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.

The Lost House is about a woman named Agnes who travels to Iceland to learn more about a murder in her family. When Agnes' dad was a young boy in Bifrost, his mom and infant sister were found dead in the snow. The case remained unsolved, though the townspeople were suspicious of the husband. He moves to the United States with his son, and after he has died his granddaughter decides to travel to Iceland to learn more and participate in a podcast. She is struggling with an injury and an opioid addiction. Upon arrival, she learns a young woman has recently gone missing from the same small town her family is from. This sounded like a great premise but it had such a slow start. I was nearly 50% done with the book before things started to happen. You eventually learn about Agnes' back story as her and the podcaster investigate both her grandmother's murder and the case of the missing woman. I really loved the setting, but overall this did not work for me. I did not connect or care about any of the characters and the mystery was just okay. 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy.

4 stars -- I really enjoyed this "Nordic noir" novel (just learned that term!). Set in the small town of Bifröst, Iceland in February, you cannot get a more atmospheric winter read—the snow is like an entire character in itself. I was interested in both mysteries (present-day and 1979), but more so the 1979 one. Main character Agnes bugged me at times (like when she couldn't be bothered to remember how to correctly pronounce people's names in Icelandic, even after being told several times?? It's "Ow-sa," not "Ass-a"!). But overall, this is a great suspenseful mystery read, and I'd recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

It's February and I wanted to read something wintery, something snowy. And what better book to pick than The Lost House, which takes place in Bifröst, Iceland during a frosty February? It was very atmospheric and easy to picture.

At first, I found most of the characters, especially the main character, Agnes, to be blunt and stand off-ish, bordering unlikable. But the more I read, the more I realized I loved that about them. These are characters who have suffered and their emotions felt raw and real. They weren't rude, they just said things how they were and didn't put on a fake mask.

As far as the mystery goes, it wasn't necessarily hard to guess but there was enough to make me question myself and come up with alternative theories. And though my initial hunch was correct, I found the reveal incredibly satisfying.

I finished the book feeling emotional and wanting more of these characters' stories.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen had a solid premise with a secluded house, mysterious history, and a group of characters whose relationships are full of secrets. But while the setup was intriguing, the execution left me wanting more. The atmosphere is moody and eerie, which works well, but the pacing drags in places, and some of the tension feels forced.

The characters had potential, but I never felt fully connected to them. Their choices sometimes felt more like plot devices than real decisions, which made it hard to get invested. The writing itself is fine, the author knows how to set a scene, but the story didn’t grip me the way I hoped it would.

It’s not a bad read, just not one that left a lasting impression. If you enjoy slow-burn psychological thrillers this could be worth picking up. 2.75 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

“Sometimes you lie for stupid reasons, and then it gets out of your control. It becomes bigger than you know.”

Now that Wisconsin has snow, it’s the perfect time to pick up this mystery set in the cold and snow Iceland. This one is described as a thriller, but it is not that fast paced, and the tension does not pick up until the end. If you expect a slow burn mystery in a secluded setting and like true crime novels, you will enjoy this one!

It is a quiet, understated mystery that tackles some big things like tragic injury, addiction and family betrayal. Additionally, the descriptions of Iceland were breath-taking and atmospheric. The writing was captivating and while I had my suspicions, I had to keep reading to figure it out. No, I did not skip to the end like I normally do!

I could really relate to the main character because of the way she struggled with her leg pain after injury, especially when doctors and others told her she should be able to move past it. This is my personal plea to find a doctor that believes you and looks for ways to treat the pain (or at least improve it) and not mask it with pain killers or tell you mind over matter.

While I understood the podcast element to get Agnes to Iceland, I felt like it was not fully developed and left hanging at the end. Nora, the podcast host bothered me (maybe she was supposed to) and overall, I would have like to see this become a bigger part of the story and have a stronger conclusion.

Thank you to @netgalley, @minotau_books and @Macmillan.audio for the eARC and audio ARC. This was my first immersive read, and it really helped with the names, character line up and pronunciations! Saskia Maarleveld had the perfect tone and cadence to make this mystery come to life!

Iceland is such a great setting for a mystery/thriller! The bleak, snowy landscape and its dangerously frigid temperature added an element of tension and I love a close-knit town that is leery of outsiders.

Saskia Maarleveld did an excellent job with this narration! It was a single POV story but she did an excellent job making it clear in the dialogue who was speaking and giving the characters distinct voices and accents when appropriate.

I was on the edge of my seat through the whole book and I love that it felt like a great mix of a mystery and a thriller. This one really picked up the pace in the last quarter and I was very satisfied by the story's resolution and ending.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the gifted eARC and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately this did not work for me as I hoped it would.
At first I loved all the settings and atmosphere but authors note mentioning how much artistic liberties took place left me disappointment.
Overall the story was good and had a great twist in it, but I really disliked the main character. Typically I don't mind unlikable narrator, but this was more of the "unstable civilian woman turned detective" and by sheer luck figured out the case.
I think if it was a different type of main character I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted copy.