Thank you Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner for the advanced copy of The Lost House in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: January 14, 2025
Summary:
In Melissa Larsen’s The Lost House comes the 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.
Forty years ago, a young woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the cold Icelandic snow, lying together as peacefully as though sleeping. Except the mother’s throat had been slashed and the infant drowned. The case was never solved. There were no arrests, no conviction. Just a suspicion turned into a the husband did it. When he took his son and fled halfway across the world to California, it was proof enough of his guilt.
Now, nearly half a century later and a year after his death, his granddaughter, Agnes, is ready to clear her grandfather’s name once and for all. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnes wants nothing more than an excuse to escape the shambles of her once-stable life—which is why she so readily accepts true crime expert Nora Carver’s invitation to be interviewed for her popular podcast. Agnes packs a bag and hops on a last-minute flight to the remote town of Bifröst, Iceland, where Nora is staying, where Agnes’s father grew up, and where, supposedly, her grandfather slaughtered his wife and infant daughter.
Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes arrives? Suddenly, Agnes and Nora’s investigation is turned upside down, and everyone in the small Icelandic town is once again a suspect. Seeking to unearth old and new truths alike, Agnes finds herself drawn into a web of secrets that threaten the redemption she is hell-bent on delivering, and even her life—discovering how far a person will go to protect their family, their safety, and their secrets.
Set against an unforgiving Icelandic winter landscape, The Lost House is a chilling and razor-sharp thriller packed with jaw-dropping twists that will leave you breathless.
My thoughts:
This book is exactly the type of book I love to read in the winter – a chilling, gripping thriller set in an isolated location that I can really sink my teeth into that is so atmospheric that I can’t put it down. This might be my first time reading a book by Melissa Larsen but it certainly won’t be the last.
I loved how the author was able to take so many different threads and blend them into one seamless story that kept me engaged throughout. There is the 40-year-old cold case and a current-day missing person case along with the podcast element, which I can never get enough of. On top of that, we have our protagonist, Agnes, who is just trying to find answers to what really happened to her family and find herself in the process, and then there are all are the secrets – you know I love a book with secrets!
I love books where the setting is itself almost a character and that is definitely the case here. It transported me back to Iceland as I was reading this one and I felt that cold seep into my bones. This is such a tense and suspenseful story and I loved how complicated a character Agnes was. She’s not just trying to find out what happened to her grandfather – she’s also still healing from an accident she barely survived and is addicted to painkillers. Still limping around, she isn’t the most reliable to people to be out wandering around in the snow and yet continues to take risks, often without letting others know where she is.
This layered mystery captivated me from the get-go and I cannot recommend it enough.
Audio thoughts:
This was amazing on audio, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Her pitch and tone were just right, adding just the right chilliness to an already tense and atmospheric read.
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