I’m not exactly sure what high blood pressure is, but I’m pretty sure I have it after concluding Reykjavik.

This book right here put me on a ride of a lifetime . There was no slowing down, I was thrown right into the chaos. Every time I caught my breath, I was gut punched by another twist and left speechless.

This book right here is THE book of the year and I want to be the first to let you know all that this book is a must read for all suspense lovers!

Once again i received the highest honor imaginable by being allowed to read and review this sure to be best seller before its release date.

Teaser :

What happened to Lára?

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Reykjavik, my first by Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson. I read this during a recent visit to Reykjavík, and the book provided a terrific atmosphere for my stay. The book mentions the 1986 summit between Reagan and Gorbachev, held at the Hofdi House, which I saw during my trip.
The story centers around a cold case from 1956 when 15-year-old Lara Marteinsdóttir disappears from her summer job as a maid for a prominent couple, Ottar Oskarsson and Olof Blondal, at their home on Videy, a small island off the coast of Reykjavík. The policeman who investigates, Kristján Kristjánsson, is discouraged by his superiors from questioning the couple, as well as other high-profile persons of interest. At first, the police chief discounts the case as a runaway teen who doesn't want to be found, but as time passes with no trace of her (nor evidence of foul play) the media picks up the story, turning it into the mystery of the decade.
Publicity eventually dies down, but every decade or so, on the anniversary of Lara's disappearance, some reporter revives the tale, fueling renewed interest and speculation about whatever happened to her. Kristján Kristjánsson is interviewed, and he considers the unsolved case the greatest failure of his career.
In 1986, in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Reykjavik's foundation, upcoming young journalist Valur Róbertsson starts an investigation into Lára´s case. He runs into the same stonewalling Kristjánsson faced in 1956, and even Kristjánsson is not very helpful. But new leads from an anonymous source promise to shed some light on the mystery.
There are lots of characters with long, Icelandic names, and the story is told from multiple viewpoints over a period of 30 years. The major viewpoint characters are Kristjánsson, Valur, and Valur's younger sister, Sunna. The pacing is a little slow, but the story held my attention, and there was an interesting twist at the end.
Recommended for fans of cold cases and Icelandic noir.

As a huge fan of Nordic Noir master Jo Nesbo (of Harry Hole fame), I was excited to read Ragnar Jonasson’s missing person mystery, “Reykjavik.” However, this multi-narration novel left me blah, and I would read something else then pick it up again later and try again to get interested—perhaps it was lost in translation this time because I hear fabulous things about Jonasson’s writing.

This story centers around the disappearance of 14-year-old Lara from her job as a live-in housekeeper on an isolated island at a wealthy couple’s home in 1956. They claim to know nothing. Did she drown? Did they kill her? Did one of their guests murder her? Someone knows something, but no one is talking.

Thirty years later this cold case is revisited. What new clues can Icelandic authorities discover about Lara’s alleged vanishing so long after the fact?

TheBookMaven graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Ragnar Jonasson, and Publisher Minotaur Books for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

I’ve been a fan of some of Ragnar Jonasson’s other books so I was curious to read this one. This time, it’s written in partnership with Katrin Jacobsdottir, and maybe that explains some of the clunkiness. The language is basic, although most scenes are easy to envision.
The story starts in 1956 when a 15 year old girl goes missing from her summer employment on an island outside Reykjavik. The young policeman handling the investigation is not allowed to fully investigate this case (due to her employers’ status and friends in high places). He continues to be haunted by his inability to solve it. Thirty years later and it’s still an open case when a young reporter decides to write a series of articles about her.
The book moved at a glacier’s pace and lacked drama. There are three sections, each having its own main character. There’s not a lot of character development to make up for the lack of excitement. The ending had a decent twist. It was an ok story but one I’ll probably forget in a few days’ time.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Reykjavik by Ragnar Jonasson

I haven't read much Nordic Noir. It's not a genre that I ever thought about before. But after reading Reykjavik and being hooked from the first page it's a genre that I've adding to my reading list.

Like others have said, this was a slow burn, but still very intriguing. I’ve only recently gotten into “Nordic Noir”, and while this one doesn’t have all the action and drama that a Stieg Larsson book has, I still enjoyed it very much. There was quite a bit of telling, not showing, but I am not sure if this was a result of the writing itself or the translation. It wasn’t enough to bother me, but it could have given the story a bit more oomph had it been edited out. One thing I will say is that the protagonist changes midway through the story. I’m generally not a fan of that, and it’s hard to make that work in my opinion. So it was hard to form attachments to some of the characters because they weren’t with me the whole time. With that being said, I think the story was done well.

Huge thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

I am a long time fan of Scandi mysteries, especially those set in Iceland. Though I have not read anything by Katrin Jakobsdottir, I have enjoyed books by Ragnar Jonasson so the chance to read this was a treat. Likewise, I know from previous books that Victoria Cribb is an excellent translator. The authors and the translator did not disappoint. Billed as a crime story, the action begins in the 1950s. A young girl, Lara, disappears while working on a vacation island off the coast of Iceland. The country is stunned, especially since the crime is never solved. Periodically updates are published, continuing to ask the public for help. The decades go by without a solution.

