by Peter on August 31, 2010
This is third book in Icelandic writer Yrsa Sigardardottir’s series about Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, a 
single mother and lawyer living in Reykjavik, Iceland. Yrsa Sigurdardottir is among my favorite writers; she writes excellently and keeps improving. Ashes to Dust mostly takes place at Vestmannaeyjar (The Westman Islands), a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. Interestingly, the archipelago came to international attention in January 1973, when the volcano Eldfjell erupted. The eruption created a 700-foot-high mountain where a meadow had been, and caused the island’s 5000 inhabitants to be temporarily evacuated to the mainland. This is the backdrop for the dark mystery in Ashes to Dust.
When the authorities decides to dig out some of the houses that were buried when the volcano erupted at the Westman Islands more than 30 years ago, in order to create a volcanic tourist attraction dubbed ‘The Pompeii of the North’, Markus Magnússon hires Thora to try to prevent the excavation of the house where he and his family lived. When that proves impossible, he makes Thora negotiate for him so that he is permitted to be the first person into the basement when it becomes accessible. When it is, he enters the basement alone.
Soon after, he calls for Thora to come down there:
Thóra peered at the floor, but couldn’t see anything that could have frightened Markús that much, only three mounds of dust. She moved the light of her torch over them. It took her some time to realize what she was seeing— and then it was all she could do not to let the torch slip from her hand. ‘Good God,’ she said. She ran the light over the three faces, one after another. Sunken cheeks, empty eye-sockets, gaping mouths; they reminded her of photographs of mummies she’d once seen in National Geographic. ‘Who are these people?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Markús…
The basement contains three dead bodies, covered with volcanic ash, and in addition a skull that had been kept in a box. The body belonging to the skull is missing.
Markús Magnússon, Thora’s client, was only a teenager when the volcano erupted. He claims that he had been asked to pick up the box for a woman who was his childhood sweetheart, and that he didn’t know that it contained a skull. Now he falls under suspicion and hires Thóra Gudmundsdottir to defend him. The case is difficult, and when the childhood sweetheart is murdered it gets even more complicated.
Thora feels the police are not doing enough for her client, and starts to investigate the murders herself. She travels to the Westman Islands, where she encounters a wall of silence. Everywhere there are omissions, lies, hidden facts and nothing is quite what it seems to be.
The plot in Ashes to Dust is clever, rich and very intriguing, with several surprising twists and turns, and Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is an excellent protagonist. Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s story telling seems to be improving from book to book, and I thought this book was fabulous – in my opinion her best so far; tense and perhaps even a little terrifying. This is outstanding, very intelligent crime fiction!
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by Peter on August 28, 2010
(English title in parenthesis if available)
- Den farliga leken, Mari Jungstedt
- De ensamma, Håkan Nesser
- Blodläge, Johan Theorin (A Place of Blood)
- Vårlik, Mons Kallentoft
- Pansarhjärta, Jo Nesbø (The Leopard)
- Oväntat besök på Star Street, Marian Keyes
- Drömmen förde dej vilse, Anna Jansson
- Lobbyisten, Thomas Bodström
- Utrensning, Sofi Oksanen (Purge
)
- I grunden utan skuld, Viveca Sten
For the moment the Swedes seem to mostly be reading Swedish authors, with some notable exceptions: Jo Nesbo (from Norway), Marian Keyes, and Sofi Oksanen (from Finland, and winner of the Nordic Council prize for the best Nordic novel 2010). Oksanen’s book has already been translated and is available, while Theorin’s and Nesbo’s books are available for preorder and will be released in 2011.
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by Peter on August 17, 2010
Along with Scandinavian crime fiction, the Scandinavian movie industry too has taken some big leaps forward during the last decade or so. Here are five dramas that are my special favorites.
My life as a Dog.This is not a recent one, but it is simply so compelling and sweet that I love to watch it from time to time. A Swedish boy is able to cope with severe hardships due to his ability to always see his own problems in a larger perspective. The story is very compelling and excellently told. A real heart-warmer of a movie! Read more ..-
Mother of Mine. A strong Finnish movie, winner of numerous awards, about the 70,000 Finnish children that were sent to Sweden during World War II. It is a stand-out, very well made and very poignant, superbly acted, that tells this story through the eyes of 9-year-old Eero. It is moving on many levels, and made a deep impression on me. Read more ..
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Elling. This is another marvel of a movie. It too has received all sorts of honors and awards. What sets it apart is the charming and delightful combination of offbeat comedy with poignant insight. It tells the story written by Ingvar Ambjornsen about Kjell Bjarne and Elling, two special people who have spent time in a mental institution and are now judged fit to return to society. We follow them as they try to overcome the huge challenges of everyday life in Oslo. Simply wonderful! Read more ..
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Fanny and Alexander. Most of Ingmar Bergman’s movies are masterpieces; Bergman had a special magic touch. Among them, this is my personal favorite for the title of “Bergman’s Best”. Bergman drew upon memories of his own childhood for this portrait of the Ekdahls, an upper-class Swedish family whose celebrations and tribulations are seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Alexander. Excellent on every level, and one I love to return to. Read more ..
