Enjoy Scandinavian culture and literature

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  Leif GW Persson is a professor of criminology, and in this clever crime fiction novel he provides a possible explanation for the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in February 1986. To do this, he takes us deep into the not so pretty underbelly of Swedish law enforcement - we meet sloppy and greedy cops, psychopaths in the service of the secret police, clandestine services and shady agents. Read more ..

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  Red Wolf is the fifth book in Swedish crime fiction writer Liza Marklund’s series featuring reporter Annika Bengtzon. It is very good, suspenseful, and very entertaining, with an excellent, very exciting plot. Perhaps Marklund's best! Read more ..

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  Ashes to Dust, the third book in Yrsa Sigardardottir’s series about Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, is a dark mystery that mostly takes place at Vestmannaeyjar (The Westman Islands). Four people that were murdered when the volcano there erupted more than 30 years ago have been found, and Thóra's client is the prime suspect. Read more about Yrsa Sigurdardottir!

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  Bad Intentions is the seventh book in Norwegian author Karin Fossum's series about Konrad Sejer translated into English. It is a deep psychlogical thriller where layers of lies turn friends gradually into enemies and result in murder. Read more about Karin Fossum.

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  Vengeance is the lastest in the series called Helsinki Homicide written by Finnish author Jarkko Sipila. It is a fast paced and very noir crime fiction thriller about life in the dark and violent underbelly of Helsinki; a world of drug addicts, pushers, gangs and criminal ties to Lithuania and Russland. A great new crime fiction by Sipila! Read more about Vengeance!

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  Postcard Killers, by James Patterson and Liza Marklund, is about a young serial killing couple that travels all over Europe killing people. The murders are bloody and brutal, and after they have killed, the murderers send photos of the dead victims as postcards to newspaper reporters. The killers want publicity and soon get it. In the media they are nicknamed the Postcard Killers. To be released in August. Read more about Pstcard Killers!

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  Jo Nesbo: The Snowman - a new book in the Harry Hole series. Nesbo was recently nominated for the 2010 Edgar award for Nemesis! Is The Snowman even better? It is full of action! A disturbed serial murderer tries to involve Detective Harry Hole in a deadly game. Read more about The Snowman and Harry Hole!

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  Henning Mankell: The Man from Beijing - a new, great thriller from the writer of the Kurt Wallander series, but not with Kurt Wallander this time. Instead it is a large-scale thriller raising serious questions about the place of the Chinese in the emerging world order. This thriller starts with a bang - a massacre in quiet, social democratic Sweden!

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  Stieg Larsson: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, with Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. The third and final book in this series, and the book that completes the series and closed the story and all the side stories. And so it does in a stunning fashion. It starts with a bang. And with Lisbeth Salander in a very, very difficult situation.

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  Camilla Lackberg: The Stonecutter, with Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck. Lackberg is a bestselling author in Scandinavia and this is one of the best in the series. Howver, if you haven't yet, you may want to read the first book first. In this book, Läckberg takes us out of the quiet facade of daily life in Sweden and into another parallel world where an evil mind lurks behind the scenes.

We publish new reviews several times a week, and try to stay ahead of the curve! Check our list of forthcoming books every now and then!

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  Finnish writer Arto Paasilinna's The Year of the Hare is about an amusing, wonderful adventure into the vast wilderness of Finnish forests by a journalist and a hare. Read more ..

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  The Beatles is a quiet and delightful novel by Lars Saabye Christensen reminising the coming of age of a group of young boys in Norway during the 1960's - the era of The Beatles, long hair, and social protests. Read more ..

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  Ludvig Holberg's (Baron Holberg) classical The Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground, written more than 250 years ago, tells the tale of a stunning journey by a penniless Norwegian student after he plunges into a bottomless hole in a cave. Read more..

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  Swedish author Per C. Jersild's A Living Soul is a story about a brain. Its name is Ypsilon. Ypsilon lives in a laboratory in a privately owned research corporation. A very intriguing and thought-provoking novel! Read more ..

