Death at the Sanatorium

Written by Ragnar Jónasson, internationally bestselling Icelandic crime writer.

A standalone mystery from the author of the Dark Iceland and Hidden Iceland series.

Set in northern Iceland in the late 1980s, Death at the Sanatorium follows young police officer Helgi Marvin Runarsson, newly returned to his hometown after time away. When an elderly patient is found dead under suspicious circumstances at a remote rehabilitation sanatorium, Helgi is drawn into his first major investigation.

As he questions staff and residents, Helgi uncovers long-buried secrets connected to the institution — secrets that many are desperate to keep hidden. The deeper he digs, the more he realises that the truth behind the death may be tied to events from decades earlier, and that solving the case could place him in serious danger.

Atmospheric and tightly plotted, Death at the Sanatorium blends classic whodunnit structure with Jónasson’s signature sense of isolation and psychological tension.