Fascinating and complicated mystery set in a cold and dark Icelandic winter. A 40 year old cold case murder is being investigated by a podcaster, Nora. She connects with Agnes, the granddaughter of the victim and main suspect. Things get complicated quickly when a woman disappears. Dark and twisty mystery.

I received an ARC of this book, and overall I enjoyed it. It was interesting reading a book based in Iceland, that was a first for me. It was a good story, however it was a little slow for me at times. It did have a good twist at the end, and I really felt as though I was inside of the main characters head. The author painted a clear picture of who she was and how she was feeling throughout the whole book. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a unique thriller, and wanting a change of pace from a lot of the usual plot lines!

3.5 stars. A good intriguing cold case murder with some current mystery for the granddaughter to try and unravel the truth about the murder of her grandmother and aunt. Great descriptive writing for the Icelandic wintery scene. It was nice that we were having a bit of a wintry mix a couple of the days I was reading this.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost House presented as a gripping icy thriller. The blurb sounded amazing. The author does an amazing job at describing the scene and there were times when I felt I was in Iceland so major points there however the sorry never pulled me in. I kept going because I wanted to see how it ended as the book did have parts that interested me. The ending wrapped up well so for those that can make it to the end you will be happy.

I do think that everyone should form their own opinion on this book as I may not be the target audience or in the minority. I will recommend this book to my group. 2.5 rounded up.

I loved this tense, character-driven mystery. The pace of the novel is excellent and the mystery is absorbing. The characters, especially the main character, Agnes, have depth and authenticity. The sense of place, remote countryside in Iceland, pervades the novel, and the chill, forbidding atmosphere increases the eerie quality of the narrative as it moves toward its climax and resolution. Agnes's journey towards wholeness and restored relationships is believable and touching; I was rooting for her all the way. I'll definitely seek out more from this author.

I enjoyed this slow burn murder mystery.

A woman and child were brutally killed in Bifrost, Iceland forty years ago. The husband was immediately a suspect, but he departed the country with his son, leaving the case unresolved. Fast forward to the present, and Agnus, the man's granddaughter, travels to Iceland to clear her grandfather's name. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnus teams up with Nora, a true crime podcaster, to investigate and solve the murder once and for all, only to come across another potential murder.

I appreciated the author's use of description. I could feel Agnus’s pain and her withdrawal symptoms as she was feeling them. I could also feel the brutality of the Icelandic winter, which seemed like its own character in the story.

Thank You St. Martin's Press for sending me this ARC through NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

It was really slow to start and eventually picked up. I would consider it a thriller, the only suspenseful part was at the end. It was okay.

The Lost House was, unfortunately, a let down for me. Larsen's vivid descriptions of the bleak and frigid Icelandic landscape set the tone well, and the plot itself is intriguing; a decades-long unsolved mystery and a new podcast featuring the granddaughter of the alleged murderer is a great setup. However, all of the characters are pretty unlikeable, the pacing is slow for the first two parts of the book, and there's a lot of repetition regarding the knee and ankle injury of Agnes, the main character, which was tiresome. The ending nicely wrapped up the mystery and provided a fair bit of action, but it took too long to get to that point and I probably would've given up on this one if I hadn't received an ARC. 2.5 stars rounded up because the ending is good if readers can make it there.

This is so amazing! I really felt for our girl. Her relationship with her grandpa defined her life, but now she is visiting his home to investigate the murder of her grandmother. As she unpacks things she experiences so much pain and also encounters so much danger. The ending was perfect!

This is a read only in the winter book because the setting of Bifrost, Iceland. and all of the snow made me feel so cold! I thought the podcast was a good plot device to get her to go this area. The book is a little slow going at times but I felt like the mystery was solid.

4 stars

I really enjoyed this chilling (sorry!) tale and the mysteries and answers included in it!

Agnes has a complicated past and present. 40 years ago, her Icelandic grandfather was accused of killing his wife and their young child (her grandmother and aunt). His departure to the US does not offer much in the way of solid PR for his case. Now that he has passed, Agnes has come to Iceland to unravel the mystery and to discover if this man she adored could possibly have been responsible for the crime so many are certain he committed.

This premise is fascinating, but it is only made better by Agnes's more recent personal demons. Also, the setting and the ancillary characters add so much to Agnes's quest for answers. She's just a riveting character in my opinion (especially for the genre), and all of the details make for a solidly engaging listen. I liked getting snippets of her grandfather through her memories, too.

