Emotional tale of a young woman looking for answers to her family's past. When Agnes decides to go to Iceland to explore the ancient murder of her grandmother and aunt, she defies her father and sets out on a quest that may destroy the bond that she has with the person closest to her, her deceased grandfather. The author expertly portrayed the feelings of trepidation, fear, hope and love that afflicted Agnes as she embarked on this mission alone in a strange and cold country. I enjoyed the land and the people in the small community. Nora was a strong and focused central character that kept the investigation and storyline on track. I also very much enjoyed the way clues were uncovered, almost like tripping over the information. Many surprises and twists, including the tie to a current missing person case, kept me riveted. I not only enjoyed the tale, but now also yearn to experience Iceland for myself!

Get a blanket and a cup of coffee and be prepared to be fully immersed in this story. Agnes is a down on her luck twenty something year old living in California. Her family left Iceland 40 years ago after the unsolved murder of her grandmother and aunt. Although never charged with the crime her grandfather was the only suspect. After his passing she teams up with a podcaster and heads to Iceland to clear his name. I really had no clue what to think about the 40 year old mystery and the recent disappearance. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and was rooting for Agnes the whole way. This was a beautifully written story about family, tragedy, triumph, and finding yourself. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Bleak, barren, dark, and freezing are words I would use to describe this Nordic Noir thriller. I enjoyed the slow burn of this story of Agnes, who travels to Iceland to speak on a podcast, hoping to prove her grandfather’s innocence about a decades long murder of her aunt and grandmother. While she is there, a young woman goes missing and the townspeople are desperate for answers.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book prior to release, as an ARC.
I have always loved the Icelandic setting and stories by another Icelandic author, so I was excited to have an opportunity to read this one as it appeared to be in the same setting.
The story line did not disappoint. I am not going to repeat what happens in the story (as so many other reviewers always do?) as that is part of the synopsis of the book! I thoroughly enjoyed the setting in the cold mysterious Icelandic atmosphere. It makes the story setting even more perfect and appears even more suspenseful. I have not read anything by this author prior and she did not disappoint!! The characters were for the most part likeable and relatable and definitely developed throughout the story. I liked the protagonist who set out to clear her grandpa's name.
The setting of the story was well described, making it possible to picture yourself in the story and environment. That is always a big pet peave of mine...I have to be able to see myself in the story...and this author does it perfectly. The narrative was well built out and not far fetched. Some parts were a little slow and I was hoping for a quicker solution but it made the story still great.
This author definitely made it a great interesting story that the reader will not want to quit!

This is an engrossing Nordic noir with interesting characters and good Icelandic atmosphere that made me feel the cold climate.

Lost House
4 Stars
It's fast-paced and addictive. The author pulls you through the scenes with alacrity and vivid details. The main character is perhaps a beneficiary of legacy trauma and lacks social skills. The character evolves (or devolves) as the writer puts you through her thought process, pain, reflections, and major insecurities. You don't love the character immediately; instead, you unravel along with her and accept her awkwardness. I will follow this author.

This was a fascinating book about a cold case in Iceland. Agnes is contacted by Nora, a podcast host, to see if she would like to go to Iceland with her to dig into the cold case of who killed Agnes’ grandmother and aunt? Years ago Agnes’ grandmother and aunt were murdered and left out in the snow. All assumed that her grandfather Einar must have done it, but he was never charged. Einar took his son, Agnes’ father, and fled to America. Agnes is determined to go and visit the place where it all happened, and to try to prove her grandfather’s innocence. But, once there a young woman who also looks like her grandmother and her goes missing, and the town is reeling from another tragedy to hit them. As Agnes works to dig into the past and try to prove her grandfather’s innocence, so many things come to light that make her question everything. A powerful book about pain, love, and loss. I received and ARC, and this is my honest review.

"The Lost House" is a haunting story of murder and mystery, truth and assumptions, and one woman's desire to find the truth.

