Raganar Jonasson is one of the most popular Icelandic writers today. In Reykjavik, he teams up with the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrin Jakobsdottir on the mystery of a young girl who vanished over 30 years ago. What happened to Lara?
1956. Fifteen-year-old Lara Marteinsdottir took a summer job as housemaid to a couple living on Videy Island, minutes off the coast of Reykjavik. Only 3 kilometres long, Ottar and Olaf were the only inhabitants, the sparse village abandoned after the war. Never to be seen again, how did she get off the island, if at all? A thorough police investigation yields nothing. The public is captivated by her disappearance. Everyone grew up with the story and photo of Lara. Every ten years, the papers resurrect interest but raise no new clues.
1986. Vidar is a young newspaper reporter writing a weekly feature, something to stir memories. Papers fly off the shelves around the anniversary. The Videy couple want nothing to do with it - they are adamant they know nothing. Lara's parents have given up hope they will ever find the truth.
Vidar's only leads are friends of Olaf and Ottar from the time, who claim to have never visited the island. Hogni is now a slick housing developer, Pall a city council member who helps Hogni bend permits, and Finnar a wealthy importer who just died of cancer. No one believes these respectable men would have anything to do with it. Vidar confides in his sister Sunna, even sharing his notebook. A sensational ending to his feature would be solving one of the bigggest secrets of the last half-century. Perhaps she is still alive?
I felt this peak halfway, when Sunna takes over the investigation, poring over the notes and 30 years of news clippings. She is crafty at interviewing people Vidar could not, and seeing the indignant outrage of Hogni and Pall she knows she is doing something right, but it felt like the legwork had been done. Sunna is tenacious and eager - with a new discovery, a woman's name on a paper. Arnfridur Leifsdottir.
There is a lot to recommend about Reykjavik, taking place on the eve of Reykjavik's 200th anniversary, complete with 200 metre cake and fireworks.
Mysteries have common themes (the body found fireside in the library, a house full of suspects, for example). What matters to the reader is how it is constructed and written. I found this had a typical Nordic Crime theme (unearthing a death in the past, linked to powerful men who believe they are above unpleasantness), but enjoyed all the characters, the structure, the writing. I was captivated, even knowing it was a theme I had read before.
It captivated and entertained. Recommended.
Besides his many crime novels, Ragnar has translated 14 Agatha Christie mysteries, and co-founded the Icelandic Noir crime writing festival. Katrin is the Prime Minister of Iceland and chair of her political party the Left-Green Movement, with a masters degree in Icelandic literature. Reykjavik is dedicated to Agatha Christie.
2022 / Hardcover / 384 pages
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