In the 1980s, while the city of Reykjavik plans a celebration of its two hundred anniversary, a local journalist decides to investigate Lara's disappearance again. What he finds is far more complex a case with secrets still tightly held after all those years. The investigation threatens those involved in the crime and dire events occur.

Though this novel is billed as a crime story it is also a reexamination of the 1980s culture of Iceland and even other world events happening at the time. I found it fascinating to revisit that decade while reading the crime story. The authors did a wonderful job depicting the culture of the time. They serve up a clever combination of crime and culture.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley.

This Icelandic crime story about a long missing teenager who vanished from an island was not my first book from Ragnar Jonasson, but it was indeed the first book ever by Katrin Jakobsdottir, the Prime Minister of Iceland. This wasn't my favorite of the Jonasson books I've read. At first I thought the translation might have been a bit clunky, but that soon improved. I just wish it had been more atmospheric and descriptive. Otherwise, it was just fine.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of the manuscript.

Another winner from Ragnar Jonasson, the storyline is well written and keeps you guessing right till the end. His books are always a joy to read and this book doesn’t disappoint.

This was totally enthralling and captivating.
I loved the setting - we need more books set in Iceland!
I LOVED the afterword.

This was so well written, really kept you engaged, guessing and on the edge of your seat.

A crime novel set in Reykjavik, Iceland in the late 50s and then again in the 80s when journalist Valur reviews the 30 year-old story for his newspaper, attempting to solve the disappearance of a 15 year-old maid on an island a few miles of the coast. The story is first told by Valur and picked up later in the novel by his sister Sunna which gives great perspective on both of their characters. The newspaper setting seems true to life (having worked at a newspaper). As is the self-doubt expressed by the protagonists. Tension could have been greatly heightened if the culprit had been suspected of the crime much sooner in the story.

A very enjoyable mystery in what is, for me, a far off land. Even so, the characters are believable and relatable. Journalist Valur Robertsson, very much a rookie in the reporting industry, becomes intrigued with the 30 year old disappearance of Lára Marteinsdóttir, who was working as a house maid for a prominent couple on the small island of Videy. Lára leaves her position early but never makes it to the mainland, and speculations abound as to whether she is still on the island, if she's dead or alive, is she in hiding in Reykjavik or elsewhere. It quickly becomes apparent that a person or persons does not want the mystery solved, and Valur receives some communications that indicate that he is on the right track. The story is picked up by his younger sister Sunna after Valur's untimely death and between the two of them, the story progresses.

There were places in this story where I felt the writing was not as strong as it could have been, and I would have liked more details about Lára. She almost seems like an afterthought, as I felt like I didn't know her well. A little more of her story would have made the book a little more complete for me. But overall this was a great read and I would highly recommend it!

My ARC was provided by the publisher and by NetGalley, the opinions expressed herein are my own.

In the afterword, Jakobsdóttir explains how she and Jónasson wrote this novel as a throwback to their youth, and how they had a lot of fun reminiscing about their favorite decade. I grew up in the 80s, so I vaguely recalled some of the events in the background and it was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between my recollections and what happened in Iceland. The subject matter being a disappearance in a small Icelandic island in 1956 that lingers for three decades reminded me of one of my favorite writers, Erlendur Sveinsson. The pacing was also similar in that it’s a slow-burn, with a strong focus on the historical background. That said, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have. The mystery was compelling, if a little predictable, and the cast of characters was solid enough that I was rooting for them. My problem was that I couldn’t connect with anyone, maybe because the lead changes over time. I also think that the plot was drown in too much historical detail. I enjoyed knowing that the radio was playing Madonna, but the content of the two TV stations became distracting when all I wanted was to know what had happened to Lára. I’m sure many readers will enjoy this novel, it was just not for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books!

Completely captivating and just what I needed to read. This will keep your mind guessing and your head spinning. Highly recommend to readers of all types.

What level of class privilege is necessary for a celebrated lawyer and his wife to allow a young teen to allegedly leave their home without ensuring the child was safely returned home? And this was in 1956, when even having a 15-year-old from a middle-class family employed far from home was, at least in the US, almost unheard-of.

That’s the basis for Reykjavik, a mystery set in Iceland in the mid-1980s, and for mystery lovers bored with the repetitious kind of narrative and characters that tend to be standard fare, it’s a definite candidate for the TBR pile.

One of the pleasures of reading mysteries set in the past is watching detectives using their brains to track evidence and deal with suspects instead of a battery of technological bells and whistles. It’s also the reason why cases more easily went cold, especially if direct effort was employed to ensure that happened. In this case, however, the solution to who killed Lara is obtained using completely non-tech methods.

In brief, 30 years after the fact young journalist Valur Robertsson takes on an investigative project to determine whether he can solve the disappearance of Lara Marteinsdottir, who went to work on Videy, an island off the coast from the city of Reykjavik, and never came home. He begins to unravel secrets those keeping them want to remain hidden. Then, a mysterious phone call opens a crack in the wall of silence—and Valur, too, is murdered.

