(English title in parenthesis if available)

1. Den farliga leken, Mari Jungstedt
2. De ensamma, Håkan Nesser
3. Blodläge, Johan Theorin (A Place of Blood)
4. Vårlik, Mons Kallentoft
5. Pansarhjärta, Jo Nesbø (The Leopard)
6. Oväntat besök på Star Street, Marian Keyes
7. Drömmen förde dej vilse, Anna Jansson
8. Lobbyisten, Thomas Bodström
9. Utrensning, Sofi Oksanen (Purge)
10. 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.

©2010 Nordic Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Svenska Deckarakademin announced on November 28 that the prize for best Swedish crime fiction novel for 2009 was awarded to Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström for their novel Tre sekunder (Three seconds).

Nominated for the award this year were Ingrid Hedström: Flickorna i Villette, Tove Klackenberg: Dömd på förhand, Håkan Nesser: Maskarna på Carmine Street, and Veronica von Schenck: Kretsen.

The prize for best crime fiction debut novel was awarded Olle Lönnaeus for Det som ska sonas (Hard to translate: What should be purged?).

©2010 Nordic Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

A number of Scandinavian crime autors have been mentioned in the news lately. Stieg Larsson’s books are still generating hype. A recent post discusses The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo, and reports that it has now sold 7.5 million copies. Another reviewer, Joyce Pines, clearly fell in love with Stieg Larsson and Lisbeth Salander. She writes:

I did not want “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” to end. I was just getting to know the talented young woman of the title and I was intrigued by her and wanted so spend more time following her around Sweden, but author Stieg Larsson pulled the plug.

Another writer, at Book Hound, is  also fascinated with Lisbeth Salander, and finds comfort in the fact that The Girl Who Played With Fire is arriving, and writes that it is much better than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo because:

The focus in the second book of the trilogy shifts squarely to Lisbeth Salander, whose looks pass for elfin and whose computer hacker skills are off the charts, and we learn far more about her origins, the staggering damage inflicted upon her early on, and why her past plays a central role in the present as she finds herself a suspect in a murder inquiry.

Indeed, even in India there are people fascinated by the Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson! If you’re interested in more info about Stieg Larsson, there’s also a pretty good Q&A about him in Library Journal, as well as book reviews of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Angela Youngman and Laureen Walter! As well, ScandinavianBooks has reviews of the books!

Henning Mankell is another Swedish author that has been receiving considerable attention internationally lately. The movies recently shown on TV in the US and elsewhere have no doubt contributed to a renewed interest in this wonderful author. Thus, The Genteel Arsenal, for instance, recently brought a review of Menkell’s Sidetracked. The author of the review says he is ” intrigued by Swedish crime fiction at the moment”. He is not alone!

Also, a piece of good news for fans of Jo Nesbø (who is Norwegian rather than Swedish): I recently read that Jo Nesbo‘s new novel about Harry Hole, (will probably be) titled “Leoparden” (The Leopard)(the title ended up as Panserhjerte – Panzer Heart) is to be released in Norwegian, most likely late in September this year. This is his eight book about the somewhat miserable Harry, who introduces himself as “My name is Harry. Harry Hole” instead of “My name is Bond. James Bond.” For a long time I have been worried that he might have given up on Harry Hole and instead would be writing more Head Hunters novels.

In Panzer Heart (Panserhjerte), two women are found dead in Oslo, both have drowned in their own blood and have been stabbed in the mouth. The police have no technical traces to work on. They decide to get hold of Harry Hole, who has left the country and lives in Hong Kong, where he drinks and drugs himself while hiding from his creditors. The Oslo police offers to help him with his debts, and also informs him that his father is very ill and probably dying. Hole accepts, and takes on a case that turns out to be the most difficult he has had so far. As well, he is faced with new, tough opponents inside the police force, and even though he has been weakened by his own severe abuse of his body, he must fight several enemies simultaneously.

Also, Anne Holt is publishing a new book in Norwegian this fall, and Karin Fossum’s tenth book about Inspector Konrad Sejer, (Norwegian title Varsleren), is to be published in Norwegian in August.

