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.

The Lost House is set in Iceland and the main character Agnes is there temporarily from California to participate in a podcast. Agnes’ grandfather recently passed away and she wants to clear his name. Her grandfather fled from Iceland years ago after his wife and daughter died. The community in the small Icelandic town where he lived believes he murdered his wife and daughter and he moved to California for a new life. Agnes loved her grandfather and wants to prove his innocence. The book is slow in parts but is overall a good mystery with a satisfying ending.

Set in Iceland, Agnes travels to her family's home country to get to the bottom of a 40-year-old murder mystery.

The book was well written and very atmospheric. Agnes was there to find out the truth about her grandmother's death long before she was born. She was working with a journalist when a new story breaks. A woman went missing from the same place 40 years later, and it is feared the cases are connected.

i enjoyed the setting and the writing, but the plot of the story was too attenuated to hold my attention and that is a personal opinion. I just couldn't get into a murder mystery about a woman who died more than 30 years before the main character was born. I get that it was her family history, and it was important to her, but it felt too attenuated to me.

Overall, I would recommend people give this a chance if they are into Icelandic noir and creepy atmospheric stories.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen left me absolutely breathless!

I felt like I was on the journey with Agnes to uncover her family's Icelandic roots, which are overshadowed by a brutal 40 year old double homicide, the ultimate cold case. Her arrival at the frozen homestead coincides with another disappearance, a reflection of the tragedy that tore her family apart two generations ago, leaving Agnes to decide what's worth fighting for.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen was one of my favourite books this year.. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book before publication. This mystery based in Iceland. was the ancestral home of Agnes, whose father and grandfather left under mysterious circumstances, 40 years before to California. Agnes, decides to go to Iceland because she wants to find out more about her grandmother and her aunts murder.. Her grandfather had fled taking his young son with him, so most of the people were pretty sure her grandfather had killed his wife and child, because he suspected she was having an affair and the little one was not his. Agnes was determined to clear her grandfather's way. When she arrived in Iceland, the search was on for another young woman named Asa who had gone missing after partying with friends. Agnes meets Nora, a Podcaster who wants to help solve the 40 year old mystery, and possibly help in the search for the missing girl. The more they look into her grandmother's murder, the more it sheds light on the missing girl. And both cases become entwined. So many secrets in the small Iclandic community. Agnes can't believe that the grandfather she knew, could be capable of killing his wife and infant daughter. The more Agnes and Nora investigate the more they uncover. This book is kind of creepy. I love a good mystery and this does not disappoint. Great read for the winter months. I give this book 4.out of 5.

Fascinating and complicated mystery set in a cold and dark Icelandic winter. A 40 year old cold case murder is being investigated by a podcaster, Nora. She connects with Agnes, the granddaughter of the victim and main suspect. Things get complicated quickly when a woman disappears. Dark and twisty mystery.

I received an ARC of this book, and overall I enjoyed it. It was interesting reading a book based in Iceland, that was a first for me. It was a good story, however it was a little slow for me at times. It did have a good twist at the end, and I really felt as though I was inside of the main characters head. The author painted a clear picture of who she was and how she was feeling throughout the whole book. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a unique thriller, and wanting a change of pace from a lot of the usual plot lines!

3.5 stars. A good intriguing cold case murder with some current mystery for the granddaughter to try and unravel the truth about the murder of her grandmother and aunt. Great descriptive writing for the Icelandic wintery scene. It was nice that we were having a bit of a wintry mix a couple of the days I was reading this.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost House presented as a gripping icy thriller. The blurb sounded amazing. The author does an amazing job at describing the scene and there were times when I felt I was in Iceland so major points there however the sorry never pulled me in. I kept going because I wanted to see how it ended as the book did have parts that interested me. The ending wrapped up well so for those that can make it to the end you will be happy.

I do think that everyone should form their own opinion on this book as I may not be the target audience or in the minority. I will recommend this book to my group. 2.5 rounded up.