The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer

Icelander Jónasson’s top-notch sequel to Death at the Sanatorium takes inspiration from Agatha Christie’s still-unexplained 11-day disappearance in 1926. Set mainly in 2012, the action picks up where the last book left off, with young Reykjavík detective Helgi Reykdal planning a quiet future with his new girlfriend, Anita, after escaping his volatile relationship with the abusive, alcoholic Bergthora. Given Helgi’s fondness for 1930s and ’40s mystery fiction, his boss asks him to investigate reports that Elín Jónsdóttir, the most famous crime novelist in Iceland, has gone missing. Helgi interviews Elín’s friends and associates, and soon learns that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Meanwhile, a vindictive Bergthora starts stalking Anita. As Helgi uncovers increasingly surprising details about Elín’s life, Jónasson flashes back to an enigmatic 1965 conversation between two robbers, a 2002 news story about Elín’s final book, and a 2005 interview with Elín herself, before braiding everything together in virtuosic fashion. Cleverly plotted, slyly humorous, and bursting with love for the golden age of detective fiction, this outperforms even its outstanding predecessor. (Sept.)