The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson - When a bestselling crime author goes missing, the young detective Helgi is given the challenge of finding her or finding out what happened before the press and public realize there's a problem. Helgi hopes to prove his mettle with the case, and maybe his own love of crime and mystery fiction will help him make sense of the few clues available. He faces challenges in his personal life too, with his former girlfriend stalking and threatening his new love interest and his struggles to handle the situations.
There's one flashback timeline in which the author, Elín Jónsdóttir, is being interviewed by an unknown person. We're given the transcript of this interview, and there's a sense that there must be clues for the reader that Helgi doesn't have access to, and it does add to the tension. The sections of transcript are interspersed throughout the story.
In another alternate timeline, the detective that Helgi replaced, Hulda, is doing follow-up work on a bank robbery and murder case. It was apparently the last case she was working on before she disappeared. Again, there's a sense to the reader that the cases or maybe even the disappearances must be related, but at the beginning it's not clear just how.
The tension builds throughout, as Elín's few close friends maintain hope that she is still alive and has just chosen to be incommunicado for reasons of her own. There are some clues that don't fit this solution, so Helgi keeps working at it, and the bits of interview transcript start to fall into place for the reader as well. There are some twists and turns in the solution.
There's some good payoff in how Hulda's investigation has a connection to Helgi's case, but those threads seem loosely woven together, and the way Hulda's timeline concludes makes me wonder if there is more to come in a sequel. Likewise with how the book ends on a cliffhanger, and such an abrupt one that I'm still not sure how I feel about it! I was actually startled that there was not another chapter and I really had reached the end of the book. I enjoyed the read, putting together the clues as best I could, and the rising suspense and subsequent satisfaction of the pieces coming together. However, that abrupt ending was very unsettling and left me puzzled and feeling like I'd missed something important.
This book is a sequel to Death At the Sanitorium: A Mystery, which I understand has a similar layout of Helgi following up on Hulda's previous investigation after her disappearance. I don't think it's necessary to read these in order, but given Hulda's disappearance and the drama in Helgi's personal life, I assume it would probably be very helpful to read in order.
From the publisher:
The next thrilling golden-age-style mystery from the #1 Icelandic bestseller Ragnar Jónasson, author of Death at the Sanatorium and Reykjavik.
One winter evening, bestselling crime author Elín Jónsdóttir goes missing.
There are no clues to her disappearance and it is up to young detective Helgi to crack the case before its leaked to the press.
As Helgi interviews the people closest to her―a publisher, an accountant, a retired judge―he realizes that Elín's life wasn't what it seemed. In fact, her past is even stranger than the fiction she wrote.
As the case of the missing crime writer becomes more mysterious by the hour, Helgi must uncover the secrets of the writer's very unexpected life.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a review.
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This is a book set in a country with an active volcano (#49) for The 52 Book Club's 2025 Reading Challenge.
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