This book was everything I wanted and more. Nordic noir, atmospheric setting, deeply developed characters, unanswered questions finally answered. And I was even given the Swedish term: Smultronstalle.

Smultronstalle is defined as a place where wild strawberries grow. The word is used to describe a place that is special and private to you. There may be nothing particularly spectacular about it, but it calls to you and your heart. I have a place like that of my own, maybe you do, too. And that settling and comforting realization made me fall even more in love with this book.

I loved the way this story was told. It was so gentle, frank, beautifully plotted. It was fast paced and relatable in the sense that we all have someone in our lives we love dearly despite their pasts. It tugged at my heart. I really could not read it fast enough.

I cannot even express how much I loved this book. There were so many surprises! I love the setting, the protagonist, and everyone she interacted with. I loved that ending. The narration was absolutely perfect for this book.

I really liked the idea of this book. I got the audio and the book. So I read/listened to both. The story was slow which kind of goes with the atmosphere of Iceland where the story takes place. The book picks up at the end a lot which was good. I was glad Agnes got to find out answers to her family's tragedy.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Forty years ago a young woman and a baby girl were murdered and left in the snowy, cold terrain of Bifrost, Iceland. That woman was Agnes' grandmother and that baby was her aunt. Although never convicted, only questioned, Agnes's grandfather was considered guilty through the rumor mill of the town and later through podcasts and unsolved crime enthusiasts. Yet, having moved to the faraway USA, Agnes's distant father allowed Agnes to spend time with her grandfather, a man suspected of murdering his wife and child.

Now Agnes' grandfather has died, she's struggling to recover from a serious leg injury, she's just come out of a failed long term relationship, and solving the murders of her grandmother and aunt is the escape that Agnes needs. The fact that means traveling to faraway Iceland is the icing on the cake. True crime expert Nora Carver, a woman investigating the murders, is already there, with a place for Agnes to stay and a willing ear if Agnes is willing to talk about what she knows about her grandfather, father, and their past.

I am fortunate to have both the ebook and the audiobook so I could listen to the audio will seeing so many words and names that are strange to me. I couldn't begin to guess how the words were pronounced and I wouldn't be able to spell them if I just heard them. Getting to see and hear them at the same time made the story feel more real. Saskia Maarleveld narrates and her voice is great for this story of a place and people that are matter of fact, mostly saying much less than what they mean, and with a somber mood of mistrust and suspicion of this granddaughter of a "murderer" coming into their midst.

The atmosphere is extremely chilly in so many ways, an exterior that can kill in minutes, and a main character that is struggling mentally, emotionally, and physically. What is she even doing here, she asks herself. How has she destroyed her life so completely. Her injury sidelined her in so many ways and left her addicted to the very meds that allowed her to make it through numerous surgeries. Can she become a new person just because she ran away from where she just came from?

There is a sense of danger from the outset. Afterall, if her grandfather didn't kill her grandmother and aunt, could the killer still be in or near Bilfrost? Rushing headlong into unwise situations, Agnes taunts the past, hoping to draw it out but not really knowing what she'll do with what what she learns. I could feel the cold through this story and was so glad to not be in this place although I love reading stories in such locations.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

50 years after her grandfather’s death, Agnes sets out for Iceland, where she hopes to clear her grandfather‘s name. Before he came to California, he lived in Iceland with his wife and two children. While he was never charged for the crime, the public believed that he had killed his wife and daughter. The persecution in the painful memories drove him to relocate to California with his son. Can it be a coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very weekend Agnes arrives? Agnes doesn’t think so, and sets out to uncover the truth about what happened all those years ago. Atmospheric and intense.