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 Cool Swedes and Mysterious Reads: translated crime fiction from Scandinavia
Stieg Larsson: Millenium Trilogy
Henning Mankell: Wallander series
Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo: Martin Beck series
Johan Theorim
Hakan Nesser: Inspector Van Veeteren
Camilla Lackberg
Karen Alvtegen: The master of psychological suspense
Asa Larsson: Rebecka Martinsson series
Ake Edwardson: Inspector Erik Winter
Jo Nesbo: Harry Hole series
Karin Fossum: Konrad Sejer mysteries
Anne Holt: Vik and Stubo series
Arnaldur Indridason: Reykjavik murder mysteries
Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Some other Scandinavian crime writers of note:
| Cool Swedes and Mysterious Reads: translated crime fiction from Scandinavia | | |
Crime fiction or the mystery was invented by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841 with a story set in Paris called The Murder in the Rue Morgue. Crime fiction became a remarkably popular fiction genre, dominated first by American and British writers. Today, the genre has risen to popularity in almost every corner of the world.
Some of the great literary mysteries were written by mainstream authors of such calibre as William Willkie Collins (The Woman in White, The Moonstone), Charles Dickens (The Bleak House and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment), Anton Chekhov (Swedish Match), William Somerset Maugham (Up the Villa ) and more recently, Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose ) and Hans Fallada (Alone in Berlin).
Thrillers and murder mysteries featuring monks, religious themes, lost books of ancient wisdom and esoteric orders have flourished in the wake of Dan Brown’s success, but Italian Umberto Eco was the first to explore these themes within the crime fiction genre.
In the last decade we are observing an increasing number of foreign detective stories and police procedurals being translated into English. What started this interest was a Scandinavian phenomenon, an endless supply of great Nordic writers. In 2010, there were three Swedish crime fiction authors, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and Camilla Lackberg, on the top ten lists of most sold novels in Europe. If we consider that Sweden has a population of 9 million people, compared with over 800 million of Europe as a whole, this truly is a phenomenon. In libraries across the globe Scandinavian writers are among most borrowed and Our Library is not an exception.
Scandinavian crime fiction has a long tradition in each of the Scandinavian countries but relatively few books were translated into the major languages of the world. With the Swedish husband and wife team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo and their fabulous 10 crime novels, featuring Martin Beck, that started to change. Following their success was Henning Mankell’s Wallander series and Danish writer Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, which became the first international bestsellers. Many others, including superstars like Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbo, Karin Fossum, Arnaldur Indridason, Hakan Nesser, Camilla Lackberg, Asa Larsson, Karin Alvtegen, started to receive a lot of attention.
What is it so fascinating about Scandinavian crime fiction? For me, it is a foreign, unfamiliar setting, geography of place, a sense of other. It is also the serious moral and social conflict of the societies depicted in so many of these novels. Additionally, the quality of the writing not compromised by the genre parameters, and superior plots are of utmost importance. Some of the best literary authors turned to crime: Karin Fossum began her literary career as a poet, Henning Mankell started as a playwright and an author of outstanding literary novels set in Africa, Peter Hoeg is a literary writer and Kerstin Ekman is a poet, a serious writer and a member of Swedish Academy.
There is also one feature particular to crime books which is much less common in literary fiction - that the hero and the setting survive from book to book to feed the compulsion of the reader. Henning Mankell tells a story about being stopped in the street in Stockholm by a man who wants to know: How will Inspector Wallander be voting in the referendum on Sunday?
