Ragnar Jonasson is such a fun writer. His books are a fun, easy read that aren't too dark. The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer was exactly what I needed in between darker books. Interesting characters and a few twists to keep me surprised. Mr. Janasson will ALWAYS have a fan in me!

I stayed up entirely too late finishing this book. I rarely enjoy reading novels where multiple timelines are covered throughout but it was necessary and very well done here. At first, I wondered what the connection was between the three different time periods but trusted that everything was being introduced for a reason and the payoff at the end was very well worth it.

I also really enjoyed the way traditional gender norms were turned on their head with the behavior of different characters. It made me question my own assumptions when I hear about certain crimes or actions. The last two pages absolutely shocked me and I am hoping that Jónasson will re-visit these characters in the future, there is so much I still want to know!

3.25 stars

The book follows Helgi trying to unravel the disappearance of a famous crime writer, Elin Jonsdottir. It shifts between a "present-day" investigation and several past case narratives. One past is about a crime being planned, another past narration involving another detective, Helgi's former supervisor, Hulda. The main character solving the crime writer's murder was the most interesting to me. It was compelling, thoughtful, and I found myself really touched by the seemingly lonely Elin.

One thing I really appreciated was how the story handled domestic violence, especially because it was portrayed with a female perpetrator again Helgi, the main detective. It's a topic that doesn’t get enough nuanced representation.

The Elin mystery itself moved at a decent pace, though I generally don't love past-and-present back-and-forth narration. But the ending? That was a letdown. The current mystery wraps up, but the older storyline with Hulda just... fizzles out? Unless I missed something. It left me confused and unsatisfied, like the setup never paid off. I’m hoping future books circle back to that detective’s story because this one felt unfinished.

And honestly, I hated the final chapter. A very real fear of violence—one the book had carefully built up—the insidious kind that needs proper exploration, just really disappointed me. That turn soured the whole experience for me.

I went into this with pretty low expectations, thinking it might be a cliché or corny type of whodunnit, just because there are so many out there, but it was actually really well done! The premise alone had me hooked at the beginning. A book nerd cop investigating the disappearance of one of the most famous crime authors in Iceland. Such a fun storyline and such a perfect case for Helgi.

Helgi is a little bland yet a really good character at the same time. And the Bergthóra side plot was soooo heartbreaking. The domestic violence element was handled really well in my opinion and felt pretty realistic and relatable.

The story progressed with steady, good pacing. Some of the twists were predictable, but still really interesting. BUT what was that ending ????? It felt so abrupt and unresolved. Like he just decides to stop writing halfway through an action scene. I feel like the author had to be setting up an insane cliffhanger so he could write a second book, because if not, the ending is just so bizarre. I really am not a fan of such extreme cliffhangers, and this was just kind of annoying to be honest. but with that being said I definitely would read a second book if he wrote one….

But overall this was a very interesting, fun, well-written mystery that i really enjoyed. I probably wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone I know until there's a second book or something, just because the ending was so bad. My honest rating of this book would be about 3.5/5. it would have been at least a four but because of the ending, it had to be knocked down a bit.

My thanks to Minotaur Books New York for offering me the ARC of this new novel.

The translation from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb is excellent!

The organization of this novel is not by chapter numbers but by days and years. I sometimes care about this, but in this book it works very well. The novel also has a nonlinear timeline. The chapter years keep things organized nicely. Most of the action takes place in the present.

Being a lover of true crime, the title drew me to this novel. I also really enjoy Icelandic mystery writers. I had not previously read anything by Ragnar Jónasson. Since I really enjoyed this novel, I will look for his previous novels.

In Iceland, the well-known crime writer, Elín S. Jónsdóttir, has retired from writing her very popular crime series after writing 10 books over a 20-year span. Elín mysteriously disappears seven years after giving an interesting and revealing interview with a young journalist. The interview takes place three years after Elín’s tenth book is published. The young journalist agrees to two strange caveats set by Elín before doing the interview. The journalist abides by the rules, but Elín herself does not. This makes all the difference!

When Elín goes missing, the detective assigned to the case is Helgi Reykdal. Helgi has a complicated personal life. The reader gets to know Helgi very well as he investigates the missing, famous crime writer. I enjoyed the storyline of the missing crime writer, but the alternate storyline of Helgi, his current girlfriend, and his previous relationship, were even more mysterious and thrilling to me.

