Book Club

The Defenceless

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Kati Hiekkapelto’s cop Anna Fekete first featured in The Hummingird (2014) and she returns in another crime thriller which exposes the raw underbelly of Finland’s normally calm and thoughtful society. Police officer Fekete and her older colleague Esko have to fight hard to stay on…
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Features

Interview: Kati Hiekkapelto

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Scandinavian crime fiction carries on booming, but the Finns are settled there just on the edge. As a people, lots of them don’t associate themselves with the rest of Scandinavia (though lots do). In terms of crime fiction, there haven’t really been any breakout superstars from…
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The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto

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Translated by David Hackston — There’s a new school of social critique creeping into crime fiction. When it’s done without sacrificing either characterisation or a good plot, it can make for very compelling reading. After Stav Sherez and Eva Dolan in the UK, Arnaldur Indridason and…
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Features

Eight Nordic noir authors you should try

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It’s over 10 years since Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series made Scandinavian crime fiction a global phenomenon. Four films later – three made in Sweden and one in Hollywood – the deceased author has missed out on the acclaim his books have garnered. However, his achievements…
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The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto

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Translated by David Hackston — Although Finland is often grouped with Scandinavia, its population, language and sensibility are all quite different. That holds true of its crime fiction as well. There is something unnerving and mysterious about the taciturn Finnish detectives, some of whom we’ve…
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