I love a good twisty, psychological thriller, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one! It kept me on my toes the whole time!

This book was initially a little hard for me to get into. With pronunciations and names that are unfamiliar, it was very authentic but initially seemed a little less accessible. Once I got into the story line though, it was well-written, suspenseful, had great character development and while I had an inkling of what the answer to the mystery was, it kept me very engaged and had enough twists and turns. I also enjoyed the historical references to the 80's as well as to the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev.

Always looking forwArd to another of Ragnar's Icelandic books. This one, once again, really portrays the local region as a fascinating backdrop for another good story. Always great characters.

So atmospheric. This was a pretty dark read but so worth it! The tone was perfect and the character development carefully crafted. All in all a superb read. Loved the setting!

Anything by Ragnar Jonasson will always be binge worthy book. Iceland noir is best read during any season. And so this book is binge worthy!!

A quick read, an interesting story. I was looking forward to reading this and it lived up to the hype.

This was a good book, very easy to read and I learned a lot about Iceland! In 1956 15 year old Lara has been staying with a couple on an island just off the coast of Iceland, she had agreed to be their maid for the summer, that is until she disappears before the end of her time. The couple believe she left after getting bored on the island, hard to believe since the only way off the island is by boat and there hadn't been one recently. A young constable is sent to investigate, it's his first case and as he begins to look around on the island, he gets a call from his boss telling him to shut down his investigation, the boss thinks the girl has been picked up by someone or drowned herself. For 30 years the case remains open and it one of Iceland's most enduring mysteries. In 1986, Iceland is celebrating their 200th anniversary, and as part of a retrospective look at it's history, Valur, an investigative reporter, is writing a series of articles on Lara's disappearance. He talks to all the people that had been around at the time and gets a cryptic phone call about Lara. He's starting to make headway and the magazine promises he'll reveal all when the magazine is published. Later in the story Valur's sister, Sunna, picks up her brother's investigation, that part of the story probably flowed the best and the twist at the end was very good. I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.

Let me start by saying I love Nordic Noir. Unfortunately, that did not translate to this book. This is my first book by Ragnar, so I'm not sure if it's his writing style, although his other books seem to be loved or if it was the addition of another writer. Although this was well-written, it seemed like basic sentences and almost like it was a set of diaries. That aside, my main dislikes were the way the characters were handled. First, we have the young investigator on the case of a missing young woman in 1956, then the book jumps a decade with an update on the investigation, another decade with an update and you feel the frustration and powerlessness of the investigator who keeps trying to solve the case. The next decade, 1986, Valur Robertsson is a journalist who digs into the case and he gets a little too close for comfort, meanwhile the investigator, Kristjan has faded into obscurity, which leads me to my next dislike which I can't mention without giving spoilers, but let's just say I was very frustrated at the way these two characters were handled, although we wouldn't have the rest of the story otherwise, so it's quite a conundrum. Overall, I liked the story and the mystery and the ending. I just can't give more than two stars because of my dislikes, the fact that it took me a couple of weeks to read because of my dislikes and that I figured out the culprit early in the book although a decent attempt was made to hide it.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for this, my first Jonasson and Jakobsdottir read. Having traveled to Iceland, the title and synopsis captured my attention.

Brief synopses: Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lára spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík.

In early August, the girl disappears without a trace.

The mystery becomes Iceland’s greatest unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

My thoughts: This is a slow burner of a story with the first 25% mark of.the story dedicated to setting the backdrop to the present day.

This book is an Agatha Christie-like intriguing mystery. Readers are presented with many suspects, but the real culprit will surprise you! Yes, there is a shocking plot twist. I appreciate a great atmospheric read and these 2 authors delivered this. I will be keeping an eye out for other books written by them.

For so many years I have wanted to travel to Reykjavik so how could I not read it? I enjoyed this book a lot and found it very easy to follow and didn’t see the twists coming! This won’t be the last book I read by this author. You won’t regret picking this one up!

1956 - 15 year old Lara Martinsdottir takes a job as a maid to an influential couple who are the only residents on Videy, an island just off the coast of Iceland and across a bay from Reykjavik. When she disappears without a trace, a young policeman is assigned the case but is basically told to drop the case by his superiors. This begins a 30 year fascination with the case by the Icelandic public - “where’s Lara?” The case is still unsolved when journalist Valur Robertsson decides to investigate during the 200th anniversary of Iceland. Valur’s investigation seems to be gaining traction, and his editor promises that the next edition of the paper will bring new evidence to light. To avoid spoilers, I will leave it at that - but there is plenty of stuff going on to keep you turning the pages.

