One of Washington Post's "New Mystery Novels to Curl Up With This Fall" One of Book Riot's "New Mystery, Thrillers, & True Crime for September 2025" "Cleverly plotted, slyly humorous, and bursting with love for the golden age of detective fiction, this outperforms even its outstanding predecessor."-- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "A lightning-fast read for fans willing to keep turning the pages till the crucial clues drop."-- Kirkus Reviews "Flashbacks are effectively used as a creative way to tell the backstory of the missing novelist. This Golden Age-style mystery is a definite departure from Jónasson's 'Dark Iceland' series, which was set in an atmospheric small town in Iceland."-- Library Journal "This follow-up to Death at the Sanitarium (2024) is utterly compelling, blending meta classic mystery tropes with darker psychological thriller elements as Helgi is stalked by his violent ex-partner. Fans of Jónasson's Dark Iceland and Hidden Iceland series will appreciate the storytelling centered around Helgi, who links the three series together."-- Booklist "Jónasson, whose novels have sold 3 million books worldwide, writes in his native Icelandic, and as usual, Victoria Cribb has done a fine job of translating his crisp, vivid style."-- Associated Press "Exhilarating and gripping; fans of Agatha Christie and Nordic Noir will find much to enjoy here.

"--firstCLUE "A sophisticated new mystery from the land of fire, ice and noir luminaries . Ragnar Jónasson is a young Icelandic writer of crime fiction who has proved an agile talent with unimpeachable tenacity to join the great luminaries in the history of Icelandic writers."-- Durango Telegraph "Original, exceptional, clever, compelling, and a fun read for mystery buffs from cover to cover . an extraordinary and deftly crafted detective novel that is an unreservedly recommended pick for community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections."-- Midwest Book Review "This book is gorgeously written with all the elements one expects from a superior puzzler. If you like this one, you'll want to read all of Jonasson's earlier books."-- The Globe and Mail "Outstanding . Jónasson's adroit follow-up to Death at the Sanatorium cleverly mixes a solid police procedural with a valentine to 1930s and '40s mysteries.

"-- Shelf Awareness.