The Girl Who Died
A Thriller
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3.7 • 48 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
THE NAIL-BITING NEW STORY FROM THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
"Is this the best crime writer in the world today? If you're looking for a mystery to get lost in during lockdown..." —The Times, UK
"A world-class crime writer...One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction" —Sunday Times, UK
"It is nothing less than a landmark in modern crime fiction." —The Times, UK
From Ragnar Jónasson, the award-winning author of the international bestselling Ari Thór series, The Girl Who Died is a standalone thriller about a young woman seeking a new start in a secluded village where a small community is desperate to protect its secrets.
Teacher Wanted At the Edge of the World
Una wants nothing more than to teach, but she has been unable to secure steady employment in Reykjavík. Her savings are depleted, her love life is nonexistent, and she cannot face another winter staring at the four walls of her shabby apartment. Celebrating Christmas and ringing in 1986 in the remote fishing hamlet of Skálar seems like a small price to pay for a chance to earn some teaching credentials and get her life back on track.
But Skálar isn’t just one of Iceland’s most isolated villages, it is home to just ten people. Una’s only students are two girls aged seven and nine. Teaching them only occupies so many hours in a day and the few adults she interacts with are civil but distant. She only seems to connect with Thór, a man she shares an attraction with but who is determined to keep her at arm’s length.
As darkness descends throughout the bleak winter, Una finds herself more often than not in her rented attic space—the site of a local legendary haunting—drinking her loneliness away. She is plagued by nightmares of a little girl in a white dress singing a lullaby. And when a sudden tragedy echoes an event long buried in Skálar’s past, the villagers become even more guarded, leaving a suspicious Una seeking to uncover a shocking truth that’s been kept secret for generations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this unsettling standalone set in the mid-1980s from Jónasson (the Dark Iceland series), Reykjavík substitute teacher Una, who's ready for a change of scene, accepts an opportunity to teach in the remote fishing village of Skálar, which has only 10 residents, two of them girls aged seven and nine. Una moves into an attic room in the home of one of the girl's mothers, and soon finds how insular and isolated Skálar is. Meanwhile, to Una's distress, she has visions in the room of a girl singing a lullaby. A neighbor discloses that a girl named Thrá died in the house in 1927 under mysterious circumstances, and is rumored to still haunt it. A shocking death in the present and a local conspiracy connected to a missing person add to Una's fears. Jónasson makes Una's plight feel vivid and immediate, and effectively uses the isolated setting to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. While this packs less of a punch than the author's best work, it's far superior to most similarly themed thrillers.
Customer Reviews
The Girl Who Died
I really enjoyed reading this book and about Iceland. I like this author. It reminded me of The Shining - also set in an isolated frozen spot. I was disappointed in the ending and felt that there were too many questions left unanswered. Crime definitely does not pay, and being haunted by innocent girls is the price to pay for secrets and lies. There were so many innocent victims that should be freed.
Skip this one for sure
Interesting premise, but major letdown. Not really a compelling mystery or even story here. Didn’t really like any of the characters either. Worst of the 36 books I’ve read so far this year.