1.27.2025 | Monday

Reykjavík: A Crime Story

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Reykjavík: A Crime Storytitle: Reykjavík: A Crime Story
author: Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
published: 9.5.2023
publisher: Minotaur Books
genre(s): thrillers
pages: 364
source: Kindle Unlimited
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | BookHype | StoryGraph | Goodreads

rating: four-half-stars

the blurb

With over three million copies sold worldwide, Ragnar Jónasson, along with Katrín Jakobsdóttir, brings us a gripping and chilling new thriller, Reykjavík.
What happened to Lára?
Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?
Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .


  • a few notes
  • my review
  • the good & the bad

POV: 3rd person; multi
keywords/phrases: conspiracy, murder, betrayal
tropes: twist ending
spice: 0🔥
language: 🤬

read this if… you enjoy the direct style of Nordic storytelling and crime stories.

the good

  • The story is twisty, often tragic, with more than one red herring.
  • The writing style is one I love, clear and direct with little metaphor.
  • Fantastic anticipation built throughout the novel.

the bad

  • I wish there was more about the crime itself in the reveal. I wanted to know exactly what happened and why.

The novel is a collaborative work between Ragnar Jónasson and Iceland’s former Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir. It is a mystery that feels reminiscent of any classic crime noir, with a young girl who goes missing on a small, barely inhabited island. As far as anyone knows, she was alone with her employers, a prominent Icelandic couple. But yet there are no suspects, and the authors keep the reader guessing until the very end, with an outstanding plot twist.

The story is set largely in 1986, weaving in real events from the time. That gives it an air of authenticity that makes it feel as if the novel could be a true crime story instead. The setting of Reykjavík is lovely, with great descriptions of the area that brought the plot to life. There are a lot of characters, but the authors created a helpful cast of characters at the beginning of the book which was very helpful.


About Katrín Jakobsdóttir

KATRÍN JAKOBSDÓTTIR has been Prime Minster of Iceland since 2017. Katrín has been a member of the Icelandic Parliament since 2007 but before that she worked in publishing and education. She served as the minister for education, research and culture from 2009 to 2013. She lives with her husband and three sons in Reykjavík. Hailing from a family of prominent Icelandic poets and academics, she wrote her Master’s dissertation on Icelandic crime writing. She and Jónasson are long-time friends, who first worked together nearly ten years ago as part of the jury for an award for best crime fiction in translation in Iceland.

About Ragnar Jónasson

Ragnar Jonasson is author of the award winning and international bestselling Dark Iceland series.

His debut Snowblind, first in the Dark Iceland series, went to number one in the Amazon Kindle charts shortly after publication. The book was also a no. 1 Amazon Kindle bestseller in Australia. Snowblind has been a paperback bestseller in France.

Nightblind won the Dead Good Reader Award 2016 for Most Captivating Crime in Translation.

Snowblind was called a “classically crafted whodunit” by THE NEW YORK TIMES, and it was selected by The Independent as one of the best crime novels of 2015 in the UK.

Rights to the Dark Iceland series have been sold to UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Poland, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Morocco, Portugal, Croatia, Armenia and Iceland.

Ragnar was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he works as a writer and a lawyer. He also teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University and has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV-news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.

He is also the co-founder of the Reykjavik international crime writing festival Iceland Noir.

From the age of 17, Ragnar translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic.

Ragnar has also had short stories published internationally, including in the distinguished Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in the US, the first stories by an Icelandic author in that magazine.

He has appeared on festival panels worldwide, and lives in Reykjavik.

Rating Report
plot
four-stars
characters
four-half-stars
writing
four-half-stars
pacing
four-stars
Overall: four-stars

reading challenges:

  • 2025 52 Books Reading Challenge
  • 2025 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
  • 2025 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge: Author Edition
  • 2025 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
  • 2025 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge
  • 2025 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
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