I will not give details, but know that I felt this novel ends with a cliffhanger! I certainly hope that Mr. Jónasson is busy now working on Helgi Reykdal #2. I would certainly be in line to read it.

Elin Jónsdóttir, Iceland’s most renowned mystery writer has gone missing—vanished into thin air. The job of finding her has been assigned to Reykjavik police detective, young Helgi Reykdal.

The potentially high-profile disappearance, which is being kept secret for now, gives the ambitious Helgi a chance to advance his career. But he’s something of an odd duck as detectives go. He’d rather be home reading one of his beloved mysteries, preferably in bed with the covers over his head, than doing anything else—except, maybe, spending time with his new girlfriend, Anita. Perfectly understandable, since she’s the exact opposite of his last live-in lover, Berthora, a violent alcoholic who’d been physically abusing him and who refuses to accept that their relationship is over.

Helgi begins his investigation, interviewing all of Elin’s close friends and associates. No one seems to know what has happened to her or where she might have gone. Perhaps, like Agatha Christie back in the 1920’s, she has simply hidden herself away for a while, maybe even to finish a new book. Perhaps something more sinister has happened. Whatever the case, it’s up to Helgi to discover.

My reaction to this novel was decidedly mixed. I thought the plot interesting, even though it, and many variations on it, have been done before. Specifically, I wanted to know what happened to Elin. That’s what kept me reading. And although, as others have complained, the novel ends with a cliffhanger, that cliffhanger relates to one of the subplots. The main question—what happened to Elin—is answered.

Some characters, like Elin, Anita, and Berthora, were well-drawn. However, main character Helgi seemed so passive and bland that I had difficulty believing he could ever be a successful investigator. Indeed, I had trouble understanding how he ever became a police detective, especially since we’re never given much information about his police career.

Part of the problem might lie in the novel’s prose and dialogue, or the translation thereof from Icelandic into English. I found many instances of awkward, off-key phrasing, as if the translator’s intent was to give us the exact English meanings of the Icelandic words, rather than impart a true sense of what was happening. This, I think, made much of the writing seem stilted and forced.

I’d also wanted to learn more about Iceland, its geography and topography, its climate, its special features, its people, and especially, Reykjavik’s police force and procedure. There’s very little about the country or what makes it special. In fact, it seemed to me that this story could have happened anywhere in Northern Europe. As far as police matters go, Helgi hardly comes into contact with anyone else on the force.

I had been hoping for an enthralling mystery on a par with Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series or Henning Mankell’s “Wallander” novels. Instead, I found something much tamer, almost a “cozy” mystery. Readers who enjoy those may enjoy this.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Ragnar Jónasson, and publisher St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.

Do you like gold age mysteries such as Agatha Christie? What about suburban dramas? Dual timelines merging together in a way that reminds me of Taylor Jenkins Reid?
Read this. The story is slow enough that it took me longer than usual to get through this, but I enjoyed every minute of my time with it. I’m just a person who juggles more than one book at a time so fast paced things tend to get finished faster than the rest. The twists were well paced and executed in such a way where I called some of them, but others took me by surprise.
Ultimately I’m landing on 3.5 stars for this book. What hurt it was the subplot with Bergthora and how despite being a DV survivor and police officer Helgi was blind to the threat she posed. It didn’t make sense to me and felt unrelated for everything until the end.

This is an Icelandic mystery. A famous crime writer is missing or is she? The “bosses” would like for her to be found before a press storm can start. So the most “bookish” detective, Helgi, is assigned to the case. So Helgi starts digging into her life, always wondering if she is dead. He uncovers a lot about the writer and her close friends. We also learn a lot about Helgi’s less than perfect life.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a review.

I am a big Jonasson fan, and have enjoyed many of his previous books. This was his slowest. It was fun to see the connections to characters from Death at the Sanatorium, and the twists and turns are clever with a shattering ending that I hope leads to future installments.

The pacing was just too slow for me, but I will continue to read everything he writes. This novel is a worthy read if just as a bridge to a hopeful third story in the series.

This seemed like at least 3 different stories but only one and half endings! Enjoyed the writing, characters, and scenarios - the multiple timelines and perspectives were well- done - but felt like pages were missing from my copy when I reached the end. If you're okay with feeling frustrated at the conclusion, dive on in.

