Before We Die - new Swedish crime show on Channel 4
On 16 January Scandinavian crime fiction will return to Channel 4 with Before We Die. Set in Stockholm and starring Marie Richardson and Adam Pålsson, the show is about an uncompromising woman cop who is being lined up for early retirement when her colleague and…
Top 10 Nordic noir novels of 2017
They’ve been saying it wouldn’t last for a while now. And that tells you everything you need to know about Nordic noir. Although this year’s crop of books doesn’t have quite the same level of electric spark as last year – when we featured the…
Whiteout
Written by Ragnar Jonasson, translated by Quentin Bates — The love for Iceland and murderous thoughts being harboured in its snow-covered landscapes shows no sign of abating. Although it has one of the lowest real-life crime rates in Western Europe – an average of only…
NTN: When Time Runs Out
Written by Elina Hirvonen, translated by Hildi Hawkins — Now that publishers (and readers) know they’re onto a good thing with Scandinavian crime fiction, a wider variety is finding it’s way into English translation. When Time Runs Out by Finland’s Elina Hirvonen is one novel…
NTN: Lilja Sigurdardottir interviewed
Icelandic author Lilja Sigurdardottir has been on our radar since Iceland Noir 2014, when she was part of a twilight literary tour around Reykjavik and read from her work in the square outside the Icelandic parliament. At the time we hoped her books would appear…
NTN: The Dying Game
Written by Asa Avdic, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles — Fresh blood is spilt here in a debut novella penned by a Swedish broadcast journalist, which claims to please the fans of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. That is what…
Snare
Written by Lilja Sigurdardottir, translated by Quentin Bates — Icelandic playwright Lilja Sigurdardottir has written four crime novels which means she’s fairly well established on the glaciated island, but this is her first English translation. She is clearly relieved in her notes at the back…