I'll be back for more from this author and recommend this read for a cold winter's day.

My favorite part of THE LOST HOUSE by Melissa Larsen, was the descriptions of Iceland. The extreme conditions of that area added to the uniqueness of the novel.

This mystery begins forty years ago when a mother and baby are found buried in the snow in Iceland. The mother’s throat had been cut, but the baby had been drowned. All suspicions fall on the husband, who had fled to California with their surviving son.

Years after the double murder, Agnes. the granddaughter, is trying to clear her grandfather’s name. And she, herself, is recovering from an injury. Agnes returns Iceland for an interview with old friend and podcaster, for Nora Carver. That same week, another local girl goes missing.

The Lost House was my first book by Melissa Larsen and was a good read for the winter season. The icy, cold setting of Iceland set the tone of the story of an unsolved murder mystery.

Agnes is a woman that has known a little bit about her family's history, but wanted to return to the place that held all the secrets and to hopefully clear her grandfather's name while working with a true crime podcaster (Nora). 40 years ago, Agnes' grandmother and infant were found murdered in the snow. Shortly after, her grandfather and his son (Agnes' father) fled Iceland for America. All clues pointed to her grandfather killing his wife and child, but he wasn't convicted. Nora decides to investigate the cold case on her podcast and Agnes wants to clear her grandfather's name. As they work together to uncover the past and investigate, history and truths are uncovered. And then a current missing woman case begins to intertwine with the past.

First of all, I love a good setting that sets the tone. The small Icelandic town and its inhabitants did that. I also love the true crime podcast aspect because that is current and relatable. Combining those two things along with an old murder mystery along with the current missing woman case added to the heightened suspense. For that, I understood the slow build at the beginning, but that gave way to being repetitive because it was so slow.

While there were some positive aspects, the pacing and an unnecessary relationship that didn't help push the story forward are what drew me out of really enjoying the overall story. I liked the main characters and the fact that Agnes was so flawed and real, but wish more happened in the first 2/3 of the story to amp up my excitement that I felt in the last little bit. Even if I predicted who was connected to everything early on, the eerie, frigid setting was the true highlight in the end.

If you like a mystery suspense that is heavy on the setting, The Lost House is worth checking out.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Melissa Larsen, beautifully narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!
Forty years ago in Iceland, a young mother and her infant daughter were brutally murdered. No one was ever charged, but the community was convinced it was the woman’s husband. When he fled for the US, it proved his guilt to them. In the present, Nora is working on a podcast of the story and the man’s granddaughter, Agnes, has agreed to fly from California to Iceland to participate. Agnes is healing both physically and mentally from an injury and broken relationship, relying on too many pills to get her through the day. She’s also grieving the loss of her beloved grandfather and is eager to prove his innocence. When she arrives, Nora is swept up in a new story of another young woman who has gone missing and enlists Agnes’ help. Are the two cases related?

The stark Icelandic setting and weather were the perfect backdrop for this haunting tale. The small town’s inhabitants have been convinced of the husband’s guilt and have no use for his granddaughter stirring things up. But now there is not one case to investigate, but two, and there are plenty of suspects. I loved having the audiobook to listen to while I read, especially with the different dialect and language. The narration was beautiful and added depth to the story. Perfect winter mystery!

Agnes has grown up knowing that her grandfather was suspected of murder. Forty years earlier, her grandfather fled Iceland after his wife and infant daughter were murdered, and most of the residents of his small town believed he was guilty. The crime has never been solved. Now Nora Carter, a true crime podcaster, reaches out to Agnes, as she is recording a podcast about her grandfather’s case. Agnes travels to Iceland to participate in the podcast, but shortly before she arrives, a young woman disappears, and it may be connected to the long ago murders.

I had very high hopes for this one, as I’m a lover of the podcast trope, but unfortunately, this one just didn’t really work for me. One of my main issues was the pacing. This book is VERY slow burn, but it feels like nothing happens at all for the middle third of the book, because it’s so slow. Perhaps due to the lack of action, it got very repetitive; it felt like all we were doing was watching Agnes pop pain pills, do something too physically taxing for her body, and then fall asleep. We heard so much about Agnes’ leg injury, but then she would constantly push her body too far, and be shocked by the consequences, which got annoying to read about over and over again. I’m also growing very tired of the pill popping, narrator who doesn’t take care of themselves at all and just kind of stumbles through things, making bad choices, and that was Agnes. I think our female main characters deserve a little better at this point. The relationship in this book, was, in my opinion, completely unnecessary. It was very insta-love, and didn’t really add anything to the story. Finally, the big reveal of what happened was so lacklustre and so bland that I was annoyed that I stuck around for it. Overall, I think this book had a great concept, but needed some editing to tighten things up. I gave it two stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Agnes travels to Iceland to be interviewed for a true crime podcast about a cold case, hoping to clear her grandfather’s name. When she arrives, a local student has just gone missing, and the two cases begin to intertwine. As Agnes learns more about her family’s past, she must face the possibility that her beloved grandfather is actually a murderer.

