I have one word for the newly translated Icelandic thriller, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer. Frustrating.
This book has a mystery of a missing crime writer but so much more. It has a detective with a violent ex-girlfriend in 2012, a bank robbery being planned in 1965, another detective in 1976 trying to solve the now cold bank robbery case, that detective’s mysterious disappearance one day before retirement year’s later, and of course the titular case of the missing crime writer in 2012. There are also newspaper accounts and an interview of the crime writer in 2005. Even with the dates in the chapter titles that is a lot to keep straight.
I was loving this complex mystery—until the wild cliffhanger at the end. I kept trying to turn the page in my Kindle several times until I saw it said 100% complete. WHAT? I am so disappointed that I am lowering my review to 3 stars. Admittedly, two of the main mysteries were solved and I was completely surprised by the perpetrators. After some research, I discovered one of the unsolved mysteries is explored more fully in this author’s Hidden Iceland series, that also ends with a cliffhanger. Did I say the word frustrating already? This book, and its author, truly are the definitive example of frustrating. Diane, make up your own endings to the two unsolved mysteries, get over it already, and move on.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advanced review copy.