Thank you Netgalley, Melissa Larsen, and St Marten’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows a young woman who returns to her family’s home in Iceland, 40 years after the mysterious murders of family members, a mother and her infant child. The investigation has been reopened and Agnes is hoping to clear her grandfather’s name. The woman was her grandfather’s wife and after her and their baby’s death, he took their son and fled to America and started a new life. But there has always been a shadow from this crime, because what is more guilty than a suspect running away? Then, what are the coincidences that a girl goes missing the same weekend that Agnes arrives?

This pulled me in from the beginning. It is an atmospheric story filled with complex characters where everyone is a suspect. There were times when I felt like the story was slow, but then it would pull me back in. A great mystery read!

This was such a good read!!!! It definitely had me wondering and asking questions the whole way through.

Agnes Glin is going through a lot.

A bad accident has seriously injured her leg. She can’t seem to kick an addiction to pain pills. Her grandfather who she was very close to has died.

And now a true crime podcaster wants to research the 40-year-old murder involving her grandmother and aunt. In Iceland. A murder her beloved grandfather is suspected of committing.

Nora Carver has invited Agnes to join her in Bifröst, Iceland to be interviewed for the podcast.

They are staying in a house near another that has ties to the murders and has become a well-known place for parties. A local girl goes missing from the party house the very weekend Agnes arrives in town.

Winter in Iceland is brutally cold and snowy. California girl Agnes is unprepared not only for the weather, but also the suspicions and hostilities of local people to her presence in Bifröst and the investigation to clear her grandfather’s name.

The Lost House is wonderfully atmospheric. I read it during a snowstorm and loved every minute of it. If you enjoy Nordic mysteries, this one will not disappoint.

This is a great choice for those looking for a post-holiday yet wintery read!
I love anything Nordic-Noir and books based in Iceland and Nordic regions. While the author is not Icelandic, they did a great job of building the atmospheric tension and "character" that I love about this sub-genre of thrillers. I also really liked the inclusion or a podcast and modern day sleuthing set against the isolated and removed atmosphere!

Author Larsen provides the perfect backdrop for the researching of her cold case to play out upon. Unforgiving cold and harsh landscapes reflect the gruesome details of a long-ago murder. There are many unfolding mysteries beyond the 40-year-old murder case. Everyone in the small town seems to hold a piece of the puzzle. The unraveling was slow, but never boring. Almost every character in the book was, at one time or another, a suspect for me! The plot was artfully played out, suspenseful to the end, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read, enjoy and provide an honest review of this book.

The Lost House is a cross between Nordic Noir and American true crime. Agnes grew up in California, with the mystery of her grandmother's death looming over her family. Her grandfather was accused of killing his wife and infant daughter, and he left Iceland with his son, who later had Agnes. (Note: there is some interesting stuff about Icelandic names!)

Agnes is going through a rough time, and winds up going to her family's hometown in Iceland to be interviewed by an American podcaster, Nora. As soon as she arrives, another young woman goes missing, and it is unclear whether the two are connected, and who can be trusted out of the locals.

I enjoyed this book, I could really feel the scenes where Agnes is in so much pain, so cold in the snow, looking for escape. And I don't want to spoil anything, but I thought the ending came together really well.

Thank you so much @stmartinpress/minotaurbooks and @netgalley for the copy of this eARC!

Set in a small Icelandic town, this thriller begins with a chilling murder that took place forty years ago—a mother and her baby were killed. In the present day, Agnes, the granddaughter, arrives from the US to help podcaster Nora investigate the unsolved case. But she soon stumbles upon a new missing person's mystery. As the two cases intertwine, secrets come to light, and trouble escalates.

This is a beautifully written thriller that constantly challenges both its characters and readers to question preconceived notions. The descriptions of Iceland’s winter are so vivid, I could almost feel the cold myself. Agnes, the protagonist, is a complex and compelling character, deeply flawed yet incredibly likable. The story is a slow burn, but it’s utterly captivating, and I found myself reading through it quickly despite the deliberate pace.

If you’re a fan of atmospheric thrillers set in snowy, wintery landscapes, this one should be on your reading list. It’s the perfect winter read—blizzards, freezing temperatures, and frozen bodies create a chilling backdrop for a suspenseful and well-crafted tale. Highly recommended!

3.5 stars. The book was a little slow for me, but once I got into it I did enjoy it.... I did not love it, but it was a good read. Loved that it was in Iceland and that there were two mysteries.

A year ago, Agnes’s beloved grandfather died. Forty years before that, he was accused of murdering his wife and infant daughter in the remote Icelandic community of Bifröst where his family lived. No one was ever arrested, and the case was never solved, but the fact that he fled Iceland for California with his surviving son (Agnes’s father) was enough to convince everyone of his guilt. Now, recovering from a serious injury that left her life in shambles, Agnes has traveled to Iceland to be interviewed by a podcaster named Nora Carver who is investigating the cold-case murders of her grandmother and aunt. Agnes is hoping to clear her grandfather’s name, but shortly after she arrives, a local woman goes missing – leaving Agnes and Nora searching for the truth in a labyrinth of secrets and lies.

