ARC REVIEW (1/14): the lost house by melissa larsen ❄️ a mesmerizing story of a young woman with a haunting past who returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a gruesome murder in her family.

I loved the dark setting and how it added to the harsh iceland ambience! many dark themes were explored so check triggers before diving in! if you’re on the hunt for a mystery to read while snowed in, this is the one for you as it’s not too frightening.

there was a podcast element that hooks you right away but I think I would’ve enjoyed this mystery more if it was told from the podcast host, nora! I was never sure of her motives so diving a bit deeper into that element would’ve been interesting🧣

despite the captivating writing, it did get a bit slow at times which was a bummer. SO much time was lost listening to the fmc, agnes, abuse her body & pop pills that it took me out of the story.

I hope I haunt you 👀 thank you macmillan audio & st. martin's press for the early copies 🎧 3 stars!

💥 Pub Date: 1/14/2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

• Nordic noir mystery
• chilling atmosphere
• unique characters

I found this to be more of a slow burn. It was a little too repetitive in parts, but the ending definitely paid off. The audio narrator really brought the story to life, and it was nice to know how to pronounce some of those Icelandic words!

🗣 Thank you to netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and macmillan.audio for the opportunity to read and review this book via both gifted eARC and audio! All opinions are honest and my own.

Macmillan Audio ALC
What a perfect atmospheric mystery for winter. This story takes place in Iceland when there’s lots of snow storms. The story felt claustrophobic between the snow, Agnes’ injury, and not knowing who to trust. I always love a story with an old family mystery, and this one is dark. I also thought the exploration of the podcast trope was so well done here. I liked how it explored how dredging up traumatic history isn’t always a good thing. Saskia Maarleveld narrated, and she is perfect for these kinds of stories.

A riveting, well-paced murder mystery thriller. I connected with the main character, Agnes, with her flaws, chronic pain, and her family's dark backstory. Despite her pain from a bad injury to her knee and leg, and convinced of her grandfather's innocence, Agnes makes the trip from California to Bifröst, Iceland to meet with a podcaster digging into her grandmother and great aunt's cold case. She meets distant relatives and new friends, many of them holding pieces of the puzzle to solving the mystery. Her journey to the truth is difficult and riddled with obstacles, and I loved how the mystery unfolded. The narration of the audiobook was fantastic and engaging. I highly recommend this book for fans of Nordic thrillers and murder mysteries.

The Lost House is a dramatic yet heartfelt story that still maintains a dark and mysterious vibe. I applaud the complexity that the author attempted…and pulled off brilliantly! The book mixes: a woman lost without the answers she craves about her family, a 30-year-old cold case, and a current day missing person. If not executed correctly, this could be one gigantic mess of a book, but it was really well done.

All the plot lines blended together seamlessly and the emotions of the main character added depth and a human connection that is refreshing for this genre of book! A very engaging and hard to put down crime fiction novel! I recommend to fans of the genre!

So this was a fantastic ARC. I really enjoyed the wintery feels while reading this during such frigid weather outside!
I have many praises for this book, starting with the plot.
I felt like it was never a story where I knew 100% who did what. There were always speculations, like I have with any book but you truly can’t figure out the ‘whodunnit’ part until the end. That was fantastic.

I would also like to say the audiobook version was great. I enjoyed the accents used and the overall tempo.
I think one area I wasn’t huge on was that the main character had a few moments where I was becoming a bit frustrated. The book lingered on her issues a bit too often I think- in parts, not all.
For this reason it’s a 4.5star for me. I needed a bit of a switch on the main character and I would’ve thrown a solid 5star it ‘er.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

The Lost House, by Melissa Larsen, was brought to thrilling life by one of my fave narrators, Saskia Maarelveld. I mostly listened to it while in the car, but I would have preferred to be sitting beside a crackling fire, glass of red wine in hand. Set in Iceland, this book has snow in just about every seen. Part mystery, part emotional excavation, I was relieved to get to the end and feel like Agnes will be okay. Whatever life throws at her, her journey in The Lost House has revealed her strength and she can handle it. But what a journey!

