Detective Haldur takes lead on a gruesome murder case, the likes of which have never been seen in Iceland. The only possible lead he has on the murder of a young women is her daughter, who was hidden in the room at the time of the incident, and was greatly affected. Young Margaret warns that the killer mentioned another victim, but the police are powerless to find her until it’s too late, and another body turns up, with no apparent connection other than the horrific murder itself.
While the police chase a ghost on a deadly rampage, Karl is frozen in social limbo, an outcast with a love of radio. While cruising the radio waves one evening, he stumbles across a number station – one which, as the name implies, broadcasts only numbers. When he recognises his own identity number in the stream of numerals, he is intrigued. Copying down the figures, a quick web search brings up results of other people, including a woman who was recently murdered in her home. Could there be a connection? Is it a distasteful prank?
The Legacy is a noir masterpiece. It encapsulates the macabre with such grace that one can’t help but seem more gruesome details, in order to piece together the inner workings of the mind of a disturbed killer. One of the primary concerns with reading a great deal of whodunits (probably my favourite genre) is that you can get pretty darn good at predicting endings and guessing the killer a mere few chapters in. not so with Sigurdardottir; she stays one delicious step ahead of the reader at all times, with an elaborate and truly unique twist that makes the journey of the story not only worthwhile, but deeply satisfying. Top marks!
The Legacy by Ysra Sigurdardottir is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.
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