This is the second Helgi book. Helgi has just gotten out of an abusive relationship (so he thinks) when he asked to take on the case of Iceland’s bestselling crime author. Helgi’s love of Golden Age crime fiction and habit of carrying a book around makes him an obvious choice. He realizes her best friends aren’t telling the whole truth as he slowly uncovers secrets from the author’s past. The secondary mystery of the missing police detective and Helgi’s problems with his abusive ex-girlfriend are excellent subplots.
Loved it! Helgi tries his best and doesn’t give up even when he just wants to curl up at home with an old book. I cannot wait for the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this DRC.
#TheMysteriousCaseoftheMissingCrimeWriter #NetGalley

I’m not usually a huge mystery reader… but when it comes to Ragnar Jónasson, I’m always in. There’s just something about his writing — the quiet intensity, the way he builds atmosphere and lets the story simmer — that completely pulls me in.

This is my second book with retired detective Helgi Reykdal (the first was Death at the Sanatorium, which I loved), and I really enjoy spending time with him as a character. In this one, he’s investigating the strange disappearance of Elín S. Jónsdóttir — a world-famous crime writer who simply vanishes.

What I really appreciated was how this wasn’t just about solving the mystery. Jónasson slowly peels back the layers, flashing back and forth in time, giving us just enough pieces to keep us guessing. There’s also a lot of focus on Helgi’s personal life — the fallout from his relationship with Bergthora, his family responsibilities, and how all of that weighs on him.

And beneath it all is a powerful subplot centered on domestic violence — handled with care, and adding real emotional depth.

It’s thoughtful, moody, and stays with you. Definitely more than just a mystery — it’s a slow-burning, character-driven story that really got under my skin.

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Minotaur Books for the eARC. I’ll absolutely be reading more from Helgi’s world.

What was that ending?????

Plot summary: Helgi is a police detective in Iceland. He is investigating the disappearance of a famous crime writer, Elin. The story comes interspersed with several other stories in different timelines, including an interview with the writer. They all come together at the end...I think.

The plot was intriguing as Helgi tries to figure this out, and we meet Elin's friends as well as glimpse Helgi's life. The way the stories come together is interesting and unexpected. The side story about Helgi, his new girlfriend, Anita, and his stalking ex-girlfriend is powerful.
This was a quick and compelling read, and I was drawn in and wanted to know what happened.

But there's a huge But...a few, really.

What in the world was the ending? I kept hitting the right side of my Kindle thinking it malfunctioned before I realized...that was the end. Huh? There was no ending. Several ends were not tied up at all. It was totally abrupt.

Reading other reviews, it looks like this was a continuation of previous books, or at least tied in, and others who've read them seemed to "get" the ending, or at least understood this was meant to be a cliffhanger of sorts.

The Icelandic part was also not my things. I found the names of people and places difficult to pronounce in my brain, and I think some of the story got lost in translation. Also, when whatever part of the end that's revealed is finally revealed, it's just a classic, boring police investigation that got Helgi to the reveal.

I was definitely frustrated at the end. I would almost want to read the next one to see what actually happened, but not sure I want to go through this again.

3/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur, and Ragnar Jónasson for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.

I don't have a ton of experience with the whole Nordic mystery genre beyond "Dragon Tattoo," so I was excited to give this a try. This book was fairly fast-paced and the main plot moved right along, but there was some jumping back and forth in various time periods that I'm not entirely sure worked for the story. Did the 1970's plotline actually go anywhere? Give us any information we didn't get elsewhere? Along with the cliffhanger ending, I agree with some other reviewers that the book feels almost unfinished. I enjoyed what I read but would have liked to see it a little better polished.

This is the first novel that I've read by Ragnar Jónasson and I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm a big fan of Nordic Noir and I enjoy mystery books so I figured this was probably right up my alley. I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed reading this.

A famous mystery writer goes missing. When investigator Helgi begins searching for her, he seems to get more questions than answers. Those closest to her seem genuinely concerned about her disappearance but they also all appear to know more than they are telling.

Helgi's personal life is a bit unsettled as well. He has a new girlfriend but his abusive ex doesn't want to accept that the relationship is over.

I liked that there are multiple storylines occurring simultaneously. While they may not seem related, they eventually blend together very cohesively and each one is strong enough on its' own to keep the reader interested. Each time Helgi discovers new information about the missing crime writer, the mystery deepens. Towards the end, I figured out the who and why but it was fun getting to the solution.

In addition, the creepiness of Helgi's ex made me tense. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what her intentions were and what she was going to do next.