I found this book to be incredibly slow. I love a solid slow burn, atmospheric read but "The Lost House" saved the very best for the last 25% and I felt like it was too late to really make this a great novel. I loved the location in the book; isolated and wintery, snow cover Iceland. I was able to feel the way the weather impacted the story. For me, it was the writing style of Larsen that was hard for me to get loss in. I felt as if is much of the book is runaway thoughts from the main character.

I will say that I didn't see the twist coming and truly did enjoy the end of the book. It was full of emotion and closure, making "The Lost House" a worthy read.

Loved this. Solid plot. Strong character development. Wonderfully atmospheric. Pretty compulsive read.

I love when books are set in Iceland and have the Nordic Noir feeling. I was captivated from the beginning and couldn’t put the book down. Yes it’s a little slow paced, but not enough to ruin the suspense. If you enjoy atmospheric mysteries, this is the perfect book for you. Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this digital arc.

The Lost House is a pitch black, icy noir that spans multiple generations of secrets. I was glued to the pages from the beginning and struggled to put it down because I just had to have answers! Fans of literary fiction and Nordic Noir will devour this one!

An unsolved murder mystery that somehow goes too quiet too fast. Years later Agnes wants to clear her beloved grandfather’s name when the whole town has believed he did it. I really like the descriptions of the town and the history. A surprise ending is always enjoyable.

Agnes has grown up in California with her father Magnus and her grandfather Einar Pálsson, but Magnus and Einar didn't always live in California. They lived in Bifröst in Iceland. The two of them fled Iceland after Einar was suspected of murdering his wife, Marie and their baby, Agnes. With the 40th anniversary of the murder coming up, true crime podcaster Nora Carver has decided to try and solve this cold case...and for the first time ever, a family member is going to talk about the case.

After agreeing to meet Nora in Iceland, Agnes leaves her father behind for their homeland. Magnus doesn't want her to go, to look into the murder, or talk publicly about their family. But Agnes is compelled to go to feel close to her grandfather again and prove once and for all that he didn't do what they say he did. Once there, Nora tells her that local girl Ása has gone missing while at a party at the abandoned Pálsson home. Turning her attention from the cold case to the current case, Nora loses focus while Agnes delves deeper into her family's lives and the secrets that lie hidden in the snowy hills of Bifröst.

All in all, this was a nicely paced suspense novel of secrets, family, and the ties that bind us together. If you enjoy twisty Nordic fiction, then give this one a try!

When I heard Abby from @crimebytthebook talking about this book I raced to NetGalley to find it. So happy to get approved for both the print and audiobook, I dived right in.

The Lost House is a slow burning murder mystery set in Iceland. Almost 40 years ago, Agnes’s grandfather was suspected of killing his wife and baby daughter. He was never convicted but he took his young son and moved to California. Now with the anniversary looming, Agnes has agreed to talk to podcaster, Nora Carver about what she knows and the grandfather that she loved so dearly. She has never been to Iceland and hopes that she can clear her beloved grandfather’s name.

This was such a great story, with an incredible setting of the ice and snow. Combined with the early darkness, this made for a creepy and intense story. Agnes is pretty messed up in more ways than one, so it was hard to know if what she was telling the reader was fact of fiction. It was emotional and heartbreaking at times.

The audiobook was brilliant, with the always fantastic Saaskia Maaleveld narrating. She always brings the story and characters to life, making this a winner for me.

Thanks so much to S Martin’s Press and Macmillan audio for the advanced copies. A new author to add to the list. Out on January 14th.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen is a recommended Nordic Noir set in a small Icelandic town.

Agnes Glin accepts the invitation of true crime podcaster Nora Carver and travels to Iceland to discuss her family history and clear her grandfather's name. Forty years ago her grandfather Einar Palsson was suspected of killing his wife and infant daughter. Never charged with the crime, her grandfather along with his son fled the small town of Bifröst, Iceland, and moved to California. Now Agnes, who has spent a year recovering from a crushed leg and her grandfather's death, has agreed to talk to Nora in anticipation of clearing her grandfather's name.

