Why a Booktrail?
2005: Just what are the last Rituals?
Last Rituals
Why a Booktrail?
2005: Just what are the last Rituals?
What you need to know before your trail
At a university in Reykjavík, the body of a young German student is discovered, his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest.
However when the police make an arrest, the victim’s family is convinced that they have the wrong man. They arrange to get another opinion and so ask
Thóra Guðmundsdóttir to investigate.
Thóra soon discovers that the student had a rather unhealthy obsession with Iceland’s history of witch hunts and torture.
What does this mean to the investigation and just what are Thora and her associate Matthew Reich getting themselves into?
Travel Guide
LAST RITUALS is a story about exactly that – the rituals involved in witchcraft and religion in medieval Europe but before you go scurrying in the darkest corner to escape, fear not, for this story is not heavy going and fits nicely with the perception many of us have of cold Iceland and what goes on behind dark curtains..
The crime itself takes place in a university department (a student is murdered), and the solution is linked to research that the victim was carrying out in this area. His murder is highly staged and when a fellow-student who works at the hospital morgue is arrested, it seems like a bizarre ritual of sorts.
A 15th-century treatise on witchcraft, the Malleus Malificarum, written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers is featured in the author’s notes but we haven’t read it as we’re too scared.
For those of you with more of a stomach for the supernatural side of things, we also recommend the very real Museum of Witchcraft in Holmvik which features on the book. Once again we’re too scared to go but we’ve heard it’s fantastic!
Streetview Maps
C) Hotel Borg
E) Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Last Rituals
Author/ Guide: Yrsa Sigurdardottir Destination: Reykjavík Departure Time: 2005
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