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.

An atmospheric thriller based around murders that take place in a sanatorium. In the author's signature style the case is laid before the reader and it's up to them to help the main character solve the case. The tension between characters and timelines is expertly portrayed by the author to bring to life this chilling cold case.

Superb golden-age style mystery, with a criminology student exploring an old case - as we are able to follow events in the original timeline.

Past readers of Jonasson will be thrilled to have Hulda back investigating in the main timeline - in 2012 she is about to retire so this is happening in parallel to the Darkness.

Twisty, intriguing and leaving things open for a new series - possibly - I hugely enjoyed this.

(Contrary to publisher blurb, this doesn’t meet the locked room definition btw).

A classic murder story with a twist. I found the story compelling as we raced between past and present building a picture of historical lies and deceit. My mind changed so much as to who the murderer was. The prose was magnificent and held me spellbound. The characters were believable and yet mysterious. An investigation of one crime leads to the revelation of an even more sinister crime. I loved the author, the prose and the genre. Can’t wait for the next masterpiece to arrive.

I’ve read all of Ragnar Jonasson’s books and I enjoyed this book but it does have a slightly different feel than his other books. It has less of a tense plot and drifts to more of a cozy crime feel to it. I really enjoyed the nod to Agatha Christie, and I loved the multiple point of views with the time jumps. Overall i dont think it had that gripping feel that darker thrillers have but i still really enjoyed this.

My first of Ragnor Jonassons books. A murder in a sanatorium seemed right up my street and I enjoyed this. Less pay than my normal go to crime thriller, but enjoyable and an element of sort-of cosy crime throughout. Flipping back to the 80s at the time of the murders, and fast forwarding to modern day. Criminologist and soon to be polite person reinvestigates the crime, that was never truly solved. A lot of character building for all of witnesses and suspects, and a gentle cosy crime amble through uncovering who was responsible for decades old crimes and the subsequent following ones following the reopening of this old investigation!

Helgi Rykdal has returned to Iceland after a period studying in the UK. To complete his MA in Criminology he needs to finish a dissertation which is based on two murders which took place at a sanatorium in the north of Iceland in 1983. As he looks into the investigation and interviews people who were there at the time Helgi can't help becoming more and more intrigued by what happened and wonders if he can ultimately solve the case.

The story is told from the point of view of several of the characters and both 1983 and 2012.

Thanks to Netgalley, Michael Joseph and Ragnar Jonasson for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Such a fun mystery book to read. I really enjoyed this. Great twists. Great read. Highly recommended it.

A stonkingly good read! Tense, thrilling and brilliantly plotted. The novel is written with a dual timeline that works really well and draw the reader in. As past and present collide, the novel picks up pace and I raced through the final section. Highly recommended.

Sorry but I didn’t particularly enjoy this new novel by Ragnar Jonasson. I felt that the storyline was a little weak and implausible and the ending seemed rather abrupt. I also am not sure whether it was the style or the translation but I felt the writing to be somewhat stilted.

The book is written from the point of view of Helgi, a young man who having finished police training is taking time out to write a dissertation on the topic of unsolved murders at an old sanatorium, as part of his post-graduate degree in criminology. The story moves between 1983 when the original murder occurred and 2012, the time when Helgi is working on his dissertation. While Helgi is carrying out his investigation the past begins to catch up with the present.
I have read most of Ragnar Jónasson's novels and enjoyed them all. This is no exception. It is a gripping and entertaining read and gets a thumbs-up from me. Highly recommended.

A really gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to look out for more by this author.

The premise for "Death at the Sanatorium", is certainly an exciting one - a police officer is writing his thesis on the topic of the unsolved murders at an old sanatorium. After a brief introduction, the storyline diverges into two separate timelines:
1983 when the original murder investigation occurs, and 2012 (present day), when Helgi is working on his thesis. There is also, a brief divergence into the 1960s with one character.
In each timeline of 1983 and 2012, we meet many of the same characters, such as Tinna, Broddi, Sverrir, Elísabet, Thorri and Hulda. And yes, for fans of Jönasson's previous works, this is the same Hulda that you might remember. Hulda appears to be in her mid-40s in this novel, though this description comes from Tinna and she is not particularly flattering in her comments towards anyone in the story.
I initially struggled with keeping track with the number of characters in the novel, along with the frequency of jumps between the past and present. It took a number of chapters for me to settle into the pace of the story and to try and become familiar with the characters.
While I preserved with the novel, as I was curious to learn how the story would pan out, I found myself becoming disinterested at times, due to the my struggle in keeping track.
To be fair, I think a lot of readers would really enjoy this novel and learning of how the characters have changed over the intervening years. There are plenty of hints and red herrings aswell to hold the interest of the reader. In fact, Jónasson, has cleverly provided all of the clues to solve the case, these are embedded into the dialogue so simply that they are easily overlooked, and to my mind, that's the sign of a well-crafted storyline.
Intriguing concept, just not one for me unfortunately.