Much of the Scandinavian crime fiction remains untranslated but here are the names to watch out for: Top
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| Stieg Larsson: Millenium Trilogy | | |
The brightest star in Scandinavian crime fiction; as an investigative journalist with an expertise in extreme racist right, he was uniquely equipped to create a web of corruption, threats and violence found in Millenium series. He died suddenly in 2004, shortly after submitting his manuscript for his three novels. His life partner, Eva Gabrielsson, is currently finalizing her memoir about Larsson. There is speculation about a rumoured fourth novel in the Millenium series.Top
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| Henning Mankell: Wallander series | | |
He is the most influential writer of Scandinavian crime fiction. His characters are very human and flawed, struggling with crimes and their personal lives. Mankell is married to Eva Bergman, daughter of a legendary Swedish film director, Ingmar Bergman. Mankell runs his own publishing house, which supports young talents in Sweden and Africa. I enjoyed all of his novels set in Africa and the following:
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| Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo: Martin Beck series | | |
The pioneers of modern crime fiction, who between 1965 and 1975 wrote their 10 police procedural novels which were the first to analyse the challenges of a developing society from the perspective of those left behind during modernisation. They often plotted and researched each book together and then wrote alternate chapters.
My favourites are:
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| Johan Theorim | | |
The setting for these novels is Oland, one of the poorest places in Sweden. In the dark winter nights, tales of supernatural phenomena take shape. Unblessed souls intermingle with struggling survivors in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.Top
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| Hakan Nesser: Inspector Van Veeteren | | |
Nesser comes from Kumla, a home to Sweden’s largest prison. He follows into footsteps of Sjowall-Wahloo and Mankell by having written a series of ten books, featuring the same inspector, Van Veeteran, with interest in psychological aspects of crime. Only three have been translated:
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| Camilla Lackberg | | |
The idyllic fishing village Fjallbacka, surrounded by breathtaking archipelago, is the scene of gruesome and violent crimes in Lackberg’s novels. The Preacher is my favourite.Top
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| Karen Alvtegen: The master of psychological suspense | | |
Alvtegen started writing after suffering deep depression and panic attacks. She is the niece of Astrid Lindgren, author of Pippi Longstocking series. Her writing is fast paced crime fiction that doesn’t focus on police procedural but instead shows how people in vulnerable positions deal with extreme situations.
I recommend:
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| Asa Larsson: Rebecka Martinsson series | | |
Intriguing psychological crime thrillers is something of a trademark for Larsson’s literary work. Like the author in real life, the main character, Rebecka Martinsson, is a tax attorney. The thrillers are set in Kiruna, the hometown of Larsson. The city is known for long, freezing and dark winters but also for the Kiruna mine, the biggest underground iron ore in the world, and for its large number of suicides. Sun Storm is the first in a series.Top
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| Ake Edwardson: Inspector Erik Winter | | |
Previously a journalist and university teacher, he names American James Ellroy as the motivator for his career choice. The Erick Winter series of 10 books is set in Gothenburg.Top
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| Jo Nesbo: Harry Hole series | | |
He is a financial analyst by day and a successful rock band singer by night. His central character, detective Harry Hole, is a high achiever, who has graduated from law school, the Police Academy and was trained by the FBI. Harry Hole also has an addictive personality, a penchant for alcohol abuse. According to Nesbo, Oslo has the highest number of fatalities from drug overdoses in Europe and a high level of reported rapes, organized crime, prostitution and trafficking. Start with:
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| Karin Fossum: Konrad Sejer mysteries | | |
Named the “Norwegian Queen of Crime”, she was a published poet at 20 and used to drive a taxi. She writes psychological thrillers, full of dark secrets, set in small, typically isolated communities. Start with The Indian Bride.
Other titles in the Konrad Sejer series.Top
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| Anne Holt: Vik and Stubo series | | |
Norwegian lawyer and a former Minister of Justice, Holt has the ability to reveal “how truly dark it gets in Norway”. What is Mine and What Never Happens are full of fabulous twists.Top
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| Arnaldur Indridason: Reykjavik murder mysteries | | |
Indridadson is one of the most renowned and awarded Icelandic authors. His novels are set in Iceland, an island country with a population of just over 300,000. Every book in the series is worth reading but I most enjoyed:
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| Some other Scandinavian crime writers of note: | | |
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| | Zofia is a Librarian at our Mornington Library, she is happy to make reading suggestions.
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