In the sad news department, a Swedish Internet site gives a summary of an interview with Håkan Nesser (who has recently published his new book Maskarna på Carmine Street) where he states that he  only will write four books more, and then stop writing! That may not be all that important to American fans, since the US publishers are so slow in translating and publishing his books that they are approximately 20 books behind already (they probably will not finish publishing even the Van Veeteren series until 2020-25), but for Scandinavian and European fans it would be sad if Hakan Nesser stopped writing! Time will show, I guess?

More Scandinavian literary news at ScandinavianBooks.

©2010 Nordic Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

This is another book in the series of books about Inspector Van Veeteren. Just like Sjowall & Wahloo’s famous series about Martin Beck, the series about Van Veeteren consists of 10 books. In Woman with Birthmark, the police in Maardam have to solve a series of brutal murders with excessive use of violence.

In the book we meet a mother’s dying wish sealed with a deadly promise. Four men with a secret they thought they’d buried decades ago. And a detective in love. We also meet a man desperate to live despite the shadow of his guilty past.

A woman, Maria Adler, buries her mother. Having heard her mother’s confession, Maria realizes she has no other option but to seize upon her mother’s imperative to do something. Dissolving the life she loathes, Maria changes her appearance and disappears. Using a false name, she travels to a different city. The purpose of the trip is to seek revenge by killing. First she plays an old tune that she has recorded over the phone. Then she shoots her first victim, twice in the chest and twice in the crotch. The next killing is done the same way.

Van Veeteren has little to go on. The first victim was a quiet, dull man, and the only suspicious activity his surviving wife can recall is a series of peculiar phone calls. Repeatedly the telephone would ring, offering nothing but the words of an obscure pop song from the 1960s.

The murders in Woman with Birthmark are almost perfectly executed – no witnesses, no sound, no traces. But what is the motive? The link between these heinous crimes remains unknown. Van Veeteren is forced to dig into the past to find possible motives.

With the critical eye and cool observation necessary for a successful chess match, Van Veeteren pursues his subject across the country, wading through outrageous leads and fruitless tips. A breathless thriller full of deception, blackmail, and cold murder, Woman with Birthmark is a chilling, elegantly composed crime book. A new great Scandinavian crime fiction book!

Links to Hakan Nesser’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN

©2010 Nordic Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

International bestselling author Hakan Nesser made his U.S. debut with this excellent whodunit. Borkman’s Point won the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Prize for Best Novel in 1994.

Nesser’s protagonist, in Borkman’s Point as in other books, is Inspector Van Veeteren. He is a crusty, world weary police officer. The horrors of twenty-first-century crime weighs heavily on his shoulders, and he is at times quite grumpy, but with a great sense of humor and even, sometimes, a little charm. Like Inspector Kurt Wallander in the books by Henning Mankell , Van Veeteren listens to classical music and works methodically to solve crimes. He also plays chess, has been recently divorced, has the vice of smoking and loves fine wines. There is also more than a little Maigret in the Stockholm sleuth.

In Borkmann’s Point, Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is vacationing when his superior calls to ask him if he is willing to assist the Kaalbringen police department in solving the murders of an ex-con and a wealthy real-estate mogul, both of whom have been murdered with an ax. The victims appear to have no connection to one another.

Bored and restless, Van Veeteren agrees, happy to be able to apply his knowledge and experience to tracking the killer down. To Van Veeteren, like always, it is only a matter of time before the killer is caught. He believes deep down that he will recognize the murderer once he encounters him. However, in this case his confidence seems to be misplaced, as he is more and more forced to admit to himself as the investigation drags on for several weeks without uncovering a single promising lead.

When the killer claims a third victim and the town’s best police investigator disappears without a trace, Van Veeteren, who has left only one case unsolved in his long career, intensifies his hunt. The inspector believes that in every case a point is reached where enough information has been gathered to solve the crime with “nothing more than some decent thinking.” But can he gather sufficient information?

Borkmann’s Point is a well-written, thoughtful crime fiction novel. Borkmann’s Point is on the process of police work, the art and arduousness of investigation and detection. The book has been well received, especially in Europe. It’s a great read, and provides a good introduction to Hakan Nesser and Inspector Van Veeteren. Recommended!

Links to Borkmann’s Point and The Mind’s Eye, both by Hakan Nesser, at amazon UK, and at amazon US: Borkmann’s Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery, Mind’s Eye: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery, and the most recent book by Hakan Nesser Woman with Birthmark: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery.

©2010 Nordic Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.