4 stars

I really enjoyed this chilling (sorry!) tale and the mysteries and answers included in it!

Agnes has a complicated past and present. 40 years ago, her Icelandic grandfather was accused of killing his wife and their young child (her grandmother and aunt). His departure to the US does not offer much in the way of solid PR for his case. Now that he has passed, Agnes has come to Iceland to unravel the mystery and to discover if this man she adored could possibly have been responsible for the crime so many are certain he committed.

This premise is fascinating, but it is only made better by Agnes's more recent personal demons. Also, the setting and the ancillary characters add so much to Agnes's quest for answers. She's just a riveting character in my opinion (especially for the genre), and all of the details make for a solidly engaging listen. I liked getting snippets of her grandfather through her memories, too.

I'll be back for more from this author and recommend this read for a cold winter's day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really great audiobook. Great story and interesting characters. I loved the setting and the old “murder house” in the story. The ending was a surprise but I liked it. Held my interest throughout the book.
Narration was also done well.

I love mystery/thrillers and horror novels set in snowy places, and this one is set in Iceland, that is enough reason for me to pick this book.
I did love the setting and found it to be very atmospheric and chilly.
The main character is relatable enough and is struggling mentally and physically, so it is not difficult to root for them.
Well, this is a murder + disappearing mystery that fell a little flat to me. For the most part I was engaged in the plot and the mysteries, but I do think this book is a too long for what it wants to say and deliver. This is a slow-paced mystery, which I do not mind (but other readers might), but it gets repetitive in the second half, in my opinion. After 70% going through this book, I genuinely didn't care anymore if the main character would get the answers she wanted, or not. I also thought the conclusion was easily predictable (if you are an avid mystery reader) and it just wasn't surprising. I'd even say there is no plot twist - which definitely disappointed me a little. But I know that's a *me* thing. Readers who don't mind or care for plot twists might enjoy this book more than I did.
The writing is decent enough and the audiobook is well done, too.
The narrator voices different characters properly, so I would recommend the audio format, for sure.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley, for allowing me to listen to an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wonderful slow burn set in freezing tundra. I was lucky enough to read during the winter which made this story even better. Protagonist Agnes, is the granddaughter to a man accused of killing his wife and infant daughter in Iceland. Leaving the small village under suspicion, her grandfather moves to Northern California with his surviving 9 year old son to raise him and subsequently his granddaughter. Now Agnes has the opportunity to get to the real story of what happened and to rectify her beloved grandfather's memory when a podcaster invites her to the scene of the incident. When she reaches the small village and in the process of meeting the townsfolk, another young woman is reported missing in the cold dark winter. Is it connected to the past unsolved murder? Is Agnes' grandfather guilty of the heinous crime after all? I couldn't leave the story until I could get to the answer. Wonderful writing and a great book for a book club. Ms. Larson's characters come to life as the pages turn.
Thank you NetGalley and author Melissa Larsen for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen is a gripping and atmospheric thriller that pulled me in from the start. Agnes, determined to clear her grandfather’s name after decades of suspicion, returns to Iceland to investigate a long-unsolved murder. The cold, isolated setting added an eerie depth to the story, as Agnes’s investigation unearthed more secrets than she anticipated. The characters were complex, and the shifting relationships and motivations kept me on edge. I found myself deeply immersed in the story, almost feeling like a part of the investigation myself. While I did predict a few elements of the ending, it still had a surprising twist that I didn’t see coming. The pacing was strong, and the plot kept me hooked until the very last page. A few moments could have benefited from deeper exploration, but overall, it was an absorbing and thrilling read. 4 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

I gotta say, this was interesting in a "I-can't-stop-reading-even-though-it's-kinda-slow" kinda way. So, we’ve got this young woman, Agnes, who’s trying to clear her late grandfather’s name after he’s been accused of some pretty gruesome crimes, like, 40 years ago. She’s recovering from a nasty leg injury (I totally get that pain vibe, ugh), and she’s hoping this whole thing will give her some closure—both on her family history and her own personal stuff. So, she goes to this super cold Icelandic town, all isolated and snowy, where she’s getting interviewed for a true crime podcast by Nora. Everything’s supposed to be about old family drama… until a local girl goes missing. Cue the mystery!

