The Lost House
A Novel
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4.3 • 12 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
*A USA Today bestseller*
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 certainty: 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 mystery packed with jaw-dropping twists that will leave you breathless.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
