Review: Gallows Rock by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

When Huldar’s team is called to investigate a suicide within sight of the presidential palace, it seems straight-forward enough. Remove the hanging corpse before any of the political big-wigs can spot the body. However, once they arrive at the scene, it is evident that this hanging was no suicide. As if a murder disguised as a suicide wasn’t bad enough, when the police search the dead man’s apartment, it contains a four-year old boy not related to the victim, with no recollection of how he got there.

As Huldar and Freja team up to find the little boy’s home, it becomes increasingly obvious that the there’s a link between the murder, and the child’s missing family, they just don’t know what it is yet, and time is running out.

Sigurdardottir hasn’t earned the title of the Queen of Nordic Noir for nothing – this fourth installment in the Freja and Huldar series is simply brilliant. Not only does Sigurdardottir have a talent for dark story-telling, but she has created characters they never bore, and are still fresh and interesting after several installments. Add to this her flair for the macabre, and you have all the makings of a great book, that keeps you hooked from the first page.

Gallows Rock is a brilliant commentary on the social ills of class, wealth, and gender-based violence, all while being action-packed and deliciously dark. The author has a definite skill for discussing important themes through a lens that’s dusted with a bit of horror and a dash of the mind-blowing, making her books enjoyable and addictive, and Gallows Rock is no exception. With good writing and a great story line, what more could you want?

Gallows Rock by Yrsa Sigurdardottir is published by Hodder & Stoughton, and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.