Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir (b. 1963) is an award-winning, No. 1 best-selling Icelandic crime fiction author. Sigurdardóttir made her crime fiction debut in 2005 with Last Rituals, the first installment in the Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series. She has since gone on to write a number of acclaimed stand-alone thriller novels, and is to date translated into more than 30 languages. With The Legacy, the first novel in the award-winning series about child psychologist Freyja and police detective Huldar, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has consolidated her position as one of the finest crime writers of our time, and a master storyteller at the top of her game.

“Yrsa is a magnificent writer”
-Karin Slaughter

“I can see why so many people are enthusiastic about Yrsa’s work. It’s very engaging, fresh and exciting.”
–James Patterson

“Yrsa is one of the most exciting new voices in the crime thriller world.”
–Peter James

“Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has with her large-scale and genuinely intelligent stories attempted to find the core of Iceland’s distinctive society, and thus pushed the Icelandic crime novel tradition many steps forward.”
–Arne Dahl

“The undisputed queen of Icelandic Noir”
–Simon Kernick

“I love the Children’s House series.”
–Shari Lapena

“Yrsa is a wonderful storyteller. Her stories are atmospheric, mysterious and brilliantly plotted … you will never see the twists coming.”
–Mari Hannah

 

Awards

Shortlisted for Storytel Awards Iceland – Gættu þinna handa Forget Me Not 2024
The Blood Drop (Best Crime Fiction) Iceland – Bráðin The Prey 2021
Shortlisted for the Petrona Award (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year) UK – Aflausn The Absolution 2020
Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award Ireland – Lygi Why Did You Lie 2018
Shortlisted for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis (Best Crime & Thriller of 2017) Germany – Sogid The Reckoning 2017
Shortlisted for the Petrona Award (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year) UK – Lygi Why Did You Lie 2017
Shortlisted for The Blood Drop (Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year) Iceland – Aflausn The Absolution 2017
Shortlisted for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis (Best Crime & Thriller of 2016) Germany – DNA The Legacy 2016
Shortlisted for the Mörda Award (Captivating Crime in Translation) UK – Kuldi The Undesired 2016
Shortlisted for The Blood Drop (Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year) Iceland – Sogid The Reckoning 2016
The Danish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Crime Novel of the Year) Denmark – DNA The Legacy 2016
The Blood Drop (Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year) Iceland – DNA The Legacy 2015
The Petrona Award (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year) UK – Brakid The Silence of the Sea 2015
Shortlisted for the Petrona Award (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year) UK – Horfdu a mig Someone to Watch over Me 2014
Shortlisted for the Glass Key The Nordic Countries – DNA The Legacy 2014
Shortlisted for the Glass Key The Nordic Countries – Eg man thig I Remember You 2011
The Blood Drop (Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year) Iceland – Eg man thig I Remember You 2010
Shortlisted for the Shamus Award US – Ser grefur gröf My Soul to Take 2010
Close award list

Bibliography

Stand-alone

The Black Ice Series

Freyja & Huldar

Thóra Gudmundsdóttir

Related news

The Icelandic Storytel Awards 2024 Shortlist Announced

The nominees for this year’s Icelandic Storytel Awards have been announced. 

The Storytel Awards are an annual event that highlights the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within five categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, YA & Children’s books, and Feelgood.

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s Forget Me Not is nominated in the Suspense category, whilst Jørn Lier Horst’s The Cabin is featured in the Fiction books award. 

Martin Widmark’s The Racecourse Mystery is in the running for the Children’s books award, and Just a Bit More by Simona Ahrnstedt is nominated within the Feelgood category.

Readers will be able to vote for their favorite titles, after which a jury will pick a winner among the five candidates with the most votes in each category.

Jo Nesbø and Yrsa Sigurdardóttir No. 1 and No. 2 in Iceland

The Surge, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s third novel in the Black Ice series, stays firmly put at No. 2 also on the December bestseller list for all genres. Jo Nesbø’s Killing Moon meanwhile climbs to the top of the translated fiction list.

