Scandinavian crime fiction

To Cook a Bear by Mikael Niemi

7 October, 2020

Translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner — A young boy and a father figure in the woods are collecting botanical specimens, a bucolic scene a few pages in from the opening to this beguiling historical crime novel. The man is Pastor Lars Levi Laestadius, who was the real-life leader of a…

Features

Six Icelandic crime authors you should be reading

By crimefictionlover

30 September, 2020

Ironic, isn’t it? Iceland has the lowest murder rate in the world and yet it seems to have the highest density of top crime authors. By our calculations, about one in every 50,000 Icelanders is producing better than average crime novels, which are being translated…

Kindle Reviews

The Fox by Sólveig Pálsdóttir

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

29 September, 2020

Translated by Quentin Bates — The Fox has the perfect mix of the elements readers have grown to love, expect and even demand from Nordic noir novels. In this crime-in-translation debut by Sólveig Pálsdóttir the landscape and characters are grey, gloomy and unpredictable. The plot…

Features News

Moscow Noir – the Swedish financial thriller that turns ugly in Russia

By crimefictionlover

8 September, 2020

Having appeared in The Bridge, Before We Die and Young Wallander, the Swedish actor Adam Pålsson seems to be the rising star of Scandi noir. His latest appearance on UK screens is Moscow Noir, which begins airing at 11pm on Sunday 13 September and will…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Pyramid by Henning Mankell – the real young Wallander

By nagaisayonara

4 September, 2020

Translated by Ebba Segerberg and Laurie Thompson — The Pyramid is Henning Mankell revisiting Wallander’s flawed past. In this collection of short stories, written over several years in the 1990s, Mankell fills in Wallander’s past, explains how he became the meticulous and dedicated detective we…

Features News

First look: The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo

By crimefictionlover

3 September, 2020

In addition to the hugely popular Harry Hole series, Norwegian author Jo Nesbo often writes standalone novels. Books like The Son, Blood on Snow and Macbeth have given him the chance to work with themes and in styles that wouldn’t fit into his main series….

Features

Young Wallander coming to Netflix

By crimefictionlover

15 August, 2020

Rolf Lassgård has played the role, Kenneth Branagh too, but Krister Henriksson was the definitive Wallander in the eyes of most Nordic noir fans. Now Henning Mankell‘s Swedish detective is being revived once again, this time for an origin story and the actor to play…

Book Club

The Mist

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

8 July, 2020

The Mist is the final instalment of Ragnar Jonasson’s Dark Iceland series which tells the story of Hulda Hermansdottir, a police detective at the Reykjavik police force, in reverse chronology. It’s 1998 and 40-year-old Hulda is investigating the disappearance of Unnur, a 20-year old girl…

Crime Fiction Lover

To Cook a Bear by Mikael Niemi

Six Icelandic crime authors you should be reading

The Fox by Sólveig Pálsdóttir

Moscow Noir – the Swedish financial thriller that turns ugly in Russia

The Pyramid by Henning Mankell – the real young Wallander

First look: The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo

Young Wallander coming to Netflix

The Mist

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