A review by ptstewart
Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir

4.0

Reykjavík is swell. I don’t use swell lightly, either. Nothing here really sweeps you off your feet, nor does anything really grind your gears. This is a mystery where you spend a great deal of time thinking I know vaguely what happened; let’s get to the juicy bits, only to be pleasantly surprised by some of those bits when they arrive. I love a cold case, and like so many cold cases, we follow along because we want to know if our theory—and then the protagonist’s theory—is right. I never felt gobsmacked while reading Reykjavík, nor did I ever feel that I was being beaten repeatedly over the head with the resolution to the mystery; the human elements work, the characters are engaging, and I felt compelled to finish the whole thing in one day. A lovely read, very enjoyable, very intriguing and well structured, nothing for which anyone might fall over backward. She’s Goldilocks, folks.