12.15.2024 - The Lost House

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Melissa Larsen, beautifully narrated by Saskia Maarleveld.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!

Forty years ago in Iceland, a young mother and her infant daughter were brutally murdered.  No one was ever charged, but the community was convinced it was the woman’s husband.  When he fled for the US, it proved his guilt to them.  In the present, Nora is working on a podcast of the story and the man’s granddaughter, Agnes, has agreed to fly from California to Iceland to participate.  Agnes is healing both physically and mentally from an injury and broken relationship, relying on too many pills to get her through the day.  She’s also grieving the loss of her beloved grandfather and is eager to prove his innocence.  When she arrives, Nora is swept up in a new story of another young woman who has gone missing and enlists Agnes’ help.  Are the two cases related?  

 

The stark Icelandic setting and weather were the perfect backdrop for this haunting tale.  The small town’s inhabitants have been convinced of the husband’s guilt and have no use for his granddaughter stirring things up.   But now there is not one case to investigate, but two, and there are plenty of suspects.  I loved having the audiobook to listen to while I read, especially with the different dialect and language.  The narration was beautiful and added depth to the story.  Perfect winter mystery!