The lost house

The Icelandic village of Bitfröst contends with two crimes, 40 years apart, in this atmospheric outing from Larsen (Shutter). In 2019, software developer Agnes Glin is nursing a broken leg in California when she accepts true crime podcaster Nora Carver's invitation to come to Iceland for an interview about Agnes's grandfather, Einar Palsson. Four decades earlier, Einar was accused by Bitfröst gossips of killing his young wife and their baby daughter. Though he was never charged with the crime, his move to California shortly afterward was considered proof of his guilt by locals. Now, Einar has died, and Agnes must once again try to reconcile the sweet man she knew with the monster his neighbors saw. Shortly after Agnes arrives in Bitfröst with ambitions of clearing Einar's name, a young woman from the village goes missing. Suddenly, Agnes and Nora have a new case on their hands--and the more they dig, the more Agnes suspects the mystery is linked to her grandmother's death. Larsen seamlessly interweaves Agnes's path toward self-discovery with her and Nora's investigation, deriving satisfying emotional beats from somewhat familiar Scandi-noir parts. The result is sufficiently chilling. (Jan.)

A sleepy Icelandic town provides the setting for two horrific crimes 50 years apart. Obsession prompts Agnes Glin to journey from California, where she's lived her whole life, to remote Bifröst, Iceland, in response to an offer from passionate true crime podcaster Nora Carver. Agnes' grandfather, Einar Pálsson, was the chief suspect in one of Iceland's most notorious unsolved cases, the murder of his wife, Marie Hvass, and their infant daughter, Agnes Einarsdóttir, immortalized in a haunting photograph as the "Frozen Madonna and Child." This horror has cast a shadow over the Glin family for decades. Because her own near-fatal surfing accident has necessitated a long recovery and led to what Agnes considers a broken existence, Nora's offer feels like a lifeline, as well as a chance to learn the details of her family's past and clear her grandfather's name. Even as Agnes adjusts to this new, utterly alien environment, the little community is rocked by another provocative mystery with echoes of the 1974 murder that branded Einar. Out for a night of heavy drinking with some friends, a local student named Ása vanishes. Nora believes that her disappearance is related to the mystery surrounding Einar. Agnes, initially worried that Nora's interest in this new case may distract her from the 1974 crime, ends up pulled into the baffling disappearance as well. With its measured pace, psychological depth, and vivid portraits of people and places, Larsen's atmospheric thriller resembles Nordic noir, though the author is American. The combustible combination of hard-charging Nora and skittish Agnes adds tension in a twisty novel full of surprises. A haunting whodunit with effective undertones of menace. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.