Overall a nice mystery. A lot was kinda lost on me with being set in Iceland and the pronunciation etc but I got it after a bit.
The characters were very interesting and the plot of going into the past to find out what happened was very interesting.
I had a few inclinations of who did what about half way through. I was 50/50 correct.
Overall a ok book and story.
Nice quick read.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy.

This was a wild ride. Agnes heads to Iceland to participate in Nora’s true crime podcast. Why? Because Nora is delving into the cold case of Agnes’ murdered grandmother and infant daughter over a quarter of a century ago. The assumed suspect? Her beloved grandfather who raised her. When she arrives in the small university town of Bifrost, Agnes realizes that there is a lot more to the story than what she thought she knew. And there is a missing university student on top of it all.

A beautifully written thriller, where everyone, the characters and the readers, are questioning preconceived notions at every turn. The description of Iceland in the winter is particularly evocative - I was cold just reading the novel. Agnes, the main character, is incredibly nuanced, likable despite her demons. This was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!

This story follows Agnes as she travels to Iceland to see her ancestral homeland and explore the circumstances under which her late grandfather fled the country after the murder of his wife and infant daughter with his young son, Magnus, her father, in tow. Magnus has always refused to speak of the events and disapproves of her choice to travel to his previous home in Bifröst, Iceland where she will be interviewed by a true crime podcaster for the fortieth anniversary of their deaths. Shortly before Agness arrives, a young woman goes missing from a party adding more tension to the local community.

I found this to be a slow-moving mystery with a few suspenseful moments and a very atmospheric setting. I think readers who enjoy Scandinavian or Nordic Noir will really enjoy this one. It was filled with a community of suspicious and gossipy characters that made a lot of assumptions, some with secrets of their own and motives to keep those secrets to the detriment of both investigations. I thought I knew who did it from the beginning, but I was second guessing myself throughout. One of the twists had me gasping aloud and excitedly exclaiming “yes!”. The only issue I had with the story was keeping all the names straight. There were several characters with the same name or similar names that I kept getting confused.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and referenced the names using a digital review copy. This is probably my favorite narrator, and I thought she did a fantastic job with the characters, names, drama and suspense. I definitely recommend this format if you’re an audiobook listener.

Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for a copy provided for an honest review.

Melissa Larsen’s The Lost House is a highly atmospheric Nordic noir thriller. The main character is Agnes Glin, who begins the novel as a broken bird. She is unemployed, her beloved grandfather died one year prior, and her leg has been shattered in an accident leaving her in near constant pain and with an opioid addiction.

Agnes has been invited to Bifrost, Iceland to meet with Nora Carver, a true crime broadcaster. Nora is investigating a crime that occurred forty years’ prior involving the murder of Agnes’s grandmother and her infant daughter. Although no one was ever charged with a crime, the locals all suspect that Agnes’s grandfather committed the crime. However, a young woman who looks like Agnes’s grandmother has recently vanished after attending a party at “the murder house.” Are the past and present crimes connected?

The novel is well-written, and Larsen does an excellent job with character development, particularly in the case of Agnes, who primarily narrates the book. While the pacing of the novel is glacial up until the very end, this is consistent with investigating a forty-year-old cold case where many of the witnesses are dead or mentally incompetent. Moreover, each of the characters has secrets which makes a quick resolution impossible. 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Minotaur/St. Martin’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book.

"The Lost House" by Melissa Larsen is a mystery set against Iceland's breathtaking, otherworldly backdrop—at first, I thought, sign me up! But while the premise was intriguing and the writing was good, the story itself didn't quite pull me in the way I'd hoped.

The plot follows Agnes, who travels to Iceland to meet with a true crime podcaster about her grandfather, who is suspected of murdering her aunt and cousin. Agnes is determined to clear his name. But things take a turn when, during her stay in the small town where her father and grandfather once lived, a girl goes missing. Everyone becomes a suspect, and Agnes is tasked with uncovering her family's past and a new mystery.

The setup is fantastic: a podcaster revisiting a cold case, family secrets, and suspicious small-town locals. Plus, the beautiful Icelandic landscape is the story's backdrop. I've been drawn to Iceland for years and was thrilled at the idea of losing myself in a story set in its unique landscape. Larsen did a solid job describing the scenery—it felt icy, remote, and mysterious, a perfect match for the book's tone.

But for reasons I can't put my finger on, the book never quite sucked me in. The writing is well-crafted, and the plot is clearly thought out, but it lacks the kind of magnetism that makes it impossible to put the book down. It's not bad by any means—just not my favorite.

That said, I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it. If you're a fan of Iceland or enjoy slow-burn mysteries, this might be the book for you.

Would I recommend it? Sure, especially if you're a mystery lover with a soft spot for Iceland. Even though it didn't quite hit the mark for me, that doesn't mean it won't for you. Sometimes, it's all about the right book at the right time—and for all its atmosphere and intrigue, "The Lost House" still deserves a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I counted this as read but I mostly skimmed it and barely cared about anything going on in the story or the characters. And I normally LOVE an Icelandic story! Sorry but this book just wasn't for me.