The storyline involving Helgi's office mate Hulda that disappeared when he first started the job made me think I was missing something though. I thought this book was a stand alone and didn't realize until I did some research that Hulda's character had been in prior books.

I typically hate cliffhanger endings but this book left the reader with two really big ones in my opinion. I can't wait to read what happens next. Until then, I think I'll go back and read the Hidden Iceland series by Ragnar Jónasson.

I definitely would recommend this book to mystery lovers and fans on Nordic Noir.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book to read and review.

I enjoyed this story which was so evocative of Iceland. The characters were believable and the story credible. I liked the setting the most!

I was gripped by this character-driven mystery from the opening page and enjoyed everything about it except for the rather abrupt ending. The main characters, Helgi the detective and Elin the missing crime writer, both engage the reader immediately. The events leading up to Elin's disappearance unfold as the point of view shifts between the two, in alternate chapters. The story also shifts between the present day in 2012 and the past, all the way from Elin's young years in the seventies up to five years before the current timeline.
Both Elin and Helgi's relationships, past and present, are explored, with Elin's mysterious connection to a long ago bank robbery and its perpetrator and Helgi's psychotic former partner, who is stalking his present love.
All the characters are great, and the story is, too, until the last quarter of so of the novel, when the identity of the killer is easily guessed, as is another shocking event that ends the book without further elaboration. I found this sudden ending unsatisfying, and that's the only reason this wasn't a five-star read for me. I can only hope this might be the first in a series and that some story threads may continue in further books.

This was the first novel for me by Ragnar Jonasson. The premise...missing crime writer, young police officer searching for her...was interesting, as was his search for a missing police officer, but the jumping back and forth through time really wasn't for me, even though it did drive the story along. The ending was jarring...hopefully there will be a sequel and resolve several issues.

Very much written in the style of the Golden Age of mystery writers (like Agatha Christie) whom the author really admires, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer has Helgi taking on the Miss Marple role and slowly but thoroughly unraveling the web of lies spun by the missing author’s closest friends.

And while he is doing this, Helgi is also looking into the disappearance of the detective whose office he is now using as well as dealing with his crazy ex-girlfriend who seems to be stalking his current love.

Spoiler Alert: This novel ends in a heart-stopping cliffhanger! Fingers crossed that we find out what happens in the next Helgi book, which will be the third in the series (I hope!).

When a bestselling crime author goes missing, the young detective Helgi is given the challenge of finding her or finding out what happened before the press and public realize there's a problem. Helgi hopes to prove his mettle with the case, and maybe his own love of crime and mystery fiction will help him make sense of the few clues available. He faces challenges in his personal life too, with his former girlfriend stalking and threatening his new love interest and his struggles to handle the situations.

There's one flashback timeline in which the author, Elín Jónsdóttir, is being interviewed by an unknown person. We're given the transcript of this interview, and there's a sense that there must be clues for the reader that Helgi doesn't have access to, and it does add to the tension. The sections of transcript are interspersed throughout the story.

In another alternate timeline, the detective that Helgi replaced, Hulda, is doing follow-up work on a bank robbery and murder case. It was apparently the last case she was working on before she disappeared. Again, there's a sense to the reader that the cases or maybe even the disappearances must be related, but at the beginning it's not clear just how.

The tension builds throughout, as Elín's few close friends maintain hope that she is still alive and has just chosen to be incommunicado for reasons of her own. There are some clues that don't fit this solution, so Helgi keeps working at it, and the bits of interview transcript start to fall into place for the reader as well. There are some twists and turns in the solution.

There's some good payoff in how Hulda's investigation has a connection to Helgi's case, but those threads seem loosely woven together, and the way Hulda's timeline concludes makes me wonder if there is more to come in a sequel. Likewise with how the book ends on a cliffhanger, and such an abrupt one that I'm still not sure how I feel about it! I was actually startled that there was not another chapter and I really had reached the end of the book. I enjoyed the read, putting together the clues as best I could, and the rising suspense and subsequent satisfaction of the pieces coming together. However, that abrupt ending was very unsettling and left me puzzled and feeling like I'd missed something important.

This book is a sequel to Death At the Sanitorium: A Mystery, which I understand has a similar layout of Helgi following up on Hulda's previous investigation after her disappearance. I don't think it's necessary to read these in order, but given Hulda's disappearance and the drama in Helgi's personal life, I assume it would probably be very helpful to read in order.