The Lost House is an intensely atmospheric multigenerational mystery, with a setting so vivid I could practically feel the icy chill of the Icelandic landscape in my bones. I’m always drawn to novels about isolated, insular communities, and I thought Melissa Larsen conveyed that aspect of Bifröst incredibly well. The townspeople are wary of strangers and keep to themselves, which adds an interesting layer of conflict when outsiders Agnes and Nora try to make inroads. There’s lots of thought-provoking commentary about the sensationalism of true crime, and the characters are complex: Through Agnes, Larsen introduces themes of addiction, grief, healing, and the bonds of family. It’s clear that Larsen plotted the book deliberately, balancing two mysteries and two timelines in the narrative, and she did it well because I never got lost in the various strands of the story – and I liked the way the mysteries began to converge as the book neared its conclusion. All that said, however, The Lost House is an incredibly slow burn and meanders a bit too much on the way to that conclusion. I think the pacing of the book could’ve been a bit tighter without sacrificing character development or the book’s themes.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

While there was some slower parts of this book, I really enjoyed the dark themes and the podcast element was a really nice touch! The characters were super likable which I find hard to say with most books I've been reading these days so this was a nice change :) I can't wait to see what comes next from Larsen.

A woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the snow forty years ago both having been murdered in different styles. The killer was never found but everyone was sure that the husband did it. It is now nearly a half century later and Agnes wants to clear her grandfathers name from any suspicion. Agnes agrees to go on a popular true crime podcast hosted by Nora Carver. The two begin their investigation and everyone is a suspect and they must figure out who is hiding secrets. Will the two find what they are looking for before someone else ends up dead?

The Lost House is an atmospheric and compelling nordic noir thriller by Melissa Larsen.The story is set in Iceland where, forty years previously, a woman and her infant daughter were murdered. The case has remained unsolved and her husband, the main suspect, moved to United States shortly after the murders. He has recently died and, as the anniversary approaches, Agnes, his granddaughter, is invited to Iceland to take part in a podcast. She immediately accepts, determined to prove, once and for all, his innocence. But, the same weekend she arrives in Iceland, a local girl goes missing and she quickly finds herself swept up into the investigation.

The pace of the tale tends to be a bit slow at the beginning but this gives time to introduce the many characters and lay out all aspects of the old case. It also gives time to weave together the strands of the two crimes which Larsen does masterfully. A very engrossing and suspenseful read. This is my first novel by Larsen but it definitely will not be my last. I read an eARC of this book while listening to the audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld who does an amazing job infusing individual life into the many characters.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio for the eARC and audiobook in exchange for an honest review

After reading several glowing recommendations, I really looked forward to reading The Lost House by Melissa Larsen. While I enjoyed parts of the book, overall it was a bit of a disappointment. The characters, including Agnes, were quite unlikable and not well-defined. With Iceland being such an unknown place for me, I thought I would learn more about the country and it’s customs. But, my biggest take-away is that it’s cold and often dark, with lots of snow – something I pretty much already surmised.

The story and plot is fairly convoluted and that’s usually ok with me, except in this case it was sometimes also incoherent and slow. That’s not really ok. To add to that, Agnes (the main character) is characterized by limping and complaining about her injuries and the accompanying pain. A little of that goes along way. As a result, there were times I was fairly unconcerned as to whether the “mystery” would be resolved or not. NetGalley provided an advance reader copy.

This is the perfect book to read on a rainy gloomy day because it definitely gave me all of the creepy eerie feelings.

I thought this was a really good mystery and there were several twists and turns that really kept me hooked into the story.

I loved that the story could give me such eerie feelings because it really set the mood for the book and I enjoyed it.

Kept me guessing even during the confession!!! Loved the honesty that the main character has with herself even though it’s to her own fault.

Nordic noir, here we go! This time in Iceland - young woman searching for the answers to the biggest secret of her family only to find herself in another mystery that might put her in harm’s way.

Agnes grew up with her grandpa on her side. One person who loved her more than anything. The very same guy who was responsible for his wife and daughter’s murders according to most of the people in Iceland. If he wasn’t guilty, why would he run to America? It was a taboo topic in Agnes’ family. No one told her the truth but they did not also know how much this was weighing on her. After her grandpa’s passing, Agnes took it herself to go to Iceland and work with this podcaster to solve the mystery. However her father might be right, right to say that sometimes past needs to stay in the past.

There were a lot of “wait what”s as I was reading this story. I never trusted close knit communities especially when they feel like they need to protect one of them, but this was little too crazy for my taste. Especially when you have to consider generational connections as a reader, you feel overwhelmed with the sickness of the minds in this book.

This story was an interesting story from an author I don’t know or haven’t read before! Will look at finding other things by this author. I am grateful for the early access, thank you to those that allowed it!

“Would you still love me, if it were true?”

❄️ Agnes, granddaughter of Einar, travels to Bifrost, Iceland to visit the home/area where her grandfather and father grew up in hopes to find the truth about who murdered her grandmother and aunt forty years ago. Her plan is to talk to Nora Carver, a different kind of true crime podcaster, to see what she can uncover.

❄️ When Agnes arrives, she discovers there’s another mystery Nora is investigating. Agnes finds herself in the middle of a conflict, possibly connected to her own family.

“I hope I haunt you.”

❄️ Asa is feeling pressure from everyone wanting everything from her. She is spiraling as she tries dealing with a secret, causing her to pull away from her other friends. She’s trying to cope with her current struggles when she goes missing.

❄️ I loved the atmospheric setting of Iceland. This snowy, icy cold backdrop for this book made it a PERFECT winter read.

Thank you Net Galley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫
#netgalley #thelosthouse #minotaur #icelandicread #wintermystery #perfectwinterread

This book was such a great winter thriller. This book was chilling not just in atmosphere but in story as well. A long unsolved family mystery mixed with a modern mystery provides such a great story line. I really liked out main character Agnes and her spunk. This book kept me engaged and I couldn't wait to get to the end.

This was my first book by Melissa Larsen. I had a hard time getting into this one but enjoyed the ending. I will check out other books by Larsen.