is gone.

Years later on the seabed, Detective Huldar comes to a realisation that his case and the cases of many of his colleagues from homicide to sex crimes have one thing in common - a teenager called Rosa who is nowhere to be found - but what she knows might be the answer to everything.

Now, this book is definitely not the supernatural thriller about a possessed doll you might think from the cover, but still manages to be haunting all the same. The fifth in a series, but the first book by Yrsa I've had the pleasure to read, can definitely be read as a standalone but it's worth reading the others for a better sense of the style and the background of the characters that feature.

The Doll was an atmospheric, nerve-wracking criminal story that raced at 100 miles per hour before coming to a neck-snapping halt and starting up all over again - plenty of twists I didn't see coming or completely confused me until they were all neatly tied back up for the finale. In parts, this book felt like several books haphazardly thrown together, but this was written so well that they slowly fused together as we went along.

An enjoyable, slightly chilling read - I'm definitely intruiged to check out the rest of the series.

100% not what I was expecting by any means!! I was anticipating another eerie doll thriller with predictable story line and themes running through it but this was a breath of fresh air. You have not read this story before. Not even one vaguely similar. Which is saying a lot in this day and age of dozens of new books published daily. Its completely unique and keeps you guessing til the end. I was up all night to finish it because I just couldn't wait any longer. A lot of books just fade into ones memory but this story will stay with me for a long long time. Just wheb you think you've figured out what's going on, everything changes again. Couldn't rate highly enough, it was just amazing

Yeah. That doll is creepy as hell and it is no wonder that someone might assume it was cursed just from looking at it. Given the fate that befalls those who come into contact with it, I'd not be entirely dissuaded from believing it either. Not that I'm superstitious, but it is certainly not what you'd call a good omen.

I love the Children's House series, or the Freyja and Huldar series if you like, because author Yrsa Sigurdardottir has never shied away fro bringing readers the grotesque, both in terms of actual shocks and gruesome murders, but also into terms of the visceral reaction we are often faced with when coming to terms with the events in the books. It should come as no surprise really given that the series is based around crimes against children, both historic and present day, not always at the hands of adults, but the adult influence is seldom far away. This time around Freyja is called upon to sit in on interviews of the former residents of a children's home, one where there has been an allegation of historic abuse.

But that is not the only thread to this particular tale, with Huldar and his colleagues investigating the discovery of some skeletal bones deep underwater, a situation which leads to some comical light relief at the start. Let's just say that neither Huldar or his boss Erla, truly seem to have their sea legs. To be fair, we're going to need it as the case that Huldar soon becomes embroiled in is multi-faceted and much of what we hear will leave a bitter taste in the mouth as it rightly should.

There are other elements of the story, different threads which seem at first to be hanging loose. You know they will be important, the opening scenes with the doll above all else, but their significance is well hidden by the author, just another waiting for the right person to tug on the right thread an unravel the whole mystery. It is a story of coincidence and also not - everything that happens does serve a purpose. It may feel at times like you are just going to be left with a pile if disconnected threads, but Yrsa Sigurdardottir has a real knack for weaving them into a scene so vivid, so detailed, you are left wondering how you didn't see it in the first place.

I love the characters in this series, especially the back and forth between central protagonists, Freyja and Huldar. They may have checkered past, but you have to admire Huldar's persistence and there is a sense that, to a degree, there is a moderate to mild thawing of Freyja's feelings toward him. That could just be hormones, but it still makes a reader smile. Even Erla, often quite acerbic toward Huldar, demonstrates a more human side in this book, although how long that will last remains to be seen. But there is one character who gets under your skin, the young girl, Rósa, whose insistence on finding the owner of that grotesque doll really is the start of everything. Quite literally in the case of the book. In truth we spend little time with her and yet I was completely invested in her story, and the author manages to do this well through the actions, and reactions, of others. The narrative is immersive enough to make me care, even if my contact with her was fleeting.

This is not as dark as some of the series predecessors, so if you have come looking for 101 inventive ways of adapting household appliances for nefarious intent, then you'll be disappointed. It is much more subtle, more nuanced. More about the character and the psychology of a missing girl as much as it is the discovery of bones, or the strange appearance of long lost bikes. It was a slower paced read and as such took me longer than I'd normally take to finish, but it was a book to be enjoyed, as far as you can given the subject matter. One to savour the richness of the narrative and the general atmosphere of foreboding that permeated the story from start to finish. A fab addition to the series with the real promise of more to come. Cannot wait.

On a fishing trip with her mum Disa, Rosa finds a barnacle-covered doll in the fishing net. Her mum wants her to throw it back in the ocean but Rosa is determined to keep it. Disa reluctantly takes it home with them and puts a photograph on Facebook. Within 24 hours, the doll is gone and Disa is dead.

I really enjoyed the opening few chapters of the novel, they were pacey and introduced some interesting characters, but then it just went downhill quickly.

The novel was overly long with the author using excessive amounts of description and adding in unnecessary and irrelevant detail. There was so many insignificant points in it that really serve no purpose at all. I also thought there were too many characters that were not distinct enough, so I found it a tad confusing at times.

I’m usually a read every word type of reader, but I found myself skim reading and even missing some sentences out and it didn’t change the meaning of anything. I just think it is a shame someone didn’t just suggest that the author streamline it.

After ploughing my way through doughy writing, the ending was just so disappointing, especially as everything magically just reveals itself to the police in a couple of pages. I also thought it was quite unrealistic with too many ‘coincidences’ and I was left just very disappointed and unsatisfied.

After this, it would put me off picking up another book by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this novel in exchange for an honest review.