In 1956, a teenage girl working on a small island off the coast of Reykjavík goes missing. The investigation leads nowhere, and the case eventually goes cold. Thirty years later, during the city’s 200th anniversary celebrations, a journalist reopens the case in the hopes of finally uncovering what happened.
I love Iceland, so as soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to pick it up. It turned out to be a super quick, easy read. The chapters are short so it was easy for me to read “just one more.”
Overall, this is a solid, engaging mystery. There were a couple of twists and surprises that caught me off guard. Did I know how to pronounce any of the names or places? Absolutely not. Was I completely fascinated by them anyway? Yes.
Most of the story takes place in 1986, and I really enjoyed all the nods to the time period, such as how expensive a VCR was, video rentals, pay phones, flipping through a phone book, and going to see Top Gun in theaters. I did keep catching myself wondering why the characters didn’t just Google something… and then remembering that Google didn’t exist yet.
That said, I did find myself questioning why the story needed to be set in 1986 at all. The mystery itself could have unfolded just as easily in the present day; there still would have been plenty of sleuthing, connections to untangle, and secrets to uncover. The afterword touches on this briefly, with the authors explaining that they wanted to revisit a carefree and happy time, which makes sense, even if it didn’t feel entirely essential to the story.
The writing was a bit clunky in places, though I suspect that may be due to the translation. It made me wonder if the prose flows more smoothly in its native language.
This book was a quick and enjoyable read with a unique setting and just the right touch of nostalgia.
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