I kinda loved the setting because, let’s be real, I was practically shivering reading about the snowstorms and icy vibes—super atmospheric. The suspense kept me turning pages, but... the pacing was a little slowww. Like, we’re talking a lot of talking and reminiscing before anything major happens. But the twists? Yasss, those kept me guessing till the very end, even though I had my suspicions from the start. Agnes is one of those characters you kinda root for, even though she's dealing with her own baggage.

There were definitely parts where I was like, “Hmm, not much is going on here,” but in the end, I was kinda hooked. Overall, I’d say it was a solid read—good twists, good setting, decent character development—but a bit too long in some spots.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because I had fun even with the slower bits.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book was everything I wanted and more. Nordic noir, atmospheric setting, deeply developed characters, unanswered questions finally answered. And I was even given the Swedish term: Smultronstalle.

Smultronstalle is defined as a place where wild strawberries grow. The word is used to describe a place that is special and private to you. There may be nothing particularly spectacular about it, but it calls to you and your heart. I have a place like that of my own, maybe you do, too. And that settling and comforting realization made me fall even more in love with this book.

I loved the way this story was told. It was so gentle, frank, beautifully plotted. It was fast paced and relatable in the sense that we all have someone in our lives we love dearly despite their pasts. It tugged at my heart. I really could not read it fast enough.

I cannot even express how much I loved this book. There were so many surprises! I love the setting, the protagonist, and everyone she interacted with. I loved that ending. The narration was absolutely perfect for this book.

I really liked the idea of this book. I got the audio and the book. So I read/listened to both. The story was slow which kind of goes with the atmosphere of Iceland where the story takes place. The book picks up at the end a lot which was good. I was glad Agnes got to find out answers to her family's tragedy.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Forty years ago a young woman and a baby girl were murdered and left in the snowy, cold terrain of Bifrost, Iceland. That woman was Agnes' grandmother and that baby was her aunt. Although never convicted, only questioned, Agnes's grandfather was considered guilty through the rumor mill of the town and later through podcasts and unsolved crime enthusiasts. Yet, having moved to the faraway USA, Agnes's distant father allowed Agnes to spend time with her grandfather, a man suspected of murdering his wife and child.

Now Agnes' grandfather has died, she's struggling to recover from a serious leg injury, she's just come out of a failed long term relationship, and solving the murders of her grandmother and aunt is the escape that Agnes needs. The fact that means traveling to faraway Iceland is the icing on the cake. True crime expert Nora Carver, a woman investigating the murders, is already there, with a place for Agnes to stay and a willing ear if Agnes is willing to talk about what she knows about her grandfather, father, and their past.

I am fortunate to have both the ebook and the audiobook so I could listen to the audio will seeing so many words and names that are strange to me. I couldn't begin to guess how the words were pronounced and I wouldn't be able to spell them if I just heard them. Getting to see and hear them at the same time made the story feel more real. Saskia Maarleveld narrates and her voice is great for this story of a place and people that are matter of fact, mostly saying much less than what they mean, and with a somber mood of mistrust and suspicion of this granddaughter of a "murderer" coming into their midst.

The atmosphere is extremely chilly in so many ways, an exterior that can kill in minutes, and a main character that is struggling mentally, emotionally, and physically. What is she even doing here, she asks herself. How has she destroyed her life so completely. Her injury sidelined her in so many ways and left her addicted to the very meds that allowed her to make it through numerous surgeries. Can she become a new person just because she ran away from where she just came from?

There is a sense of danger from the outset. Afterall, if her grandfather didn't kill her grandmother and aunt, could the killer still be in or near Bilfrost? Rushing headlong into unwise situations, Agnes taunts the past, hoping to draw it out but not really knowing what she'll do with what what she learns. I could feel the cold through this story and was so glad to not be in this place although I love reading stories in such locations.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

50 years after her grandfather’s death, Agnes sets out for Iceland, where she hopes to clear her grandfather‘s name. Before he came to California, he lived in Iceland with his wife and two children. While he was never charged for the crime, the public believed that he had killed his wife and daughter. The persecution in the painful memories drove him to relocate to California with his son. Can it be a coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very weekend Agnes arrives? Agnes doesn’t think so, and sets out to uncover the truth about what happened all those years ago. Atmospheric and intense.