This book is a slow burn. It's atmospheric and evocative, and I felt I got to know Iceland as well as the characters. The characters were complex and guarded, making it hard to feel you know much about them enough to root for them, but I think that was part of the vibe of the book. This is Nordic Noir for sure, and if that's your jam, you'll love this one. For me, based on the blurb I was expecting more action and suspense, and while I enjoyed the setting, things just moved too slowly for me.

I love the Scandavian type thrillers and this one is no exception.
The plot was engaging, the main character likeable, and there were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing.

B+/4⭐️

Thanks Netgalley and Minotaur for my advanced copy.

THE LOST HOUSE by Melissa Larsen drew me in with its synopsis and setting in Iceland. The story started out very strong and had me hooked early on, but I felt that it slowed down in the middle before picking up speed in the last 15%.

Our characters are hard to root for, but I think that is the author’s goal. I have no problem reading a book centered around unlikeable characters, but if you do, this probably isn’t the book for you. There didn’t seem to be a lot of substantial growth in our characters but Larsen definitely crafted characters that perpetuated the uncertainty around who our culprit was. Our main character was a fantastic unreliable narrator in a way that progressed the plot forward.

Up until the end, I truly wasn’t sure who our murderer was and even after the reveal I found myself questioning.

Overall, if you’re looking for an atmospheric, winter read, then I recommend giving THE LOST HOUSE a try!

Agnes Glin is perhaps at the lowest point in her life when she arrives in Iceland, the country her father and late grandfather emigrated from some forty years earlier. While she’s thrilled to finally be in the land of her ancestors, she also has misgivings. Her father Magnus, for one, strongly disapproves of the project for which she’s flown out by herself to Reykjavik before driving to his former hometown.

Decades ago, Agnes’ grandmother Marie was found in a snowbank, brutally slaughtered and clutching the drowned body of her infant daughter, Agnes’ namesake. Everyone immediately believed that Einar, Agnes’ grandfather, had killed his much younger wife. While he was never charged with murder, the hostility of his neighbors eventually led Einar to take his older child Magnus and emigrate to America. Magnus grew up, married and had a daughter whom he named Agnes in turn.

Magnus was not the best father, so Agnes got most of her paternal guidance from her grandfather instead. When she finally discovered why they’d left Iceland, she was aghast. There was no way she could reconcile the image of her kind, loving grandfather with a monster who killed his wife and daughter. When Nora Carver, an influential podcaster, invites her to Iceland to tell her family’s side of the story, she jumps at the chance, even though her father is very much against it. Einar has been dead for over a year and Magnus sees no point in rehashing old rumors. But the more time Agnes spends with Nora as they interview the people who knew Marie, the more Agnes feels that she has to defend her gentle grandfather. As Nora says to a somewhat hostile interviewee:

QUOTE
“Tell me about Einar. Her husband.”

“Soulless.”

The sun takes its last breath, then vanishes behind the hills, leaving the room in a sudden, incomplete darkness. The fireplace casts the room in what should be a cozy haze, but it seems like all the color has drained from the room. Soulless. The man who raised her. Agnes should be demanding answers from this woman who seems to know everything about her grandparents’ marriage. But she’s incapable of speech.

She sees her grandfather’s hand, reaching for her own. Weeks to the end. He’d said he could feel it coming. It’ll be okay, he’d told her. He was the one who was dying, and he was comforting her.
END QUOTE

Agnes’ quixotic quest to clear her grandfather’s name is further hampered by the leg injury she still hasn’t fully recovered from, and by the painkiller addiction that she can’t quite shake. A further complication arises when a young woman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Agnes disappears from a party at the house where Einar and Magnus once lived. Ása Gunnarsdóttir was young, beautiful and full of secrets. Nora doesn’t believe that Ása’s disappearance is a coincidence, and decides to cover it alongside the historic case. Agnes soon finds herself inextricably enmeshed in the search for Ása, as it promises to reveal the truth about what happened to Marie as well. Will Agnes like what she uncovers though, as she pushes her body past its limits in the Icelandic winter, in a potentially futile effort to prove her beloved grandfather’s innocence?

