This book is uses a dual timeline that moves from past to present. However, readers view the events in the past through their own lens. When the timeline moves forward 10 years, we view events through Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir's eyes. I appreciate how her life story is revealed when she reflects back on her life 10 years before, in 1987 and how different her life is 10 years later.

Although the bulk of the story focuses on the mystery at hand, viewing Hermannsdóttir's backstory was integral to the story's success. Hermannsdóttir is a tragic figure but one I am drawn to reading about.

If anyone is looking for a mystery that doesn't read like a typical police procedural, I'd recommend this series to them.