Firstly, thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for a review.

I don't normally like mysteries but something about this caught my eye, and I really enjoyed reading it. It's not like a normal whodunnit but the ending was definitely still a surprise. It was still really enjoyable and I would recommend to friends who like mysteries.

I was excited to read this advance copy as it fits exactly with the type of books I enjoy - I have read similar literature in the past (e.g. Helene Tursten) and loved it. However, I have to admit that although the characters were well-drawn, I found the domestic abuse twist to be unsurprising and the pace slow, which meant that the ending had to be rushed. While I loved the references to Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, this book just didn’t grab me.

Death at the Sanatorium is the latest Icelandic noir novel from Ragnar Jónasson. This short book is set over three timelines; 1950 where a small child is admitted to a sanatorium forTB patients in the northern town of Akureyri, 1983 when a series of murders have taken place and 2012, where the unsolved murders are now the subject of a thesis.

This is an understated, slow burner of a read. There’s a very small group of characters involved, from Helgi, the student obsessed by the cold case to Yrsa, Elizabeth and Broddi, the former staff at the sanatorium. There’s a golden age mystery aspect to these murders, with multi references to novels by Agatha Christie. There’s also a very interesting spin on domestic violence.

Overall, a very enjoyable ‘low on tension’ read, which you could easily finish in one sitting. There’s also the promise of a follow up with a very open ended conclusion . Many thanks to @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley for the advance copy in return for my review. 3.5 stars

Jonasson’s plotting is masterful, with each twist and turn moving the narrative slowly forward. You get the impression that he can't decide which is more important to him; his relationship, his master's thesis, or solving the mystery of the Sanatorium. But the reader needs to know what happened, making "Death at the Sanatorium" impossible to put down.

Jonasson’s portrayal of characters seems shallow but slowly, surely they are revealed. From the patients of the sanatorium to the staff members, each character is eventually revealed via interview, moving the plot forward.

In "Death at the Sanatorium," Ragnar Jonasson has created a fine mystery that will keep readers hooked until the reveal and sudden ending. Is you love Nordic Noir "Death at the Sanatorium" is not to be missed.

Helgi Reykdal is determined to find the truth of the secrets that have been lurking in the old Sanatorium. Decades may have past but the truth can’t stay buried forever.

The plot was more interesting than the main character, who at times, I didn’t feel connected too. Especially when he was digging into the mystery, he seemed flat. The balance of this book felt off to me, as I was more interested in the story than the main character. The relationship between Reykdal and his wife was cleverly handled and gave him more depth and intrigue in those chapters.

I’m disappointed to be only able to give this book 3 out of 5 as it had so much potential, but it sadly wasn’t as addictive as his Dark Iceland series.

A cosy whodunnit crime, with multiple POVs and timelines. The characters and the plot are thought out and well-developed, with a good pace. The pieces of information are fed to you as they are to the main character, and you get to work out the truth together with him. There is no reveal or twists, just a nicely planned story unravelled. The chapters are set quite short however, flitting through the point of views which get a little tiring at times. It does get a little tiring with the repetition from the character's thoughts. But nonetheless, it was a good read.

I liked this, much more than some of the other Jonasson books I have read recently. I find his work is hit and miss with me, a completely personal opinion. His pacing varies book by book and I can't quite get into a rhythm when reading them.

Death at the sanatorium was a great little 'locked room' mystery - I'd argue that perhaps it was more a cosy crime and historical procedural than locked room, but that is how it is described. He sets his scenes flawlessly, and the scenery and atmosphere created by the vastness of the Icelandic location is wonderful. There are some unlikeable characters and some familiar ones too.

I'd go as far as to say this is my favourite book of his.

Splitting itself along vacillating timelines, Death at the Sanatorium is a smart if flawed whodunnit that blends Scandi noir with a Golden Age mystery to mixed effect. Utilising characters who appear at multiple points in time and framed around the mysterious slayings at the eponymous sanatorium, the novel is clunky in parts and a touch heavy handed overall, but is still enjoyable enough, even when its rushed ending careens around the corner.

"Death at the Sanatorium" provides a refreshing departure from the typical darker thrillers, welcoming readers into the cozy crime world crafted by Ragnar Jonasson. With finesse, Jonasson pays homage to the beloved Agatha Christie while weaving a tale filled with nostalgia and intrigue.

What sets this novel apart is its embrace of multiple points of view and time jumps, injecting a delightful complexity into the narrative structure. While it may lack the heart-pounding tension often associated with darker thrillers, it compensates with intricate character dynamics and clever plot twists. I found myself thoroughly engrossed in the story, eagerly unraveling clues alongside the characters.

For fans of classic whodunits and those seeking a fresh take on the genre, this book proves to be a delightful addition to any reading list, offering a cozy yet captivating experience that lingers long after the final page is turned.

I have been looking forward to getting started in some of Jónasson’s work and was pleased for the opportunity to read this ARC.

While I did enjoy the book, I felt it was a bit of a slow burner. However, having multiple POV over two timelines did help with this. I disliked most of the characters but over the course of the book, Jónasson devloped the MC in such a way that by the end I grew quite fond of him. I didn’t think there was any massive reveals that me think ‘woah’ but there was enough small twists to keep me engaged.

If you like an Icelandic thriller with a whodunnit vibe, this is the book for you.