The Lost House follows Agnes as she travels to Iceland to help true crime podcaster, Nora, uncover what really happened with the death of her grandmother. Everyone believes her grandfather did it but Agnes knows a gentle, loving man who could've never done such a thing. A young woman with an uncanny resemblance to Agnes goes missing a day before Agnes arrives. How are the two mysteries connected and can Agnes handle the truth?

The story moved at a great pace with short chapters. Agnes was one of the most unlikeable main characters I've read in a while. I found her very frustrating and although she was dealing with a lot, I was exasperated with her actions and way of thinking throughout most of the book. That said, it was an atmospheric and immersive experience that kept me reading to the end and I liked that there was two mysteries intertwined.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen is a chilling and immersive mystery that delves deep into the complexities of grief, family secrets, and the lengths people will go to protect or conceal the truth. Set against the stark, breathtaking backdrop of Iceland, the novel follows Agnes, a determined young woman who travels there to investigate a decades-old murder that haunts her family.

Larsen's writing is atmospheric, perfectly capturing the desolate beauty of Iceland. The landscape plays an integral role in the novel, its cold, harsh environment mirroring the emotional isolation of the characters. The pace is methodical, drawing readers into a slow-burning unraveling of events, where every new piece of information feels like a crucial discovery.

The Lost House is a meticulously crafted mystery with rich emotional undercurrents. Melissa Larsen weaves a tale of dark family secrets, buried truths, and the devastating effects of unresolved trauma. It’s a novel that will resonate long after the final page, leaving readers contemplating the cost of uncovering the past—and whether some truths are better left hidden.

📚The Lost House by Melissa Larsen

CWs for addiction, murder (including death of a child), suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, kidnapping

Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5

Especially considering I listening to this audiobook with negative degree temperatures outside, the Icelandic setting was fairly atmospheric at the beginning. Sadly though, this book ended up not working for me at all. The interactions between the characters felt super forced and the random moments of intimacy felt out of place. I’m no sleuth, but it was very clear who the culprit was the second they were introduced.

I ended up listening to the audiobook after release day, but I still want to say a big thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Lost House is a very excellent book and my first time reading her book. This book had me on edge and very scary. Easy to read and easy to read. This thriller set during a bone chilling winter in Iceland. I receive this ARC from Netgalley and many thanks to Netgalley.

Thanks, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for the review copies. I liked the narrator for the audiobook, but switched to the e-book in order to skim faster The story was too slow and repetitive to hold my interest. The setting was fascinating, though!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. I loved this book and read it in one day! I couldn't believe some of the twists! I would definitely recommend this book.

"Something terrible happened to her."
“A man happened to her."

"...We all carry our own individual truths...our own reasoning for our actions...we distort facts to suit our images of ourselves, and we do this so often that eventually, the lie becomes the truth."

Many of us are feeling the bitter cold this winter. It slows us down. Everything is an effort as the cold drains our energy. It's fascinating to read and listen to The Lost House, by vividly descriptive mystery author Melissa Larsen, bring the physicality of everything frozen around you to this Icelandic murder mystery.

Agnes, 27 years old, suffers a life altering accident leaving her popping pain pills and reevaluating her life. When a true crime podcaster invites Agnes on her podcast to discuss the unsolved murder in her family known as The Frozen Madonna Case (which would be an awesome title for this book), Agnes hops on a plane to Iceland to find out the truth of this cold case.

Forty years ago, her grandfather's wife and infant daughter were found frozen in the lake. His wife's throat was slashed and the baby drowned next to her. With the town believing her grandfather Einar capable of this brutality he took his 9 year old son Magnus (Agnes' father) and moved to California.

Visiting the family home, talking to townsfolk who still believe Einar is guilty, and hearing rumors of affairs, has Agnes ready to run back home. It gets worse when a local woman disappears and Agnes is their number one suspect.

The incomparable voice actress Saskia Maarleveld captures the chilling atmosphere surrounding the town and its people with her uncanny acting abilities. The Lost House will find you chilled to the bone.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

An absolute ride! This book had me on edge and locking all my doors. It felt so real and I couldn't read fast enough! I will be listening to the audiobook as soon as it is released!

In Iceland forty years ago a woman and a baby went missing. They are later found frozen in the snow. The husband is the prime suspect to the townspeople. He fled to America with his nine year old son. After his death his granddaughter is contacted by a true crime podcaster to find the truth.

This book had me quickly turning the pages because I needed to know the truth. The writing was captivating. I had a really hard time putting it down. A fantastic twisty winter thriller.

Melissa Larsen has crafted a richly layered, suspenseful, atmospheric novel. I couldn't get enough of this. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

A popular true-crime podcaster—with secrets of her own—who focuses on unsolved crimes.

A confused, late-20s woman—recovering from a terrible accident, and grieving a pair of losses—whom the podcaster approaches about the latest story she wants to share with her eager subscribers.

An angry father, who doesn’t really understand his daughter—her choices, who she is—but is dead-set against her participation in the podcast, knowing what it will do to their family.

