"After the Stieg Larsson novels, the annual number of original Swedish crime novels has increased to an unprecedented number, currently around 120."
~ from John-Henri Holmberg's introduction to A Darker Shade of Sweden |
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New and Recently Released!
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| A Darker Shade of Sweden: Original Stories by Sweden's Greatest Crime Writers by John-Henri Holmberg (editor)Short Stories. This anthology of 17 short stories includes pieces from such familiar names as Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Åke Edwardson, as well as some authors you may not be as familiar with. Either way, if you're between books in your favorite Scandinavian crime fiction series or are curious about a new-to-you genre, you'll want to get your mitts on this book. The stories contained within are making their English-language debut, while several haven't been published anywhere else, in any language. Introductory notes will help familiarize readers to otherwise unfamiliar Swedish landscapes, while the book's introduction itself serves as a primer on the history of Swedish crime fiction. |
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| Runner by Patrick LeeSuspense Story. In this 1st in a new series starring retired special forces soldier Sam Dryden, our hero is out for a run (at 3am) when he encounters a young girl being chased by a group of men who are armed to the teeth. Of course he helps her, putting himself in immediate danger. The girl -- who can remember only her first name and the last two months of her life -- appears to have been imprisoned for most of her 11 years, and has a skill that makes her extremely dangerous to a lot of powerful people. The action begins on page five, and doesn't let up in a "high-tech thriller that's hard to put down" (Library Journal). |
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| The Winter People: A Novel by Jennifer McMahonPsychological Suspense. One hundred years ago, Sara Harrison Shea was found dead behind her house not long after the death of her daughter, who she believed had never left her. In the present, 19-year-old Ruthie and her sister -- both home-schooled and isolated from the outside world -- wake to find that their widowed mother has disappeared. As they search for her, they discover Sara Harrison Shea's hidden diary, as well as several other items their mother had no reason to have. Their search also uncovers the creepy, gruesome history of their small Vermont town. Readers who can handle some supernatural horror will surely enjoy this "haunting, evocative, and horrifically beautiful" novel (Booklist). |
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| Doing Harm by Kelly ParsonsMedical Thriller. Chief resident Steve Mitchell seems to have a charmed life -- at least until he botches a major surgery and makes a decision that puts his happy marriage at risk. But he soon discovers that he's been drawn into a deadly game run by a beautiful psychopath who's using her access to the hospital to commit murder. And unless he plays along, more people will die. Fortunately, he's got an ally in his junior resident, a pragmatic former Marine who's willing to help out. With extremely vivid writing about medical procedures, this debut isn't for the squeamish, but those who thrive on tension will be rewarded by a tantalizing payoff. |
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| Shovel Ready: A Novel by Adam SternberghThriller. Before the dirty bomb hit New York, Spademan was a garbageman; now he's a hitman, taking out people (adults only!) for the right price. Trouble hits when he accepts a job to kill the daughter of a televanglist, only to realize that she's on the run from her father, who will do anything to get her back -- and not for the most loving reasons. Spademan's allegiance is quickly turned, and soon the evangelist himself is in his sights. With a very noirish sensibility and a well-drawn post-apocalyptic setting, this spare, sparse novel is "galvanizing" (Booklist). |
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Scandinavian Crime Fiction
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| The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-OlsenPsychological Suspense. In this series debut, detective Carl Mørck of the Copenhagen police department is both injured and suffering from survivor's guilt, so he's been put in charge of Department Q, where Denmark's unsolved cases go to die. One such case is the disappearance, five years previously, of stateswoman Merete Lynggaard. Though she is presumed dead, readers know that she's being held alive under torturous circumstances; Mørck's progress on this case advances in a manner that will keep you desperately turning the pages. Those of you who can't get enough Scandinavian suspense will definitely want to try the U.S. debut of "the new 'it' boy of Nordic noir" (London Times) and follow up with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the series. |
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| Eva's Eye by Karin FossumPsychological Suspense. Norwegian police inspector Konrad Sejer, a reserved and thoughtful man, finds it odd that he has two homicide cases in a small town that usually has none. Both victims -- a family man and a call girl -- died within days of each other, and both have a connection to a divorced mother named Eva, who scrapes a living together by selling the occasional painting. Though Eva's Eye is the 1st Inspector Sejer novel written by author Karin Fossum, who's known as Norway's Queen of Crime, eight later books in the series have already been published in English. If you like psychologically rich, well-paced tales like those by Sophie Hannah, you'll want to give Fossum's work a try; this "tour de force" (Kirkus Reviews) is a great place to start. |
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| The Bat by Jo NesbøSuspense Fiction. Although The Bat is the 1st book in the series starring Oslo police detective Harry Hole, it was only just published in English last year, well after several others in the series. If you've never read the series, you might as well start here, but if you're already a fan and somehow missed The Bat's publication, you can look forward to learning more of Hole's backstory and watching him lose himself to his work for the "first" time. Though this story is actually set in Australia, not Norway, most of the hallmarks of Scandinavian crime fiction are apparent -- starting with a brilliant but troubled detective breaking rules and making his own. |
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| Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End: A Story of a Crime by Leif G.W. PerssonSuspense Fiction. In this 1st entry in a trilogy inspired by the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, the action begins with the death of an American journalist in Stockholm. Though the man's death is officially labeled a suicide, world-weary Stockholm cop Johansson starts his own investigation, uncovering the edges of a vast conspiracy. Marked with cynicism, brutality, and some truly terrible men, this leisurely paced novel also offers dark humor. |
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| Cell 8 by Anders Roslund and Börge HellströmSuspense Fiction. Six years ago, death row inmate John Meyer Frey died unexpectedly of heart disease. In the present, Stockholm lounge singer John Schwarz is arrested for viciously assaulting a man, then goes ballistic not long after his arrest. Their cases are almost immediately linked, thanks to series stalwart Ewart Grens, Det. Supt. of the Stockholm police. But what do they have in common? You'll have to read this 4th in the series -- which offers "bitter Nordic atmospherics, relentless pacing, and [a] brilliant twist ending" (Publishers Weekly) to find out. |
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