I was impressed at the sheer number of twists and turns that were packed into this book. It was genuinely suspenseful trying to figure out whodunnit, as Melissa Larsen had me constantly second guessing myself in much the same way that Agnes does. Agnes herself is a sympathetic heroine despite being recklessly impulsive and often making less than great choices. It’s hard, after all, to lose your independence and to be in constant pain. On top of that, the toll of having to constantly perform gratitude for the help that you get is rarely overstated in the public discourse, if stated at all. This goes double when you’re treated less as a human being by your caregivers than as a problem to be solved:

QUOTE
Agnes has been so taken care of in the past year. There have been so many meals prepared for her. So many schedules realigned. Hands guiding her in and out of chairs and medical offices and clinical eyes on her body, judging how she’s moving, how she’s improving. Her father’s half-hearted attempts at meals. Bananas, protein shakes, toast. The consideration, every wash day, to guide her in and out of a routine that used to be mindless and private. Part of Agnes feels infantilized, a child impotently reaching for a too-high counter. And part of her feels so unbelievably tired of saying “thank you.” Burnt out on the gratitude and the care and the appreciation. Nora’s generosity touches Agnes. But it exhausts her, just as much, if not more.
END QUOTE

Ms Larsen’s sophomore work is an impressive follow-up to her debut, Shutter, showcasing her growing mastery of the thriller form. Smart, queer and with excellent disability representation, this is an absorbing crime novel set in a place not often featured in the genre, if largely due to Iceland’s own low crime rate. That doesn’t make this story any less plausible or gripping, as our determined heroine seeks to save both a reputation and at least one life.

3.5 stars
This book was an interesting. A girl is determined to figure out why her grandfather and dad left Iceland after her grandmother and aunt were murdered. They all suspect her grandfather did it. While there a girl goes missing and they think somehow this is connected but they don’t know how.

The Lost House transports readers to a small town in Iceland where Agne's grandfather and father fled from several years prior after her grandmother was brutally murdered and her grandfather was accused of the crime. While I ultimately did enjoy the story, I felt that it was a bit too slow for my taste. It's extremely atmospheric and surprised me with the twist at the end, but I would categorize this as a slow burn for sure. If that's up you alley, you'll enjoy this.

It was a good book.
Thank you Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5/5 stars

Rating: 3.5* of five

I'll always say yes to cold-weather thrillers. After all, I read, then watched, <i>The Terror</i> with the gruntled hygge of a true Northerner. Now you're waving <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifr%C3%B6st">Bifröst</a> in my face?! Sign me right on up!

The sleuths are, to put it politely, secondary to my enjoyment of the setting. Nora, in particular, grated my nerves like a box-grater does soft cheese. If I met her in meatspace I would either do her grievous bodily harm or turn away in the first moments of listening to her whiny, manipulative BS on her podcast. I was no fonder of Agnes, again finding her crutching of the terrible physical trauma and subsequent drug dependence grounds for whining unpleasant me-me-me behavior. I suffer from grinding chronic pain, am dependent on drugs to continue living, and make a concerted effort not to do what Agnes is helping herself to: Making everything about herself, her pain, her life.

Unpleasant trait in my book. Raised my hackles.

Another hackle-raiser was the author's weird opinion of Icelandic people as credulous...treating Agnes as a sort of avatar or reincarnation of her grandmother, the murder victim, and therefore a carrier of the miasma of bad luck. It seems also a bit on the nose to call the town Bifröst, the name of the rainbow bridge between Earth and the afterlife in Norse myth. I doubt there'd be such a name chosen in Christian Iceland of the nineteenth century or earlier, and the town isn't presented to us as, say, a WWII new-build or something.

Well, anyway, those are the issues that shaved more than a star off my rating...but it's a read I'd tell you to get out of the library soon. I liked the way the author built her atmosphere of distrust at every opportunity. I found it a solid replacement for the identity of the murderer not being in the least surprising.

Bifröst is, <i>pace</i> its nose-thump of a name, a well-realized setting with a readily pictured landscape. It's just enough to get me over the three-star hump. I don't think these characters would, even if they could, draw me into reading a series, but I am not mad I read this book to pleasantly wile away a few hours.

Full of imagery and emotion, The Lost House unfortunately did not pull me in and intrigue me. Granted, Iceland is unfamiliar to me; and while that fact encouraged me to request a preview copy of the novel, I found it difficult to maintain interest. I don’t fault the book, for it seems well received by many readers.

