The Silence of The Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardsttir

An abandoned yacht, a missing family, a chilling crime. 'Mummy dead, daddy dead, Adda dead, Bygga dead.' The child sighed and clutched her grandmother's leg. 'All dead.'

Waiting on the dock at Reykjavik harbour is an elderly couple with a small child, they are waiting for the rest of their family - their son, daughter in law and twin granddaughters. Their son was working for an insurance company detailed to ensure the safe arrival of a yacht. He thought it would be a nice treat for his wife and twin children to join him.

The luxury yacht, repossessed from its crooked wealthy owner arrives and crashes into the harbour. There is nobody on board, the vessel is empty. What has happened to the crew, and to the family who were on board when it left Lisbon?

The police investigate but are baffled and unable to provide answers. The elderly couple are looking after their youngest granddaughter and are worried about her future. They hire Thora Gudmundsor to investigate the disappearance, and to collect on the large life insurance policy, the money to be put aside for the child. They hope that because Thora isn't police she will have easier access to information.

Thora is soon drawn into the mystery. What should she make of the rumours saying that the vessel was cursed, especially given that when she boarded the yacht she thought she saw one of the missing twins? Where is Karitas, the glamorous young wife of the yacht's former owner? And is the body that washed up further along the shore connected to the yacht?

A well written, very absorbing story, alternately narrated by Thora as she investigates, and the story of those that started out on the yacht. Clues abound, discoveries made and eventually the truth is revealed.

∼ Happy Reading ∼

Polly x