Welcome to Litsy!

3.5 Stars • REYKJAVIK is a crime novel co-written by Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and acclaimed author Ragnar Jónasson. Set in Iceland, the story follows the mysterious disappearance of a young girl named Lára Marteinsdóttir in 1956. Thirty years later, journalist Valur Robertsson begins investigating the case. This book is a slow-burning, spellbinding whodunit, with Agatha Christie's influence evident throughout.

Valur grabbed the telephone directory and started running through the A's for Arnfrídur .. . first in Reykjavík, then systematically around the country, by postcode.

After trawling through for some time, he established to his satisfaction that there were only two women called Arnfridur Leifsdóttir currently living in Iceland.

‐-----
Rather startling reminder of how small Iceland is!

The plot was quite captivating but the language was really simplistic. I wonder if it‘s the actual text or if this is a bad translation. Either way, I had no idea one of the authors is the Icelandic prime minister so that was fun.

This was an OK story, a cold case that is not quite historical from where I sit in 2023, because the crime takes place in the 1950s and is solved in the 1980s. It doesn‘t do anything super tricksy or groundbreaking, but if you like mystery stories set in Iceland, it makes a good read.

I was intrigued that a prime minister would write a crime novel in homage to Agatha Christie. Starts well but then drags in the second half. Sonna interviewing suspects was all over the place. The original policeman Kristan would have made a more interesting main character. The crime sort of solved itself and was no great surprise. Not at twist in sight. Unless it was how the disappearance took 30 years to solve. Still I enjoyed visiting Iceland.

Set in the titular city, in 1956, a fifteen year old girl goes missing. The bulk of the book takes place 30 years later when an intrepid reporter rehashes old information & uncovers some new leads in solving the mystery of Lara‘s fate. The storyline moves slowly, though I appreciated the richness of the setting & getting a real sense of 1986 Reykjavik! I felt the author duo collaborated well here, & it‘s well-plotted despite the plodding pace.

Thought this was going to be so much better. It didn't keep my interest and was very slow to me.

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
#SummerEndReadathon @TheSpineView Third book finished

What I am reading this weekend

Kindle: Reykjavik (Almost done 74% Read)
Physical: The Girl and the Midnight Murder (started only 51 pages into)
Autobook: Mission Impawisble (43% )

Hope y'all have a booked weekend, too 🙂

Enjoyed this one. My only issue is that you could really tell it had 2 authors. I wish that had been smoothed out so we had a bit more cohesion in the narrative.

This bodes well!

I love a good Icelandic murder mystery. Thirty years after a 15yo disappears off an island, a reporter starts looking into the unsolved case.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

US pub date is 9/5/23
#ARC #NetGalley