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir No. 2 in Iceland

The Surge, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s third novel in the Black Ice series, shoots to No. 2 on the Icelandic bestseller list in all categories in November.

‘Killing Moon’ and ‘The Prey’ on The Sunday Times list of best crime books of the year

Jo Nesbø’s Killing Moon and Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s The Prey have been chosen by The Sunday Times as two of the best crime novels of 2023. The newspaper calls Killing Moon “not just an unbearably tense thriller, but another of Jo Nesbo’s piercing studies in love and loneliness.” The Prey is described as “mesmerising and atmospheric, with entrancing descriptions of landscape.”

‘The Surge’ Published in Iceland

A skeleton, which appears to have been buried in the ground for many years, is found and exhumed at a recycling center in Reykjavík. Police officers Týr and Karó are not assigned to the case but are asked to assist in a neighbor dispute that has entered hellish territory. Before long, they find themselves involved in a murder case after the conflict takes a deadly turn.

Meanwhile, Gunndís, a young female cook, takes a temporary job onboard a large fishing ship, following in her late father’s footsteps. When she finds a book that belonged to him that should be at the bottom of the sea, she begins to fear that someone on board has it in for her.

Although Týr and Karó do not realize it to begin with, the events are all linked through a horrible accident, many years ago, when a trawler caught on fire and sank to the depths of the ocean with the crew trapped inside.

The Surge is the third installment in Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s thrilling Black Ice series.

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir and Horst & Enger on The Times’ list of 2023’s best crime novels

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s critically acclaimed novel The Prey has been named one of the best crime books of 2023 alongside Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s Stigma, the internationally bestselling fourth Blix & Ramm novel.

The Icelandic Storytel Awards 2023 Shortlist Announced

The nominees for this year’s Icelandic Storytel Awards have been announced. The Storytel Awards have been bestowed to highlight the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within six categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, Feelgood, YA, and Children’s books.

Among the nominees for suspense are Johan Theorin’s Weathered Bones and Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s I See You.

We’re Just Trying to Have Fun by Hálldor Armand Asgeirsson is featured within the non-fiction category.

Simona Ahrnstedt’s High Risk is nominated in the feelgood category, whilst Martin Widmark’s The Saffron Mystery is in the running for the children’s books award.

Readers will be able to vote for their favorite works, after which a jury will pick a winner among the three candidates with the most votes in each category.

‘The Prey’ sixteen weeks on Der Spiegel’s bestseller list

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s blood-curling and unnerving novel The Prey sails to No. 6 on Der Spiegel’s list for trade paperback this week. This marks the sixteenth consecutive week for the novel.

‘Forget Me Not’ published in Iceland

A group of young professionals travel to the Westmann Islands off the coast of Iceland to attend the funeral of a woman that used to be part of their inner circle. The trip which was also supposed to function as a reunion, turns into a nightmare when the aftermath of a party they attended while at university and have tried to forget, hits them full force. Two bodies are found on a rocky beach close to the refurbished lighthouse keeper’s house that the group had stayed in and Iðunn, Týr and Karó are sent to provide the local police assistance.

Forget Me Not, the second installment of the Black Ice series, puts the spotlight on medical examiner Iðunn who grew up on the island and has ghosts of her own she would prefer to keep at bay, all the while having to focus on a complex investigation of murders that seem to make no sense at all.

‘The Prey’ ten weeks on Der Spiegel’s bestseller list

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s blood-curling and unnerving novel The Prey celebrates ten consecutive weeks on Der Spiegel’s bestseller list for trade paperbacks this week.

‘The Prey’ on Der Spiegel’s bestseller list

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s blood-curling stand-alone novel The Prey is No. 7 on the Der Spiegel’s bestseller list this week. This marks the novel’s fourth consecutive week on the list for trade paperback fiction.

‘The Prey’ No. 5 in Germany

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s stand-alone novel The Prey continues to climb the German bestseller list and sails to No. 5  this week. This marks the novel’s third consecutive week on Der Spiegel’s list for trade paperback fiction.

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