The cold case might have gone back into the freezer at that point, but the murderer didn’t count on Valur’s sister Sunna, who decides she needs to complete her brother’s investigation.

To some degree, this book might be considered a cozy mystery, given the sleuth isn’t a detective but a university student whose beloved brother is murdered when it seems he’s getting too close to the truth. However, the style is much more interesting than the all-too-often cookie-cutter format of cozy mysteries. It’s a story about finding the culprit, but it’s also about how the process of doing so affects those most closely involved in doing it, and the personal changes they experience.

In US mysteries, most of the focus is on a handful of characters as the sleuth and/or detective goes about solving the crime. Here, we meet one after another of not just potential suspects or witnesses but groups of married couples, business partners and similar social clusters, and are invited to meet them, to form a relationship. We learn some of their darkest secrets, so they’re never just sketches to keep us anchored to the plot—passers-by on the way to the Big Reveal.

There’s also a level of intimacy missing from much genre fiction, in that Icelandic naming conventions lead to everyone referring to others using their Christian names. Even so, the division between the wealthy and powerful and the rest of the population lurks beneath the surface.

What’s fascinating about this novel is that all the clues are made available, and one might even begin to feel slightly suspicious, but when the murderer is finally revealed it still comes as a surprise. Perhaps that because the alternative suspects are all such arrogant members of the Upper Crust one’s prejudices there’s a lower-class urge to really want one of them to be guilty. And one of them is, of course, but you’ll have to read the book to find out which.

I enjoyed this title quite a bit. It wasn’t quite a cozy - it had a darker thriller line running through it. However the writing kept me reading. The characters were interesting. However many of them seemed to pop up and then not go anywhere (like Pall’s wife and Olof and Gunner). And the murderer really came out of nowhere. Don’t love it when the reader doesn’t have all the facts.
Sunna and Valur were great. The police officer was another charter that felt incomplete.
I did like this book. But it feels like it has a lot of loose threads.

Reykjavík is a tour de force. It is a really riveting read which serves as a loving homage to the best of Icelandic noir. It's a great genre book which deserves the full attention of the reading public. Jónasson and Jakobsdóttir have written a mystery about a teen girl who seemingly vanished into thin air one night in the 1956. Is she dead? Is she still alive? Those are questions the authors revisit in 1966, 1976, and 1986 through the eyes of their characters. It is a hunt for truth which keeps the readers enthralled from beginning to end. The conclusion is deftly done by these two masters. You'll applaud both at the end. I read the book in one setting. I think you'll do the same too. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A remote island,Videy, off the coast of Reykjavik, is the last place that 15 year old Lara is seen. It’s been 30 years with no sign of her, but her parents still hold onto the hope that she is alive.
A young journalist,Valur, becomes determined to solve this case. There were only two other people on the island,Lara’s employers, who claim she decided to leave with very little notice. They have no idea who picked her up or where she went next. Valur gets an anonymous tip, stating that Lara is dead. While he pursues any lead he can, he seems to be having no more luck than the police in solving this baffling mystery.
But another tragedy strikes and someone else Sunna(Valur’s sister), decides that she must figure out what happened to this young girl. This wasn’t as fast paced as some of the books I’ve read by this author, perhaps because he had a co-author, and they were just going for more character driven mystery. There are a lot of characters,and except for the ones I ruled out by their age, everyone seemed like they might be guilty at one point. I did not guess whodunnit. Probably thanks to the authors providing so many red herrings.
Even though I really didn’t feel like I got to know Lara, I still wanted justice for her, and for someone else in the story too( no spoilers). One thing that was provided was an extremely helpful pronunciation guide. I really appreciated that.

Reykjavik
In 1956 15 year old Lara took a summer job on Videy, a small island off Reykjavik. The Oskarssons, the wealthy couple she worked for, were the only people residing on the island. Lara’s parents became concerned when she did not make her weekly call home. The police were notified and Kristjan was put in charge of the case.When he investigated, the Oskarssons told him that Lara had suddenly quit her job, taken her belongings and left. She was never seen again.
Kristjan was hampered by his superiors when he tried to further question the influential Oskarssons. Although the case was news all over the tiny country (about 150,000 inhabitants) it remained unsolved.
Thirty years later Valur, a young reporter on a weekly newspaper, decided to conduct his own investigation of this cold case. He wrote a series of articles after questioning Lara’s parents, Kristjan, the Oskarssons and others who knew Lara. He also received an anonymous phone call and a cryptic letter at the newspaper office. Then Valur was pushed in front of a bus and killed.
Sunna, his sister, was convinced that Valur was murdered because of his involvement in Lara’s disappearance. So Sunna took up her own investigation into the case and was able to solve the 30 year old mystery.
I was fascinated in this book because I have recently visited Iceland. The authors, an award winning writer and the Prime Minister of Iceland, wrote most of this book together during Covid lockdown. They used historical events like the 200 year anniversary of the city and the meeting of Gorbachev and Reagan as a backdrop to the story.
I enjoyed the story as I learned many things about life in a city of this tiny county.
I received this ARC from the publisher and NewGalley in exchange for an honest review.