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  Hunger and other novels by Nobel Prize winning Norwegian author Knut Hamsun are timeless masterpieces and still great reads. Hunger is an excellently written book, very evocative and intense. Read more ..

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  Swedish writer Karin Alvtegen has written a series of suspenseful psychological mysteries, dealing with common emotions and experiences such as shame and fear, betrayal and loss. Read more ...

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  The Blood Spilt, by Asa Larsson, was chosen as Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2004. The follow-up, The Black Path, is every bit as good. The series feature attorney Rebecka Martinsson and is set in dark and snowy Northern Sweden. Read more ...

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  Against the Wall, by Finnish writer Jarkko Sipila, was the 2009 Winner of the Best Finnish Crime Novel. This is very noir and hard boiled crime fiction, featuring Lieutenant Detective Kari Takamaki. A very nice read. Read more ...

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  Iceland's Arnaldur Indridason is the winner of many prizes, his series about Reykjavik police Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is a huge success. The philosophical Viking detective is both charming and smart. Read more ..

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  In The Consorts of Death, Varg Veum - Gunnar Staalesen's private eye - skillfully untangles the ways in which the past has a bearing on the present. It is easy to like this hard drinking detective from rainy Bergen. Read more ..

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  Johan Theorin of Sweden has so far only written two books, and a third is just coming out in Scandinavia. Both are excellent. Many view him as the next Stieg Larsson. The Darkest Room and Echoes From the Dead are scary and build lots of suspense. A new, emerging master of crime fiction mysteries? Read more ..

We have much, much more! Visit our author overview page or our crime fiction page to learn more about the crime fiction on this site!

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  As it is in Heaven is an utterly charming Swedish movie, romantic, funny, warm and in some ways an ode to love. As It is in Heaven was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2005 Academy Awards®. It is starred by Michael Nyquist (also featured in the Millennium movies).

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  Meryl Streep and Robert Redford starred in the wonderful classic movie Out of Africa, based on the equally great novel by Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dinesen). And the other movie based on her books, Babette's Feast, is equally good and really quite a feast! Read more ..

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  The Swedish movie Sunstorm, based on a crime fiction novel by Asa Larsson, features Antti Reini, Göran Forsmark, Henrik Gustafsson, Izabella Scorupco (picture), and Mikael Persbrandt. Action and excitement. Read more ..

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  Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim plays the Bergen sleuth Varg Veum in a series of movies based on Gunnar Staalesen's crime fiction novels. He is an ex-social worker, a cynical private eye with a social conscience. Read more ..

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  Elling was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign language film of 2001. As is the novel Elling by Ingvar Ambjornsen, it is a very entertaining and endearing film. The characters Elling and Kjell Bjarne are immensely enjoyable and played to perfection. Read more..

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  Fanny and Alexander by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman is perhaps the crowning piece of his brilliant set of films. An innovative, creative and perfectionist film maker who has created a large number of very impressive movies. Read more ..

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  Hawaii, Oslo. This is an interesting movie from 2004, about the story of a handful of desperate people whose paths cross on the hottest day of the year in Oslo. Good and intriguing entertainment. Read more..

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  Evil (Ondskan) is based on a partly autobiographical novel by one of Sweden's most well-known authors, Jan Guillou. We follow Eric Ponti as he is exposed to a fraternity style hierarchy in a Swedish boarding school. . Read more

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  Kristen Lavransdatter, based on a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Sigrid Undset, is an epic tale of medieval life in Norway during the 14th century. Liv Ullmann has done a masterful job in writing a manuscript for the movie and directed it. Read more ..

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  Smilla's Sense of Snow is a great and entertaining movie based on Danish author Peter Hoeg's bestselling novel with the same name. Read more ..

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  Flame and Citron is an excellent and very strong Danish movie about the resistance movement in Denmark during World War II, based on real events. It has received very positive reviews. Read more ..