Review: Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Translated by Victoria Cribb
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 . . .
You know I love Scandinavian crime thrillers and this book was no exception. As long as you are ok with slower pacing, the setting was absolutely fantastic as were the various timelines. While this probably interested me a bit more since I have traveled to (and loved) Reykjavik, it still gives you the same sense of cold, isolation and anticipation while waiting for the other shoe to drop that I think is prevalent in this genre. Definitely add this one to your TBR pile!
It felt as if the brief Icelandic summer was already over that August morning on the boat, with no shelter from the wind and the sun hidden by cloud.
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