This story is a bonus that offers two mysteries in one book. I really enjoyed the setting in a small Icelandic village. While the plot and mysteries were the focus of the book, I wished for more description of the setting and better development of the characters since this is a place that I have never visited. That being said, the plot and the solving of both the decades-old murders and the current disappearance of a young woman was very well written. The story was fast-paced and entertaining and kept me searching for connections. The protagonist, Agnes was to be admired in her convictions and determination but she was one of those characters that made me want to admonish her to stop putting herself in stupid dangerous situations. I found the character of the podcaster, Nora to be very unlikable and I really think that the inclusion of a podcaster as a means to “set the stage” and get the protagonist involved has been overdone. I’m looking for something more creative now to get everyone in place. And I found Nora’s motives to be confusing and some of the things that she did were never explained (no spoilers). But as for the big picture, these criticisms are minor compared to the overall enjoyment of story and I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of the mystery genre and especially for the unique setting.
I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator was excellent overall, her accents seemed very believable and she made Nora sound as annoying as her character. Her voice inflections were perfect for the drama.

This dark noir Icelandic thriller did not disappoint. Agnes, a young woman who has suffered a serious leg injury a year previously travels to Iceland to participate in a True Crime Podcast where she hopes to help prove the grandfather who raised her innocent of a famous double murder. The pace is a bit slow at the beginning but towards the end absolutely kept me listening for an exciting climactic ending. Highly recommended for lovers of true crime and psychological thrillers, you will not be disappointed. The narrator was excellent with her accents and brought the scenes to life for me. 4.5 stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and the author Melissa Larsen for a chance to read/ listen to an ARC audio version of this book.

This dark and atmospheric audiobook for The Lost House perfectly fits my winter vibes. I absolutely love Saskia Maarleveld's narration. I will listen to any book that she narrates; she is so good.

The Lost House takes place in a remote frigid part of Iceland. Where the community is small and knows everything about each other's business. Agnes’s grandfather is suspected of killing her grandmother and her infant aunt in the early 70s. Agnes believes that her grandfather didn't commit these murders and flies to Iceland to help Nora, an American podcaster, with her show about their murders. While she is there another girl goes missing from the old house who looks like her grandmother. Agnes jumps at the opportunity to help find the missing girl while also trying to prove her grandfather's innocence.

I really loved how strong Agnes was throughout the whole story. Yeah, she has her faults like being addicted to painkillers. But, she is trying to overcome her addiction while also grieving her injury and her grandfather's recent death. I loved how she dealt with the fact that her grandfather was probably the one who killed her grandmother even though she wanted so much for him to be innocent.

As the story went on, quite a few suspects jumped out at me. I liked the mix of past descendants and current students when it came to suspects. In the end, I was surprised to find out the connection between Agnes's murdered family members and the missing girl. I found the ending quite shocking.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books through Netgalley for an advance listening copy.

This was a pleasant surprise. If you liked The Lost Village by Camilla Sten, I think you will like the similar atmosphere that this story possess.

In a small town in Iceland, a brutal murder of a woman and her baby girl was committed in winter of 1979. The baby was frozen and the mother's throat was slit. Everyone suspected the husband did it. With mounting tensions in the town, he took their son and left.

In 2019, the man's granddaughter Agnes goes back to Iceland to meet a podcaster, Nora, who is investigating the deaths of Agnes's grandmother and aunt. Coincidentally, a local girl who was interested her grandmother's case vanishes into thin air.

Are the cases related? Agnes can't rest until she finds out the truth.

This was overall enjoyable, and I would recommend the audio version. Excited to read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This mesmerizing novel features Agnes, who while at home in California recovering from serious injuries to her legs, accepts an invitation from podcaster Nora Carver to join her in a remote town in Iceland, where Agnes' grandmother and infant aunt were murdered four decades before. Agnes' beloved grandfather, Eainar, who was widely accepted to have been the murderer, fled to the US with his son Magnus, Agnes' father, shortly after the incident. Agnes and Nora set about to prove Einar's innocence. Shortly after Agnes arrives, a local young woman goes missing and is presumed dead. Nora and Agnes take up that case, too. The two cases become inextricably linked and the action in this cold and icy country intensify as the book nears its conclusion. Larsen does a good job of building tension as well as developing the major characters, although Nora and her backstory are shunted into the background, perhaps a little prematurely. The audio book was enhanced greatly by Saskia Maarleveld's excellent narration. Unlike some of her peers, Maarleveld does a good job of distinguishing characters by voice when necessary and not overdoing or exaggerating them. Readers and listeners will enjoy The Lost House.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was very well-written, and even though mysteries like this aren't usually my thing, I did like it.

This book pleasantly surprised me! I went in not really expecting much, as most mystery/thriller novels feel the same to me (and I normally love them either way, but count on them being average). This was a really great story that was excellently planned out.

