I liked the premise of Melissa Larsen’s novel, The Lost House, but she lost me with her protagonist. Agnes Glin was too troubled for me to appreciate her story. She’s terrified, lonely, and an addict, not my kind of character.
In 1979, long before she was born, Agnes’ grandmother and infant aunt were murdered in Bifrost, Iceland. Her grandfather, Einar Palssen, finally couldn’t take the accusations that he killed his wife and child, so he fled to America with his nine-year-old son, Magnus. Agnes is Magnus’ daughter, but in her small family, they never talked about Einar’s past, and the two men refused to teach her Icelandic.
In 2019, there’s renewed interest in the story, forty years after “The Frozen Madonna Case”. Agnes still grieves for her grandfather who died a year earlier. And, she’s addicted to opioids after shattering her kneecap and ankle. When true crime podcaster Nora Carver reaches out to her, Agnes agrees to go to Bifrost. She’ll be the first one in the family to talk about the case. Agnes is convinced her grandfather is innocent.
By the time Agnes arrives in Bifrost, Nora is interested in a fresh case. A young woman named Asa disappeared after a party in the house where Agnes’ grandparents once lived. So, Nora doesn’t have as much time for Agnes as they originally planned. And what does twenty-seven-year-old Agnes do when left alone? She digs into the story of her grandparents.
I found The Lost House to be slow-moving with too much description. Readers who enjoy Nordic landscapes may enjoy that more than I did. But, Agnes never did grow on me. I read for character, and it’s not easy to finish a book with a troubled protagonist.
Melissa Larsen’s website is https://melissa-larsen.com/.
The Lost House by Melissa Larsen. Minotaur Books, 2025. ISBN 9781250332875 (hardcover), 335p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received an ARC from the publisher with no expectations of a review.
