Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (1963) is an Icelandic crime and children’s author. She is one of the most successful Icelandic writers and her work has been published in thirty languages. Her crime debut Last Rituals was published in 2005. It focuses on a young lawyer, the independent single mother Thóra Guðmundsdóttir, who starts investigating a heinous murder at the Icelandic University and which leads her to the history of witchcraft and the inquisition. By now, a number of stories where Guðmundsdóttir must solve mysterious murders  have been published. In the novel My Soul To Take, Guðmundsdóttir must delve into the unpleasant heritage of the Second World War. Characteristic of Nordic Noir, Sigurðardóttir skilfully combines an engaging plot and astute social insights. Sigurðardóttir, who despite achieving success as a writer continues to work as an engineer, has been called an Icelandic equivalent of Stieg Larsson. Yrsa Sigurðardóttir will talk to another well-known crime writer Jason Goodwin at the Estonian Writers’ Union on Saturday, 30 May at 4 pm.