A dark mystery set in Iceland during the winter months. The main character struggles with an opiod addiction after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All of the characters are suspicious so the author does a good job of creating a suspenseful plot. Iceland is described in such detail that the setting became another character for me.

Agnes travels to asmall town in Iceland to at the invite of a podcaster, who is investigating the murder of Agnes’s grandmother and baby aunt 40 years ago. It was always assumed that Agnes’s grandfather was guilty. A young woman has gone missing right before Agnes’s arrival and, as she joins the podcaster on her rounds, Agnes discovers there may be secrets left long-hidden.

I liked this books and the twists, though it was a bit slow at times. Agnes is addicted to painkillers so this book has that annoying trope, but overall I liked the winters Icelandic tale.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a copy of this book.

Chilling and atmospheric! It’s been super cold and snowy for my area this winter and this was the perfect companion for me. I liked the podcast element. This felt like an updated or reimagined version of the movie The Thing.

This book was a bit of a love/hate read for me. I loved the setup and the descriptive way the author described Iceland. It really got me feeling the cold and isolation that the story was set in. I enjoyed the addition of the true-crime concept into the mystery. I didn't enjoy the predictability of the killer, which is a big aspect of a mystery. So, I give The Lost House 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to review The Lost House by Melissa Larsen

An unmissable Nordic noir - style thriller that blends suspense, mystery, and emotional depth. When a woman and her infant were discovered frozen in the Icelandic winter four decades ago, the authorities had little to go on, and the case quickly went cold-leaving only the presumption that the husband is to blame and the stain of that presumption. Fast forward to today, and Agnes, this man's granddaughter returns to Iceland from California, determined to clear her late grandfather's name. She teams up with a true-crime podcaster, but what she uncovers shakes the very foundations of her family's past.
Set against the haunting backdrop of Iceland's remote Bifröst university town, Agnes digs deeper into a web of small-town secrets and rumors, all while grappling with her own doubts. The whispers about her grandfather's role in the murders are impossible to ignore, but she presses on, hoping to uncover the truth. However, the case has gotten recent attention since a young female student with similar looks to Agnes' slain grandmother has gone missing around the same time, suspicions rise, and the past threatens to collide with the present.
Larsen masterfully builds tension, keeping readers on edge as the narrative weaves between decades-old crimes and fresh mysteries. The chilling atmosphere and complex characters are hallmark traits of Nordic noir, and Larsen uses them to perfection. With each twist, the stakes grow higher, and the lines between truth and lies blur, making for an addictive read that will keep you turning the pages long into the night.
A thrilling, atmospheric mystery that blends rich character development with nail-biting suspense-The Lost House is for all fans of dark, gripping thrillers.

Forty years ago Marie and her baby Agnes are found murdered and frozen in the town of Bifrost, Iceland. They were nicknamed the Frozen Madonna and Child. Her husband Einar was the main suspect, the whole town knew it, even though he had an alibi. With that he took his nine year old son Magnus and moved to California.

Agnus, named after her deceased aunt, was notified by Nora Carver a true crime podcaster interested in an interview there in the Iceland town where it all happened.

With this, I was excited to read to book. It had my attention to learn if her grandpa was innocent, because nobody, even his own son, thought he was. But when Agnes shows up she learns that Asa, had disappeared and now the story seems to be mainly on Asa and it took my attention away, making the book very easy to put down, because I really didn't care about her I cared about hoping to discover if Einar was guilty and if so why?

I enjoyed the Icelandic environment and am looking forward to my visit this summer.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins for the arc to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for an ARC of The Lost House in exchange for my honest review!

The Lost House tells the story of a troubled, young woman who returns to her family's ancestral home in Iceland. But this is no warm homecoming. In fact, forty years prior it was the scene of a gruesome double murder. When another woman goes missing, Agnes finds herself drawn into another mystery where secrets are all too plentiful.

This book sounded right up my alley. Possible serial murders set in a beautiful, unforgiving landscape with just a hint of historical fiction? Sign me up! But the magic just wasn't there for me. I felt no connection whatsoever to the main character. In fact, I pretty much couldn't stand her selfish personality. The rhythm of the storytelling felt off to me, as well. It was extremely slow moving. So much so that it really just didn't hold my interest at all.

Average read for me = 3⭐️

Full disclosure: I hella skimmed this after 40%.

The premise and the setting were promising but I don't think they were used to their full potential. I did finish it, after contemplating DNF-ing, so it is decent.

Agnes- it's not that she was unlikable, it was that for all she had going on there was little depth to her.
Nora- surface level character.
Everyone else- meh.

The motivations and decision making were all meh. It felt like there was a lot of words but not saying a lot. After 40% I skimmed for the main plot points, didn't care for Agnes or the smaller things happening.

