Body in the Bath: A Mystery

Description:

From the bestselling author of The Mysterious Case of The Missing Crime Writer comes the next mystery featuring detective Helgi Reykdal.

"A master of the Icelandic thriller."--New York Post

As snow blankets Reykjavík and Christmas approaches, young detective Helgi is looking forward to a quiet holiday--until those plans are torn away in a flash. One month after his girlfriend Aníta is killed in a car accident, he returns to work in Reykjavík, haunted by loss and rage. The driver--Helgi's ex-girlfriend BergÞóra, a violent alcoholic whose abuse he kept secret--insists Aníta's death was an accident and walks free.

To escape his mounting despair, Helgi throws himself into the unsolved disappearance of his predecessor, Hulda, a retired officer long presumed dead. But as he follows the traces she left behind, the lines between her past and his present begin to blur . . .

When BergÞóra is later found lifeless in her bath, suspicion falls squarely on Helgi. With his own colleagues turning against him, can he uncover the truth in time?

Brief description: RAGNAR JÓNASSON is the award-winning Icelandic author of the international bestselling Hulda series, the Dark Iceland series, and standalone crime fiction, with five million copies sold across 36 territories. Ragnar was also an executive producer of the CBS Studios TV series The Darkness, based on the first novel in his Hulda series, starring Lena Olin and directed by Lasse Hallström. His novel Outside is being developed for the screen by Ridley Scott.

Review Quotes:

"Reflecting their author's passion for classic whodunits, both Helgi and several other characters are inspired in their actions and deductions by half a dozen golden age mysteries . . . it's fascinating to watch the traditional tropes Jónasson does and doesn't borrow."--Kirkus Reviews

"Steeped in Golden Age mystery tropes, this third novel in the Helgi Reykdal series features both the most meaningful crossover with Jonasson's Hidden Iceland series so far and Helgi's most intriguing chapter yet."--Booklist

"Jónasson uses alternating points of view effective to create a fast-paced plot. Recommended for fans of Arnaldur Indriðason and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir."--Library Journal

"Welcome to some powerful nordic noir that is partly a novel of suspense, with the shadow of Agatha Christie, and partly terrifying in its own right."--firstCLUE

"Had me gripped to the last page."--Anthony Horowitz