How could I resist requesting a book titled Reykjavik - we travelled there a few years ago and now are looking to go back. Although I didn’t recognize many of the exact places or street names in the book,their description certainly reminded me of our visit. As is common in scandanavian novels (Iceland is not in Scandinavia per se but shares a lot of history and culture), there are lots of characters with names that are difficult to pronounce (there is full list of characters at the beginning of the book!) and can be confusing at times. The tension builds throughout as the truth begins to surface in an ending that was both predictable and unpredictable. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel.

I liked this one but didn’t love it. It was kind of bland and not memorable. I do however love a lot of his previous works so it won’t deter me from reading his works again. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

The book started through an officers point of view, then a journalist, Valur, and then the journalist’s sister, Sunna. There were a bunch of suspects and a few surprising twists. It just moved too slow for me. I found myself getting bored with the pace and kept putting it down. Sunna’s point of view was the most interesting and it did wind up being a good mystery. The ending was satisfying.

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and the authors for the advanced copy

Not my favorite of Jonasson’s, but decent enough. Even though it was a relatively short book, it felt a bit too long and drawn out. Overall, just okay.

This was my first Ragnar Jonasson book and my first foray into Icelandic noir.. To find out he was co-writing with Iceland's prime minister really made me want to read it. I was not disappointed. The mystery of the missing girl and the death I didn't see coming kept me interested.

Terrific mystery. Set in 1986 Iceland, the reader follows a tabloid reporter determined to solve the disappearance of an attractive young girl 30 years prior. Last seen on an isolated island off the coast of Reykjavik,is Lara alive or was she murdered? Even high visibility local politicians, actors and businessmen aren't above suspicion. Upon the violent death of Valor, his sister recklessly continues the quest for truth.
Written by the Prime Minister of Iceland during the pandemic.
Reviewed from an Advanced Readers Copy.

When I started the book I knew nothing about Reykjavik's 200th anniversary. I felt that I was immersed in the celebration along with a bit of history. The characters were fleshed out very well, The ending came as a sad surprise but made complete sense. I want to read more by this author.

Reykjavík is the best kind of Nordic Noir - imposing, atmospheric setting, haunting cold case of a missing girl, complicated characters and the unique societal constraints of Iceland mixed together for a twisting, explosive and dramatic plot.

I loved every minute of this book, and super enjoyed the structure of the beginning of the book, which shifts from the time of the crime, stopping in decade after decade as the case remains unsolved, until it lands 30 years later on the desk of an ambitious journalist determined to crack the case. The characters are interesting and complicated and kept me utterly glued to the page. The movement between POV in this one is also done perfectly, and I was truly shocked as it crested into Part 2 of the story.

I don’t want to give anything away on this one, however I will say that this is the one of my favourite mysteries this year, as a strongly plotted cold case can be even more intense than a fresh murder and @ragnarjo and @katrinjakobsd found that perfect combination for this book. I definitely recommend this book to mystery lovers, Nordic Noir lovers, and cold case story lovers. There is something here for everyone.

Many thanks to @minotaur_books for my copy!

I really enjoyed this mystery from Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jónasson and the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir.

Reykjavíik is set in 1986 and follows a journalist trying to solve a cold case from the 1950s.  A 15-year-old girl vanished on a small island off the coast of Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavíik.

The book starts very slowly and didn’t capture me at first, but once we got to 1986 I was hooked.  

I loved seeing how a small mystery affected an entire country for decades, and the backdrop of major events in Icelandic cultural history was fascinating.

I’ve also visited the small island in the novel, Videy, so that was a very fun surprise.  I don’t travel a lot so it’s a treat when I can actually picture a location in a novel like that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for my review copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel before its release date.

This novel spans three decades as the characters try to solve the case of a young girl who went missing from the small island of Videy, off the coast of Reykjavik. The police investigator in the 1950s found nothing but dead ends. The journalist in the 1980s seems to be on to something, but is hitting brick wall after brick wall. Will the mystery ever be solved, or will more mystery just be added to the case?

I have been to Reykjavik multiple times, and it was so much fun reading this mystery that takes place surrounded by the sights and sounds of a city that I love.