With Death at the Sanatorium, Ragnar Jónasson continues to entertain readers with crime stories that feel both classic and contemporary simultaneously. Like last year’s Reykjavik—which he co-wrote with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir—the mystery at the heart of Death at the Sanatorium unspools across three distinct time periods (1950s, 1983, and 2012). Fans of Ragnar Jónasson’s work will be interested to know that Death at the Sanatorium is also tangentially connected to his trilogy featuring beloved character Hulda Hermannsdóittir.
In Death at the Sanatorium, Helgi Reykdal has just been offered a job with the Reykjavik Police, just as he is completing work on his final dissertation for his criminology degree. He will be replacing Hulda Hermannsdóittir who is set to retire—an event that readers of the trilogy will recall as significant in Hulda’s journey. Unable to fully commit, Helgi asks for some time before officially taking the job, despite it being clear that he will eventually do so.
As it happens, Helgi’s dissertation topic is the investigation into two deaths at the sanatorium located in the small community of Akureyri back in the 1980s. The sanatorium was a specialized medical facility used to treat and study tuberculosis during its deadliest period. While the unusual homicide case was officially closed, Helgi believes there is much to be learned from examining how the investigation unfolded. What he is not expecting is that he may uncover a truth that was overlooked all those years ago, a truth that may alter the final rulings on the case.
Meanwhile, Helgi is dealing with some challenges in his personal life as well. As he spends his time interviewing subjects from the earlier case, he uses this as a distraction from his current troubles. As any crime reader knows, these two storylines are likely to crescendo at the same exact moment.
Readers familiar with Ragnar Jónasson’s history will no doubt know of his love of Golden Age mysteries—particularly the works of Agatha Christie. (There’s a lovely essay at the end of the novel where Jónasson shares his history of translating the Grand Dame’s works into Icelandic and how that job improved his own crime writing.) This love of vintage mysteries is an attribute given to Helgi Reykdal as well. Any devoted reader will completely relate to the sections where Helgi talks about his love of books and his desire to sit down and read rather than face whatever dilemma is before him at the moment. Death at the Sanatorium also includes several nods of acknowledgement to the history of the crime fiction genre which will no doubt bring smiles to the faces of many longtime readers.
Death at the Sanatorium uses several points of view (and the previously mentioned time shifts) to keep readers guessing about the final outcome. When all is ultimately revealed it is both shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure. And in another trademark element of Ragnar Jónasson’s crime writing, he presents fans with just enough of a cliffhanger to ensure readers are left craving the next novel immediately.
Add Ragnar Jónasson’s Death at the Sanatorium to his growing list of successes. Helgi—like Hulda and Ari Thór before him—is a character fans are going to want to know a whole lot more about.
BUY LINKS: Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jónasson
Disclaimer: A print galley of this title was provided to BOLO Books by the publisher. No promotion was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
