Description

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BESTSELLING THRILLER WRITER AND A PRIME MINISTER WRITE A MYSTERY TOGETHER? THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT . . .

‘A beautifully constructed mystery by two super smart partners in crime’ ANTHONY HOROWITZ

‘Nordic noir at its most authoritative’ FINANCIAL TIMES
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What happened to Lara Marteinsdottir?

Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lara spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavik.

In early August, the girl disappears without a trace.

The mystery becomes Iceland’s greatest 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 in August, 1986, as the city of Reykjavik celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lara’s case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavik upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lara’s disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .

Publisher Review

Nordic noir at its most authoritative. * Financial Times * A crime novel with a difference * Guardian * A beautifully constructed mystery by two super smart partners in crime -- ANTHONY HOROWITZ A slow-burning, spellbinding whodunit. Agatha Christie, to whom it's dedicated, would be proud * Kirkus * I read all 349 pages in one go and enjoyed every second . . . A gripping story . . . extremely well written . . . superbly plotted . . . The twist at the halfway point of the book hits the reader like a wave of the ice cold Atlantic Ocean. One reader at my home was almost in shock. It is an art to create such a deep connection with fictional characters. Even though the story is first and foremost entertaining, it also serves as the mirror of a nation and has many layers * Frettabladid Newspaper * Brilliant. Very exciting, great fun, good characterization, and the atmosphere of the 80s is described in an enjoyable way. One of the best crime novels I've read in a long time -- Gisli Marteinn Baldursson Praise for Ragnar Jonasson * - * Jonasson is a connoisseur of 'unrelenting darkness'; the atmosphere of paranoid claustrophobia [Jonasson] creates is so intense you can't help gripping the book as tightly as possible * The Times * A superb page-turner . . . breathes fresh and unsettling life into the classic locked room mystery -- Kevin Wignall * - * Stunningly original . . . Tense. Very tense. -- Michael Ridpath * - * Jonasson's twisting, elegantly crafted story will keep you hooked till the very last page -- William Ryan * - * Ragnar Jonasson is so skilled in depicting the environment where the story takes place, it becomes one of the characters. It is so atmospheric, I am immediately transported to the Icelandic moors, feeling the cold all the way to the bones. I read with bated breath, my heart pounding with the looming knowledge that soon something bad is about to happen -- Sara Blaedel * - * Jonasson offers an intense standalone, taking to new heights his unrivalled skill for using winter as an unpredictable plot-twister . . . There is so much to like here: the complexity of the quartet's relationships, Jonasson's powerful, streamlined writing, and the parallels between an unforgiving setting and the characters' seething grudges. Readers will be drawn into Jonasson's forbidding Iceland landscape, where it's anyone's guess who will make it out alive * Booklist * Entertaining, suspenseful and twisty. Overall, highly recommended for fans of Ragnar Jonasson and suspense thrillers in general * Mystery Tribune * Chilling thriller by the king of Icelandic noir . . . so gripping I can't put it down -- Fiona Cummings * - * A shivery delight * Kirkus Reviews * Jonasson's spare prose and brisk pacing make for an immersive read . . . Outside is an intriguing study of isolation, claustrophobia and the particular menace to be found in beautiful yet unforgiving terrain * Private Eye * Jonasson is a master at two aspects of Icelandic noir: one is the description of his country's withering weather; the other is the handling of murderous plots that are tangled beyond all expectations. He's in top form in both specialties this time out * Toronto Star * Jonasson is an automatic must-read for me . . . possibly the best Scandi writer working today -- Lee Child * - * Triumphant . . . Chilling, creepy, perceptive, almost unbearably tense -- Ian Rankin * - * Dark, chilling and utterly gripping -- Shari Lapena * - * Such a tense, gripping read -- Anthony Horowitz A world-class crime writer. One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction. * The Sunday Times * A master of the Icelandic thriller. * New York Post *