The story had me hooked, especially in the second half. I had an early theory of how the plot would work out, and while I turned out to be right, the author managed to keep me doubting myself down to the last minute.

The setting was one thing that was done really well - I easily felt the fear and isolation of being lost in the freezing, snow-covered woods. At times, the story was a little slow, and there were a few red flags that went suspiciously unaddressed (like Nora and the cellphone). It was a great winter weekend binge read.

My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin s/Minotaur for allowing me to review this arc.

This was not what I expected from the summary. The premise was great. Agnes, a young woman returns to her former Icelanic home per an invitation from Podcaster Nora to help solve a 40 year old murder in which Agnes grandfather was accused. She also.finds herself involved in a current murder. But the story seemed to stall and drag with the different generation characters and too much background info...Did pick up a bit toward the very end. Just on the fence with this

This chilling thriller is not only in the weather but in the cold case as well.
This book was very atmospheric giving a good feeling of Iceland and the people in Bifrost, Iceland. I read the ebook and audiobook in tandem and I found with both I could easily picture the snow falling, the ice-covered roads, the knee-deep walkways filled with snow, the thrilling moments in the outdoors the sub-zero temperatures and snow storms. I did suspect the correct killer so that lack of surprise was disappointing but it was nice to know I was right!

This story is about Agnes Glin, who goes on a trip to Iceland alone to take part in a cold case podcast by Nora Carver, who is looking into an old cold case in Iceland from 40 years early that involved the murders of Agnes`s grandmother and baby aunt. Agnes’s grandfather, Einar Palsson, was suspected but never charged with the murders and Agnes would like to prove his innocence and clear her family’s name. There is also a subplot line where another local woman has gone missing just before Agnes arrives and Nora suspects it might be linked to past murders as the woman looked a lot like Agnes' grandmother.


Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and for this ARC. This is my honest review.

12/13/2024
Melissa Larsen’s "The Lost House" is an atmospheric and haunting thriller about a troubled young woman, Agnes, invited to her ancestral Icelandic home by a top-rated true crime podcaster (Nora). It's the fortieth anniversary of the gruesome murders of Agnes' grandmother and her infant aunt.

The community has always blamed Agnes' grandfather, but this is a man she loved and adored. There is no way he could have committed such brutal and heinous murders. But her grandfather and father would never speak of that day, and now he's dead. Her relationship with her father has always been a little distant, so nothing stops her from leaving California and doing a little investigation on her own and with this podcaster.

Larsen weaves together an icy web of secrets, tragedy, and relentless determination for redemption from multiple angles and multiple characters - it's really fascinating. From the very first page, I was captivated by the haunting setting of Bifröst, Iceland—its snow-covered landscapes and small-town tensions becoming characters in their own right. Larsen masterfully balances the claustrophobic intimacy of a remote village, that small-town feel where everyone is in your business and knows everything about you, with the vast, freezing cold expanses of the Icelandic winter, creating a palpable sense of unease that lingers throughout.

Agnes is a compelling protagonist; her vulnerability and grit make her journey to uncover the truth deeply personal and engrossing. Her partnership with Nora, who's sharp and ambitious, adds layers of tension and intrigue as old wounds are reopened for Agnes and new mysteries emerge. The dual timelines of the decades-old murder and the present-day disappearance of a college girl are seamlessly interwoven, each revelation more shocking than the last. I often found myself putting the book down and saying - what the....!

Larsen’s writing is both evocative and razor-sharp, pulling readers into a world where every character hides a secret, and nothing is as it seems. The twists are genuinely jaw-dropping, and the final chapters left me breathless. "The Lost House" is an unforgettable exploration of loyalty, betrayal, and the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love. 5+ stars!!

Thank you, #NetGalley, #MelissaLarsen, #StMartinsPress, and #MinotaurBooks, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of #TheLostHouse.