A chilling journey through family secrets set in the icy landscapes of Iceland. The story is suspenseful as past and present are weaved together. The atmospheric setting is eerie and is a perfect backdrop for this mystery.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. Larsen is truly a fantastic writer who weaves a twisted and yet somewhat chilling story. This novel took the reader on a journey through a land and with characters that were vibrant and tragic. The story was heartbreaking and gripping in its universal story that people will go to great lengths for those they love.

Thanks to NetGalley for this read.

I was intrigued by the premise, but the setting in Iceland tripped me up. Toss in a slow paced read and some rather meh characters it wasn’t a hit for me.

This book wasn’t it for me. I was really excited for a twisty mystery with an immersive atmospheric setting and I was presented with the opposite. I really did not enjoy any of the characters and the romance made the story very disjointed. Unfortunately the plot just fell apart after about 20%. I am all for a DNF, but I chose to stick with it just incase something miraculous happened. It did not.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this eArc of The Lost House.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for advanced copy for honest review.

The Lost House is on everyone's radar. Agnes heads back to Iceland to clear her grandfather's name. She meets up with Nora who has a true crime podcast and willing to do an interview one year after Agnes' grandfather death. While there a local girl goes missing, and now Nora and Agnes try to piece together the clues but come up with a lot more questions than answers. The Lost House is January's Crime by the Book pick. 4 stars, recommend!

A woman returns to her ancestral home to try to clear her grandfather's name from a long-standing suspicion of murdering his wife. However, once she is there, a local girl goes missing and realizes something might still be going on.

I love mysteries, but this one did not draw me in like a good mystery should. I am not sure exactly what it was, but the writing didn't create that suspense or need to know what happens feeling.

Thank you to Net Galley for early copy of The Lost House by Melissa Larsen. I thought this book was really good and I was definitely interested the whole way through. Trying to figure out if Agnes grandfather committed that horrible crime or not with her family. I will say it could have been a little shorter but other then that it was good. Maybe more with Nora's podcast which I really didn't feel there was any at all since Nora only talked to a few people but nothing really happened with that podcast.
Glad also that there was a twist towards the end to make all of us second guess ourselves!
Overall it was a good read, I would def read more by Melissa in the future.
3.5 stars For me.

Agnes takes a trip to her family’s past. She meets a podcaster and talk about the history of her family’s murders. They also try to figure out who committed the crimes. The Was so good I couldn’t put it down.

I thought this book was just going to be a thriller, but it was so much more than that. The description of place is amazing, it transports the reader to rural Iceland in winter. The main character dealing with personal tragedy, uncovering family secrets, and finding out her true self reminded me of book Weyward. This was a truly captivating story. My only complaint is that the ending felted a bit rushed.

It is enjoyable to read books that take place in other locations. Recently it seems, there are good ones that take place in Iceland, like this one. You can feel the cold and the isolation in the small towns that are featured. And different cultures and ways of thinking. It adds to the suspense of the novel as Agnes travels to Bifrost to find out the truth of whether the grandfather she loved killed his wife and daughter 40 years ago. Not only is this a thriller, murder mystery (both with the murder long ago and a missing woman in present times), it is a story of a young woman looking to find her roots and truth and what she wants in life after her terrible accident.

I enjoyed traveling along with Agnes and could feel her pain and emotions very easily, struggling whether to end all the suffering, or find something worthwhile to hang on to. It coincided very well with the cold and snow and storms in the small town of Bifrost where secrets, lies, and hidden truths abide. This was a good book and went by quickly as I raced to find out all the secrets and missing Asa before more death happened.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen was SLOW. And not even in a “slow burn, let’s savor every bit of this story” way. It was just slow. Literally nothing happened the entire time, other than Agnes being extremely unlikable. She had a tragic backstory, and a limp from some mysterious injury - but I found as a reader, I didn’t care. It just made her more annoying.

Agnes meets up with podcaster Nora in Iceland, in the hometown of her ancestors… where her father and grandfather were run out after being accused of the gruesome murder of her grandmother and infant Aunt. This is a very famous cold case, and she grew up not believing her grandfather could have been guilty… but now that she’s in Iceland, following clues and talking to locals, she’s starting to think everything she knew about her family was wrong. Then, when another Icelandic girl goes missing, the podcast takes a turn.

But again. Nothing happened. It was like 300+ pages of Agnes limping in the snow. This had so much atmospheric potential… but just fell flat. I would have loved to read this from Nora’s perspective instead. She was kind and interesting… and just not Agnes.

When the “climax” happened, even that wasn’t shocking. And I wouldn’t call anything I read “a twist”.

This fell flat for me.

4.2 stars - Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC audiobook! I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I always read the description to get a sense of the premise and revisit it a few times to fully grasp the plot, characters, and relationships. With a murder that occurred 40 years ago and a storyline spanning three generations, the family dynamics were a bit complex. Adding Icelandic names and cultural elements made it even more challenging to follow, especially when listening to the audiobook. Thankfully, I also had an ARC copy, which allowed me to read the first few chapters—seeing the names in print made a big difference. The book was suspenseful, thrilling, and highly enjoyable! While some parts felt a bit repetitive, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience overall.