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Babette’s Feast. This warm, quiet Danish pearl is a marvel. Based on a story by Karen Blixen (a k a Isak Dinesen), this artistic, sensual movie is full of sacred passions. A woman flees the French civil war and lands in a small seacoast village in Denmark. There she arranges a feast for the inhabitants that will forever change their lives. It is a lovely and stunning movie. Read more ..
In addition, As It is in Heaven also deserves special mentioning. An outstanding, very charming movie where Michael Nyqvist gives what it perhaps the best performance ever!
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by Peter on August 15, 2010
They spend their time pondering crime and criminals, and often their thoughts are occupied with murder: how to commit it and make it virtually impossible to find the killer, among other things. Every year this group of famous ladies kills. Fortunately they limit themselves to doing it between the pages of crime fiction books.
But who are they, how do they write, and what do they have in common, the women of this exclusive group? Scandinavian crime fiction is often discussed by commentators as if the term itself denotes something in particular, apart from the very obvious – that Scandinavian crime fiction writers are Scandinavians. Which, of course, they tend to be. But is there something more? To what extent is this term meaningful beyond the obvious?
And who are these bloodthirsty Nordic ladies of the pen? As this post is for an English-speaking readership, we limit ourselves to authors translated into English. The Swedish members of this set are, for the moment, Karin Alvtegen, Kerstin Ekman, Inger Frimansson, Mari Jungstedt, Camilla Läckberg, Asa Larsson, Liza Marklund, and Helene Tursten. The Norwegians are Anne Holt and Karin Fossum, in Finland there is Tove Jansson, and in Iceland Yrsa Sigurdardottir. So it is a group numerically dominated by Swedish writers.
In this and a series of later posts I take a closer look at the authors in this group and discuss how they differ and what they have in common, as well as whether there is anything distinct to Scandinavian crime fiction that perhaps somehow sets the writings of this group apart from, say, the crime fiction literatures of the US and UK.
[click to continue…]
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by Peter on August 6, 2010
This must be an exciting time for Liza Marklund. Postcard Killers, the thriller she wrote with James Patterson, will be released in the US on August 16th. And Red Wolf, her most recent book in the Annika Bengtzon series, will be released in UK October 14th, 2010, and in the US on February 15th, 2011 (it is already available for preorder both places).
Red Wolf is the fifth book in Swedish crime fiction writer Liza Marklund’s series featuring reporter Annika Bengtzon. It is set in the middle of a very cold spell during the Swedish winter. Annika is still recovering from the traumas suffered in The Bomber, and still struggles with anxiety.
Now she 
has arranged a meeting with a journalist up in the northern Swedish town of Lulea about an old case of terrorism – a terrorist attack on a military airport named F21 by a group that called themselves The Beasts. However, when she arrives in Lulea to meet him, she is told that the journalist has been killed in a hit and run accident. It doesn’t take Annika long to find out that he has been brutally murdered.
Liza Marklund
Annika Bengtzon, an experienced crime reporter, suspects that the murder is linked to an attack against a nearby air base in the late sixties – the case she came up there to talk about. She makes a few small findings and starts to pursue them. And as more people are killed she uncovers evidence that links the killings: A mass-murderer is one the loose in Sweden. Seemingly one of the terrorists that were involved in the attack on F21 – a man who has since fled to France, and who is a known assassin – has now returned to Sweden and is behind the brutal murders. He was the leader of The Beasts and used to be code-named Dragon.
But who is Dragon? And who were the other members of the group – in particular Red Wolf? And why has Dragon returned to Sweden and started to kill people? While Annika investigates and increasingly finds herself drawn into a spiral of violence, she also – by accident – finds out that her husband is having an affair with a colleague. And when she tells her editor what she has found out, including evidence that suggests the case involves a member of the sitting Government, he tells her to stop investigating and drop the case.
Annika disregards the order from her boss. She is persistent and stubborn, and continues her investigation. Soon she finds that she has been betrayed by her editor for political gain, and is able to connect the dots and move in even closer to Dragon, the terrorist cell, and the well-hidden secrets of the past. She is determined to find the truth and expose the people involved in the atrocities. To achieve this, Annika is again forced to fight for her career, for her life against a deadly psychopath, and this time for her marriage as well.
Red Wold is a remarkable and very good crime fiction novel, with an excellent, very exciting plot. Liza Marklund’s writing is fast-paced, direct, and very good. She masterfully builds suspense and when she releases it, it is with a bang. The ending is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book – Red Wolf is one of the best Scandinavian crime fiction books translated into English this year.
Praise:
“Pick up a Liza Marklund book, read it until dawn, wait until the stores open, buy another one.”
— James Patterson
“Liza Marklund is the next great Nordic export for fans of crime fiction to discover…Edge-of-your-seat suspense, sophisticated plotting, complex characterisation and unique locales.”
— Harlan Coben
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, 
, and 
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Swedish crime fiction novel; a book that to some extent is a cult novel in Sweden, and that has attracted much attention because it provides a possible explanation for the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in February 1986. The author, Leif GW Persson, is a professor of criminology at Rikspolisstyrelsen (National Police Board) in Sweden and one of Sweden’s bestselling crime fiction writers. Some believe the explanation to be the truth or close to the truth, others that it is completely misleading. Be that as it may – this is a book of fiction based on an actual event, and as such doesn’t need to be true. Instead, it needs to be entertaining and fun to read, and that it is, and more.
, and 
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