The Fallout (Childrens House #6) by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Genre: Nordic noir, Crime thriller
Read: 3rd July, 2022
Published: 12th May 2022
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
A murdered woman. A missing child. And a father intent on revenge.
On a cold day in Reykjavik, a baby goes missing from her pram. When the child's blanket washes up on the beach, and the mother is found dead, everyone's worst fears seem to have been realised.
Eleven years later, and detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are now working in the same police building, on the same team. Freyja believes that personal and professional relationships must remain separate, however hard that may be. But when a woman's dismembered body is found in a deserted car, her head missing, and Freyja and Huldar find themselves working on the same case, the secrecy around their affair threatens to crack. And when Freyja is accused of a serious breach of police protocol, will Huldar be able to help her? Meanwhile, their search to identify the body takes the case back into secrets of the past, and the unspoken crimes that bind three separate families.
MY THOUGHTS:
11 years ago - A baby is stolen from the pram on the patio while her father ais showering.
5 months ago - the funeral of 10 year old Iris who passed away from the measles & her father becomes obsessed with finding out who she caught it from.
Now - plastic bags containing body parts are found in the trunk of a car.
I went through a stage of enjoying nordic noir but when I requested this I didn't know it was part of a series. And I have not read any of the previous five books in this Children's Home series. Did I miss out on any backstory or connections by jumping partway in? I don't know. However, it is still a good solid read with that atmospheric nordic air about it.
There is a creepy air about the murders but against the procedural side of things comes a chemistry between the two main characters - Freyja and Hulder. There has been so much of will they or won't they between police partners in other series that I just want them to get on with the crime at hand and to solve that. I'm not here for the romance but the thriller aspect of the story.
But what we also must endure is the anti-vaxxers or naysayers that is very real in today's society with regards to the COVID vaccine. In this case it's measles, but hey, an anti-vaxxer is an anti-vaxxer. Why just today on our news was a toddler in hospital with the first case of diphtheria seen in our country in over 100 years! Was he/she vaccinated? No. There's your answer. And quite frankly, I am tired of anti-vaxxers thinking they know better. Yes, it's their choice but don't shove it in our faces and don't jump up and down and blame the rest of us when you or your child fall ill to something potentially deadly that could have easily been prevented with a vaccine. But that is a whole other matter altogether. It does, however, raise readers' emotions on the issue as well as some of the characters at the heart of that plotline also.
While this is a crime thriller, I didn't quite feel the palpable tension that I have in other gritty crime reads. Maybe I felt something lost in translation as I have with some books that have not been written in English but translated from its native language. The author is an accomplished writer, that goes without saying.
And of course, at the heart of the story is the eleven year old cold case in the disappearance of baby Mia coupled with the discovery of a dismembered corpse in the boot of a car. It was slow to start initially but it did warm up.
It's not the best thriller I've read but it is still a good solid read. There are plenty of twists to be had entwined with dark themes to keep you relatively engaged.
I would like to thank #YrsaSigurðardóttir, #NetGalley and #HodderBooks for an ARC of #TheFallout in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Yrsa is married with two children, and she has a career as a civil engineer. She lives with her family in Reykjavik.
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