TUE—December 12—6 PM, free
*This event has been rescheduled from December 5.*

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*This event has been rescheduled from December 5; it will now take place December 12.*

Read and discuss literature with our Nordic Book Club Online! On December 12, we’ll be discussing Reykjavik: A Crime Story by Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir and international best-selling crime fiction author Ragnar Jónasson, a lauded novel set during a transformative time in Iceland’s history — 1986, a year that saw the city’s 200th anniversary and the Reagan-Gorbachev conference. P.M. Jakobsdóttir and Jónasson joined us for a discussion on the book this past September; watch it here.

In 1956, 14-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík, only to disappear without a trace in early August. As time passes, the mystery becomes Iceland’s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára’s case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára’s disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved…

“A slow-burning, spellbinding whodunit. Agatha Christie, to whom it’s dedicated, would be proud” —Kirkus Reviews

“A beautifully constructed mystery by two super smart partners in crime”—Anthony Horowitz, New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders

“This is Nordic noir at its most authoritative”—Financial Times

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Katrín Jakobsdóttir is the prime minister of Iceland. She holds a master’s degree in Icelandic literature and wrote her master’s thesis on Icelandic crime fiction author Arnaldur Indriðason. She taught Icelandic literature, and worked for media and publishing houses, before becoming a member of the Icelandic parliament in 2007. She served as the minister for education, research and culture from 2009-2013 and became the chair of her political party, the Left-Green Movement, in 2013. She has been the prime minister since 2017, and lives with her husband and three sons in Reykjavík. Reykjavík is her first novel.

Ragnar Jónasson is an international number one-bestselling author who has sold over three million books in 36 countries worldwide. Jónasson was born in Reykjavík, where he also works as an investment banker and teaches copyright law at Reykjavík University. He has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV news reporter, and, since the age of 17, has translated 14 of Agatha Christie’s novels. He is the co-founder of the Reykjavík international crime writing festival Iceland Noir. His critically acclaimed international bestseller The Darkness is soon to be a major TV series, and Outside is soon to be a feature film. Jónasson lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two daughters. Find him on Twitter @ragnarjo.