By Stacey Irving
•
March 1, 2025
I just finished The Lost House by Melissa Larsen and here are my thoughts. Agnes has a dark family history. The murder of her grandmother and her aunt who was just a baby… no clues, no arrests… just 50 years of pain. After her grandfather dies, she travels back to the country her father moved away from.. The town has never forgotten the fact that they all still think that her grandfather was guilty… I got the audiobook of this one from @netgalley and @minotaurbooks and it was done very well. My biggest issue was the pacing. It was a tad slow and it’s lucky I was listening opposed to physically reading because I don’t think I would have kept going. The author weaved in a current mystery with the old mystery and honestly, I get why but it didn’t work well for me. Now the characters were great. I feel like that's where the magic was and the narrator did an awesome job. She kinda saved the day for me. I liked the plot, the idea of a cold case and a family member wanting to know more. I liked the landscape of where the book was set as well. Something didn’t jell with all the components and had the pace been faster, it might have worked, it had all the right elements. I didn’t feel it was much of a horror and it didn’t really tick the thriller genre for me either. The spark was missing I think.. 3.5 stars My opinions are my own. #thelosthouse #melissalarsen #bookreview #bookinfluencer #lionessofliteracy #bookalorian #booktok #bookstagram #bookish #readerblog #readingblog #bookblog