Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Last Rituals | 2005 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
| 2 | Trzeci znak | 2005 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 3 | My Soul to Take | 2006 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
| 4 | Neem mijn ziel | 2006 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 5 | Ashes to Dust | 2007 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
| 6 | Cenere | 2007 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 7 | De donkere dag | 2008 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 8 | The Day is Dark | 2008 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
| 9 | Horfðu á mig | 2009 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 10 | Someone to Watch Over Me | 2009 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
| 11 | Brakið | 2011 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | N/A |
| 12 | The Silence of the Sea | 2011 | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Buy |
The Thora Gudmundsdottir series established Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s international reputation. Starting with Last Rituals (2005), in which a foreign exchange student is found dead at the University of Iceland with disturbing symbols carved into his body, the series runs through twelve books and takes Thora across Iceland’s varied geography — volcanic landscapes, remote fjords, ice fields, and the capital Reykjavik.
The cases often involve Iceland’s past — Viking history, the 1973 Westman Islands volcanic eruption in Ashes to Dust, isolated communities with old secrets — giving the series a strong sense of place rooted in real Icelandic geography and history. Someone to Watch Over Me (Book 5) won the Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year, and The Silence of the Sea (Book 6) won the Petrona Award. The series is best read in order, as Thora’s personal life develops alongside the investigations.