The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer is a very well written procedural mystery thriller by Ragnar Jonasson and the second book of a trilogy featuring Helgi, a detective, and crime fiction fan. Released 9th Sept 2025 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out in early Sept. 2026 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (but not the first one) is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
Like the first book, the narrative jumps around a lot in time, and it will probably take readers a while to find their footing within the story. Readers who hate cliffhangers should be aware going in that although the main mystery in this book is resolved in this volume, it ends on a fade-to-black cliffhanger that will have them growling in frustration.
Originally published in Icelandic in 2023, the translation work on the English edition by Victoria Cribb is seamless. It flows very well in English translation.
Aside from the solid mystery, the main character, Helgi, is a huge crime fiction fan and the book's peppered with lots and lots of titles and background for avid readers to check out.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 5 hours 5 minutes and is very capably read by an ensemble cast. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Four stars. Annoyance at the cliffhanger fade-to-black ending shouldn't dissuade readers from enjoying a good procedural with bleak and well described isolated settings, lots of three dimensional characters, and a (mostly) good and subtle resolution and denouement. Content warnings for domestic violence, physical violence, and physical and psychological abuse/mental illness.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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