Agnes was a great character to read about! She's frustrating enough that you want to shake her sometimes, but she has a backstory that makes you pity her a bit AND understand where she's coming from. She's not perfect, nor does she try to be, but she is human and she's doing her best (especially now that she is either temporarily or permanently disabled from an accident and also dealing with someone doing a podcast about her grandfather who may or may not have killed his wife and child).

Nora is also an interesting character, and I wish we had learned a little bit more about her and her sister's backstory. It was thrown in there very quickly and then not addressed again, even though it would have made for some more interest.

This story has some great twists and turns, most pieces are thought out well, and I think this is a perfect story for this time of year when things feel a bit cold and gloomy, as the setting fits that perfectly. If you like mysteries that are also a bit of a thriller, give this one a chance!

This is my first book by this author. I look forward to reading more.

I enjoyed the narration very much.

This book was slow to start for me but it did pick up and the ending was great. The author definitely wrapped it up great.

A murder was committed in 1979 in a small town in Iceland. A woman and her baby girl. The baby was frozen and the mother's throat was slit. Everyone suspected the husband did it. He took their son and left.

In 2019 Agnes goes to Iceland to meet a podcaster, Nora, who is investigating the deaths of Agnes's grandmother and aunt all those years ago. A girl has gone missing and of course there has been a search for her now. The house that Agnes's grandfather and father lived in has become a place for people to hang out and gawk about what happened back in 1979. That is where the other girl went missing from too.

You get a lot with this story. A murder or two. A missing young woman. A drug addiction. A kidnapping. You uncover the truth as you read but that last part is the best. When most of the actual action and the reveal happens.

The setting of this story is great and the timeframes. It goes back to what happened in 1979 only a few times to keep you knowing what happened and then who did it. You meet several of the townspeople and most are very likable. This book was good but not great. I do say it's worth reading, You may love it more than I did. I did like it. It kept me guessing for sure. Parts kept me on edge too. I believe it was well written. It was a quick read for me.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, #MacmillanAudio, for this ARC. This is my true thoughts about this book.

3 stars

Agnes is the granddaughter of the infamous Icelandic Dahlia. Her grandmother and infant child were found frozen in the snow 40 years ago. It almost looked like an accident, but her throat was slashed. Everyone believes that Agnes's grandfather did it, but as someone who adored him, she can't believe it's true. So she ends up in Iceland working alongside true crime podcaster, Nora in the hopes that they'll uncover the true killer once and for all. But the podcast is put on hold when a woman goes missing, and the only thing more dangerous than the arctic temperatures is the town's inhabitants.

As somone who considers herself a Mary Shelley fan, she loves a good atmospheric book, and that's exactly what you get here. You are immediately plunged into this frightening and frozen small town full of suspicious residents. This book focuses more on Agnes than Nora which is fine with me because I liked Agnes better as a character. While this book had a few issues (for example Nora just vanished at the end), it was a compelling read, and I'd certainly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. As always, Saskia Maarleveld was an enjoyable narrator.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen is the story of Agnus, the American born grand daughter of an Icelandic family infamous for the murder of her grandmother and baby aunt. The murder known as the Frozen Madonna, is now the subject of a true crime podcast hosted by Nora Carver. Agnus, suffering from a painkiller addition agrees to go to Iceland indefinitely to be interviewed and help Nora. Her grandfather was the only suspect in the murders, and Agnus desperately wants to prove he is innocent. Upon arrival to Iceland, Nora shares the news that a Girl has gone missing after attending an anniversary party “at the murder house.” Together Nora and Agnus interview distant relatives, friends and neighbors to try and find the missing girl, and who killed “The Frozen Madonna.”

I enjoyed this book, and looked forward to listening. It has a steady pace, good narration and sounds quality. It can get confusing at times with the many people who are introduced, all with Icelandic names. People who love psychology thrillers and mysteries will enjoy this book.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the advanced audiobook through NetGallery in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a solid book. A small town mystery is uncovered by a podcaster and a young woman who has connection to the mystery. While uncovering secrets of the past mystery, this duo find themselves in the middle of a new mystery. You get two mysteries in one! Some of the book was slow for me, still a good listen. Thank you, NetGalley.

I loved the setting of this book, the harsh weather and remote town in Iceland made for a spooky atmospheric read. It was too much of a slow burn for me. I was dying to know what happened and wish we had gotten there sooner.


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I tried. I did finish the book but it took a lot of back and forth between the book and the audiobook. Usually, I get a sense of darkness and tension rom this setting. This time I found myself fighting boredom. There was an old and a new mystery. Neither were approached in a way that had any real tension. No one seemed terribly concerned with the presently missing woman and no one even seemed a little reliable when discussing the past. I pushed through.