Book club! More Icelandic crime and some disappointment.

Hallo meine Lieben,


Germany lost the semi-finale against Italy so they won't play the finale against Spain on Sunday. That's disappointing but there is one thing that's even more disappointing for me. Maybe I am naive but I really expected somebody to speak out against all the killings of the 250000 stray dogs in the Ukraine to "clean" the streets for the Cup. I did not really expect the Fifa or Uefa to do or say something....but the DFB, the German football association....they did NOTHING. Not even a single player. They all just acted like nothing ever happened and that makes me very very sad. What is wrong with this world? It seems like as soon the first game started everybody just forgot about all the cruelty. It is a shame. I was really disgusted and disappointed. 

Okay. Change of subject.


It is Friday which means it is time for the weekly link up with Heather from Blonde...Undercover Blonde. for the book club! Thank you so much for being the host of this wonderful link up, Heather!


You know that I love crime stories. I especially love to read Swedish and Icelandic crime stories. One of my two favorite writers from Iceland is Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (the other one is Arnaldur Indriðason by the way). I already talked about her book "Geisterfjord" here. I really recommend reading her crime series, she is a great writer and all her books are very thrilling and nerve-wracking. 


The book I want to talk about today is


Das letzte Ritual (The last rituals). The Icelandic title is Þriðja táknið. Can somebody speak Icelandic? If so, can somebody teach me how to speak Icelandic? Would be awesome!

I really like the German and the American cover this time. If you have read my other posts you know that I usually prefer the German covers because in my opinion they tell you a lot more about the content of the book. I can't really explain why, that's just my feeling. 


So, the book's content. As usual it  is very thrilling and bloody. And that's what I like about Scandinavian (and Icelandic. If you don't consider Iceland as a part of Scandinavia) books. They don't skimp on blood. 


The protagonist of the story is Dóra Guðmundsdóttir, a young attorney and single mom of two who lives in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The other book I have read has two protagonists, a psychiatrist and a police officer but I think the lawyer if the protagonist of all her other books. I still have 3 to read. I am excited and can't wait!


The body of a German student is discovered at the university of Reijkavik. His eyes are cut out and some strange symbols are cut into his chest. 
The police believes that it is a drug related crime is arrests a drug dealer. But the victim's family isn't convinced that the right person is in custody. They ask Dóra Guðmundsdóttir for help. Her investigation uncovers the German student's obsession with  Iceland's grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts. But there are very contemporary horrors hidden in the long, cold shadow of dark traditions. 
Nothing is quite what it seems. And nobody can be trusted.


I love the fact that the book contains topics like witch craft and magic! I am very interested in these topics so the blurb sounded very promising to me. I really love Sigurðardóttir's writing, it makes you feel the dark and mysterious side of Iceland. She definitely won me over. I have read two of her books so far and I am a fan. I can't wait to read the other books of her series. She helps me to bridge the time I have to wait until the new books of Håkan Nesser and Arnaldur Indriðason will be released in fall. :) Thank you so much for that!


I really love to discover new book series and I always want to read ALL the books at once. being a bookworm can be hard sometimes. 


What are you currently reading?