Just two days before Agnes arrives, a young college student named Ása has gone missing and is presumed dead. There are posters up of the missing girl and search parties looking for her body. This new case provides another mystery for Nora and Agnes to investigate and look into while questioning if it could be tied into the murder from forty years ago.

Without a doubt the Icelandic winter landscape looms large as a character in this slow-paced, atmospheric mystery. Agnes is a very introspective character. She is flawed, hurting, and wounded, but is a fully realized character. In many ways her trip to Iceland is also a search of self-discovery and we spend a lot of time in her head. Nora and the other characters that cross her path are interesting.

The writing is good and along with the frozen setting does create a haunting, eerie atmosphere mystery and works well with the true crime tie-in. The measure, slow-pace was okay at the start, but the lethargic gait continued on much too long. It perhaps didn't help that I predicted the direction the narrative was heading.

This would be a good choice for those who would enjoy an atmospheric mystery with a slow-moving narrative. Thanks to Minotaur/St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.. Forty years ago a woman and her baby were found murdered. The woman had her throat cut and the baby drowned. Even though the towns people all thought her husband was responsible this case was never solved. Now 50 yrs after this tragic even Agnes returns to the small town in Iceland to clear her grandfather's name. How can this gentle loving man who Agnes adored do something this horrific. With the pain of losing her grandfather she now tries to figure out what really happened that night. Agnes arrives in the small town and is offered a room to stay in on the exact family property where her grandmother and aunt were murdered. With the help of Nora the pod caster, they not only try and solve the 50 yr old case but also try to help locate a young lady who has recently gone missing. Is there a connection or is it just a coincidence? Enjoy!!!

The Lost House is a gripping thriller that hooked me from the first page. I enjoyed the dual timelines, and that the mystery still had suspects alive, given how long ago the crime took place. I was thrilled that it wasn't an unreliable narrator, and I loved how I felt like I was in the book while it was happening.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

This was an OK book, though a bit of a slow burn, and I still don't understand why it was called "The Lost House". It focuses on Agnes, who travels to Iceland from California to participate in a podcast about the murder of her grandmother and aunt 40 years ago. Her grandfather has just died and Agnes wants to be able to clear his name, once and for all. There just so happens to be a disappearance of a young girl during this time so, goaded by the podcaster, Agnes also gets caught up in this new mystery.

I found Agnes to be a likable character, for the most part, though I didn't really understand the dynamic between her and her father, grandfather, or ex-partner. I thought she made rash decisions but they seemed believable under the circumstances. The conversations between her and various characters felt slow and repetitive at some points, but the action did pick up more as the book continued. The description of the Icelandic landscape was really well done and I felt immersed in that world. I liked the throwback chapters from 40 years ago to help frame the original mystery. The ending featured a good twist that I did not see coming, though the very end of the book felt packaged up just a little too cleanly.

Overall, this was a decent read but was just a little slow-moving for my taste. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A murder in Iceland, decades ago, is investigated by the modern day granddaughter of the supposed killer. Did he do it or is he innocent? The main character is flawed, with issues of her own, which is one of the reasons she wanted to get away and solving an old mystery and seeing a beautiful country helps get her mind off herself to some degree. I love the imagery and description of Iceland and its small towns where everybody knows everything, or do they? I could almost feel the chill in the air as I was reading, it was so descriptive. I enjoyed the author and the writing style, though I did feel the book got a little bogged down and confusing for a minute towards the end. Yes, I enjoyed the book and yes, I would read something else by this author, but it probably won’t make it to my favorites list. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

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

This was a great book! The descriptions of everything were so vivid I can still see the locales in my mind. I really enjoyed this and would definitely read more from Melissa Larsen.