I had higher hopes for this one as the blurb made it seem right up my alley. I kept waiting and waiting for the action to start but it was such a slow burn that I was bored through most of it. By the time anything suspenseful happened, I had sadly lost interest. My thanks to St Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing a digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A captivating Nordic noir thriller with a satisfying conclusion. The beginning started a little slow, but it picked up as the story progressed. Initially I did not care for the FMC Agnes, as her life is a little messy. But as the story unfolds and the reader learns her backstory, I started to empathize and root for her.
My favorite aspect of the story was the setting. The unique and beautiful landscape of Iceland is perfectly described and acts as almost a character itself. The author's ability to describe the backdrop/scene allowed me to picture the story in my mind like a movie. I listened to the audiobook while simultaneously read the book, adding to my visualization of the story. The audiobook also helped with some of the pronunciation of names/places. Saskia Maarleveld, who narrates the book, does a great job differentiating between the many characters.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio for the eARC and audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Nice enough read, though not as exciting as the blurb suggests.

The story: Agnes travels to Iceland to be interviewed by Nora, a true-crimes podcaster. There was a murder in Agnes's family that took place long ago on Agnes's ancestral Iceland lands, and Nora plans to interview her for her program. Coincidentally, a local girl has also gone missing.

My thoughts: I came in expecting a suspenseful mystery, but it took quite a while to get going, and I didn't really connect with Agnes. For a young woman, she seemed a bit on the immature side. She had suffered some vague leg injury that doesn't get explained until the second half of the book. Actually, nothing much happens until nearly the end, when finally, it's edge-of-your-seat time. I am not sure the payoff was worth the long time it took to get there. Further, I think this book is probably meant for a younger female audience.

Thank you to St. Martin's press for a complimentary copy.

I read this book in the complete opposite environment than where this is set: on the beach instead of in Iceland.

The Lost House was the perfect mix of atmospheric and missing person cases. I think the mix of 40 year old cold case and new missing person case was perfectly mixed.

The setting of the old houses seemed like characters themselves due to how descriptive it was.

The main character was not the most reliable, but she wasn't a bad character. I think her character building was strong overall.

I am a big fan of Icelandic-noir books. Add in a podcast-style family mystery, and I am there for it! Saskia was the chocolate sprinkles on top! 💫
Everyone believed Agnes’ grandfather killed his wife and baby daughter, then took his son to the US to escape justice. I enjoyed the descriptions of the stark Icelandic scenery as Agnes and podcast host, Nora try to piece together this 40yr old mystery. I also liked the lesbian rep! 🏳️‍🌈
*Thanks to St Martin’s Press & NetGalley

Would have been a DNF for me if the setting was anywhere else but Iceland. Slow pacing and lack-luster characters kept me from engaging with the story. A miss for this reader.

The Lost House is a story that follows Agnes, a young woman with a troubled past. She returns to Iceland to her family's old home to investigate a brutal murder of Agnes's grandma and baby daughter that haunted the town for forty years. Her grandfather and father had escaped to the United States after suspicion of being the suspect but the case was never solved. Having been brought up by her grandfather, Agnes has always held the belief that he is innocent. Anges helps a true crime podcaster to work on the case.

This story ended well with a twist but was difficult for me to get through with the main characters flaws. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book unfortunately wasn't the book for me I tried several times to get into this one. There was nothing there to keep me coming back to it, there was no intrigue, nothing exciting happening to keep my interest, very slow going and I just threw in the towel. I hope this one finds its readers.

Dnf'd at 70%. I heard it was slow at the beginning but picked up half way through. At 80% it was still dragging and I didn't care who killed anyone so dnf'd. It wasnt bad, just not fast paced enough for me. Audio narrator was awesome.

If you enjoy books with a lot of imagery, you will enjoy this one. It just didn’t hold my attention though, but I’m sure I was just not the right reader fr it.

I’ve never read a book set in Iceland before and this book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. This book was chilling and perfectly haunting in a way I did not expect.

Thank you @NetGalley and @MinotaurBooks for the ARC. Melissa Larsen has written a book that I could not stop reading. The beautiful and wintery setting of Iceland was perfect to read cuddled on the couch with hot tea and a blanket. Agnes has travelled from California to Iceland to join Nora podcast on the murder of her Grandmother and Aunt 40 years ago. Agnes loved her grandfather and never believed he killed his wife and child and left Iceland before he was arrested. Nora is reopening the case and Agnes wants to be part of it. Yet, someone does not want her reopening old wounds. Such a good read.