A grandfather—now dead—forced to leave his beloved hometown in Iceland some forty years ago and relocate to far-off California with his young son, following the tragic deaths of his wife and infant daughter.

And the small Icelandic town—Bifröst—where the tragedy still, somehow, feels fresh.

And... where another horrible event may even now be taking place.

The stage is set for Melissa Larsen’s latest mystery/suspense, The Lost House.
__________

When a little boy found the bodies of local schoolteacher Marie and her baby girl, Agnes, buried in the snow four decades ago, the townsfolk of tiny Bifröst were quick to blame the husband/father, Einar Pálsson.

Why? Because everyone knew Einar and his beautiful, younger, Danish wife weren’t the picture of marital bliss, and Einar, well... he’d always had a short fuse.

So, despite the lack of enough evidence to convict him, Einar had chosen to leave his home and take his remaining child, Magnús, far away from the angry glares and open hostility.

Agnes Glin—named for the infant who would’ve been her aunt—has heard that story many times. Not from her grandfather or father—who both refused point-blank to speak of it—but from articles, books, and even social media, when the perpetual and lurid fascination with one of Iceland’s most-famous unsolved crimes is again piqued.

“The Frozen Madonna and Child”... that’s how people refer to it, her family’s personal tragedy.

But Agnes has never believed her grandfather did it.

When podcaster Nora Carver reaches out to her—offering an expenses-paid trip to Iceland—Agnes, still reeling from her grandfather’s recent death and very much needing a change of scenery, agrees to go and be interviewed. She has a score to settle with the people of Bifröst... for the sake of her grandfather’s memory.

But when she arrives, in a land so completely different from the California beaches she grew up around, she begins to wonder if her decision was entirely wise.

There is snow—so much snow—and the air has a sort of biting cold she’s never experienced. Making matters worse, her brain can’t seem to get acclimated to the brevity of daylight hours, followed by endlessly-long, dark nights.

Even though Nora is as friendly and enthusiastic as a puppy, none of the locals are too pleased with Agnes’ presence... in part, because her appearance—so much like Marie’s—is a constant reminder of the tragedy which still stains the town.

There’s also the fact that another young woman—similar in looks to both Marie and her granddaughter Agnes—has just gone missing... in this unforgiving landscape of frigid Bifröst snowstorms.

Agnes worries her own unwanted arrival may’ve caused a copycat event... or that she’s triggered the real murderer into repeating their original killings.

Either way, there’s a young woman—alive, dead, or soon-to-be-dead—out there, all alone, in the cold... and no one seems willing to give up any of the town’s secrets, to try and save her.

But maybe Agnes can... or at least she’ll probably die, trying.
___________

Some books are very straight-forward... wham-bam, you’re in—and out—of the plot, didn’t have to do much work, and just went along for the ride.

In others, there’s a boatload of baggage to unpack... so much that you start to feel like perhaps you need therapy.

The Lost House falls in the latter category.

Agnes—much like her father and grandfather—has STUFF to work through. Family stuff. History stuff. Interpersonal stuff. Relationship stuff. Guilt, blame, hard feelings, misunderstandings, physical pain—you name it, she’s a hot mess.

And, just like in real life, some of that stuff is pertinent to the action at hand... and some isn’t, but it’s not readily obvious to Agnes which is which. That conundrum ramps up the psychological tension in palpable ways.

The author also shows a good feel for the sort of insular community often found in small, remote towns... an “everyone-knows-everything-about-everyone-else (but-would-never-dream-of-making-an-outsider-privy-to-any-of-it)” mindset.

With The Lost House, Larsen delivers a chilling mystery-suspense in a place we haven’t seen a dozen or more times, already... populated by characters who, fittingly, also feel more like freshly-driven snow than the same-old, same-old. And that makes for a book you want to dive into.

Whether you live where it snows or not, The Lost House is a fine choice for some cozy-indoors-winter-reading.
~GlamKitty

[My sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]

The book was so atmospheric and really that was the very best thing about it. Some of the story arcs were a bit vague but this seemed to be on purpose due to the main character’s unreliability and drug addiction.

I kept expecting more twists and was a little surprised when the ending was fairly straightforward. However, the story was engaging and the mystery of who killed Agnes’ grandmother kept me interested.

“We are not only one thing. Monster or man." I completely lost myself in this book with the Iceland setting and the layers of personal and family trauma. We follow Agnes as she tries to uncover the truth of her family's famous but tragic history and it was both thrilling and heartbreaking.

It's one of those books that's going to sit with me for a while and I enjoyed every second of it. I look forward to reading more of Melissa's work!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Minotaur Books for sending me an early eArc of this book!

This was just ok for me. I felt like at times Agnes could be unreliable because of her addiction. It made me wonder if at times was she remembering things correctly or was it foggy because of the drugs. I loved the setting being in Iceland, especially with it being winter currently where I live. I wasn't a big fan of the ending just based on the shock factor. I think if it would've been more of a twist my rating would've been higher.