Having read and enjoyed all of this authors books I was excited to see that there was another translation on the way. Jonasson is known for golden age style cosy crime novels with minimal gore and that’s pretty much what you get here. It was at best, fine, I didn’t love it.

5 star book. Having read several of Ragnar Jonasson's titles I expected this to be a good read - and wasn't disappointed. Spanning several different times it didn't jar jumping from one to the other - made total sense. Didn't spot the killer until the end, and wow what a twist at the end - wasn't expecting that at all.
Will happily recommend this to anyone looking for a really good crime novel.

When two employees die in mysterious circumstances at a disused TB sanatorium in the north of Iceland, the deaths seem to cancel each other out and the case is closed. Thirty years later criminal researcher Helgi investigates the deaths for a dissertation and he soon discovers that the Sanatorium still holds dark secrets to be uncovered before they can be laid to rest.

Full to the brim with dark Icelandic atmosphere and menace, Death at the Sanatorium is the kind of book that Ragnar Jonasson does best.

Highly recommended.

Many thanks to all concerned for letting me read and review this terrific novel.

An Horrific Murder..
Introducing the reader to the young Helgi Reykdal, criminologist, who takes a decades old case and determines to solve it. That case, an horrific murder in a sanatorium, set about a terrifying catalogue of events. With a deftly drawn cast, a credible protagonist and a well imagined, atmospheric backdrop comes an immersive and clever mystery with a propulsive plot and a true puzzle at its very heart.

I found Death at the Sanatorium to be an engrossing read.
Switching between the timelines of 1983 when the original deaths took place and 2012 when Helgi a young police officer is undertaking his dissertation for a criminology degree which involves looking at the deaths and the investigation into them. The story is told from various points of view in both timelines and slowly the reader gets more information. Nobody in this book seems to have a very happy life but try to put on a face for others to see , and I wonder if the dialogue is deliberately a bit unnatural to reflect upon this trait. I recall feeling slightly the same thing when I read Snowblind by the same author , so maybe it is a characteristic of the author. However I did not find this off putting , rather it gives the book a distinctive style.
Helgi is a bit unrealistic in his expectations of life but I believed in his desire to unearth the secrets of the deaths and in his gut feeling that people were holding facts back.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC

(Translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb)
A quick read, this, but also a tangled skein: three time periods, six suspects, one murderer? The murder takes place in 1983, when a tuberculosis sanatorium nurse, Yrsa, is found dead in her office early one morning by one of the other nurses, Tinna. In 2012, nearly 30 years later, a young criminologist, Helgi Reykdal, starts investigating the unsolved case for his dissertation. Luckily for him, many of those involved in the case are still alive.
Sanatoria were part of the treatment of tuberculosis until the development of antibiotics in the 1950s. I knew someone at university whose father had been treated at a Swiss clinic in the 1950s, where they still used leeches as part of the cure. In Keats’ days, people travelled to warmer climates for relief, but later on the belief was that the fresh mountain air was somehow beneficial, and it seems that Iceland was also a place where these victims of the ‘white plague’ were treated.
Such is the setting for the murder in the 1980s, which might have been atmospheric and spooky: a largely abandoned facility still being used for administration and research. But I wasn’t feeling it. Something to do, perhaps, with the distance conferred by translation, because I was always aware that the language I was reading was an approximation of the author’s own.
The chapters are short, and the narrative jumps between several characters — or sometimes doesn’t jump. It’s just a short chapter from Helgi’s point of view, followed by another short chapter from Helgi’s point of view. When a longer chapter does come, you feel the tension develop, simply because the structural pace has shifted. Clever. But: I’m a little obsessed with point of view effects. If you’re going to shift characters, I want to feel it through the language and style. Again, perhaps because of translation effects, I didn’t really feel I was in a different character’s head when the point of view shifted. It did, however, start to feel repetitive, as characters were always thinking about the things they were thinking about before. In a relatively short book, being told over and over that someone isn’t sure whether to take a job becomes a bit grating, and it’s no substitute for effective characterisation.
For a while, I did also wonder if the narrative was playing fair with the reader. I was expecting a twist, a reveal, that would make me throw my Kindle down in disgust. But actually, the storytelling is perfectly clear and the reveal was well-earned and not an unfair trick. The puzzle pieces are all there, and you work it out when Helgi does.
In the end, this was enjoyable, and will certainly appeal to fans of golden age detective puzzles.
(This is a review of an ARC from Michael Joseph and NetGalley, book due to be published in August 2024.)

I enjoyed this thriller very much. It jumped from one timeline to another which was at times a little confusing but overall a good read. Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the ARC

Specially enjoyable for those who have read the Darkness trilogy, it was a cleverly put together murder mystery that I can't recommend highly enough.
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.

Lots of atmosphere and enough tension to buoy up the dark atmosphere. It's probably 50/50 with plot and character and some, maybe many, of the characters aren't that immediately relatable, but it's a compelling enough read.

Criminology student Helgi Rykdal has returned to his homeland to complete his dissertation, which concerns the unsolved murders in 1983 of two patients in what used to be a sanitorium. As he works his way through the evidence he starts to think that he may be able to solve the case after all this time. Ragnar Jonasson’s writing style is spare and to the point and it sits very comfortably with the story. The sense of place is also excellent, with the description of the Icelandic landscapes and way of life fascinating to those of use in warmer climes. All Jonasson’s books are compelling and readable, and this reviewer is awaiting the next with eager anticipation.