I don’t know why, but I made a significant error of omission by not reading THE LEGACY, the first installment in Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s Children’s House series. I was familiar with the author’s previous work, but somehow this one got past me. I will correct that mistake after I tell you about THE RECKONING, book two in the series. It has everything you want in a police procedural: strong, memorable characters, a puzzling mystery and bizarre murders, all served up perfectly.

The Children’s House is a counseling service in Reykjavik for abused and troubled children. Freyja is employed as a child psychologist there, somewhat to her dissatisfaction, and Huldar is a detective. Sigurdardottir (with the fine assistance of translator Victoria Cribb) deftly notes for newcomers that Huldar and Freyja worked on a case together in THE LEGACY that was successfully solved but resulted in both of them being demoted from supervisory positions. Huldar is more than satisfied with being a worker bee, but such a career status does not suit Freyja. They were also transitory lovers, a situation that did not last long. Huldar still carries a torch, while Freyja protests a bit too much in denying the flicker that still occasionally burns.

"THE RECKONING makes for addicting reading. The believable odd-couple matchup of Huldar and Freyja is neither cloying nor precious, a fine line for an author to walk and one that Sigurdardottir does very well."

Their paths cross again in THE RECKONING when a 10-year-old time capsule placed by a group of high school students is unearthed. An anonymous letter apparently written by one of the teens seems to threaten the lives of 10 people who are identified only by their initials. Huldar is assigned to investigate matters, a task that he considers to be busy work. He becomes busy indeed when a set of detached hands are discovered in a garden. When its homeowner is later murdered --- with his initials matching one of the individuals mentioned in the time capsule letter --- it appears that whoever wrote the letter to their future self is taking things seriously. Huldar determines the author of the letter, who in turn is tenuously connected to the rape and murder of a child that occurred several years before.

Freyja is brought in as a consultant when it develops that the House, and one of its employees, is connected to the letter writer as well. Huldar jumps from one evidentiary ice flow to another as proof of what has occurred in the past has seemingly vanished by design, hampering his ability to get to the truth. He, of course, is also figuring out what he can do to get back with Freyja, but that relationship seems all but doomed. Or is it? The book concludes satisfactorily, if not neatly, but the question of what will happen between them is left for another day.

THE RECKONING makes for addicting reading. The believable odd-couple matchup of Huldar and Freyja is neither cloying nor precious, a fine line for an author to walk and one that Sigurdardottir does very well. The mortar of the book, though, is the mystery, with its seeds in the past and gruesome blossoming in the present. There is some grim humor presented to counterpoint the nastiness of the crimes committed, with both elements well-paced and harrowing right up to the final pages. You can start here, but you’ll want to seek out THE LEGACY once you’re finished, just as I’m about to do.