The Draining Lake takes place partly in Iceland today, partly in East Germany during the 1960’s.

In the city of Leipzig in East Germany, a group of young, radical Icelanders have gone to study at the University there. We follow some of the, in particular a young man named Tomas. They expected to meet a communist paradise, but encounter instead a society where the secret police, Stasi, is present everywhere, where people are scared, and everybody spies on everybody else. Tomas meets repression, but also his first love.

In Iceland, 40 years later, a lake is draining out and a skeleton becomes visible. The scull has a hole and has been tied to a radio transmitter, as it turns out - a Russian short wave transmitter. Detective Erlendur Sveinsson and his colleagues are summoned to investigate.

There is hardly any evidence to go by. Who is the man? How did he end up in the lake? Erlendur, who know nothing about the students in Leipzig, works from the assumption that the man has been reported missing. For personal reasons, Erlendur is obsessed with disappearances and missing persons. This obsession comes in handy in this case, where persistence and intuition are the only real assets for the police.

The Draining Lake is a wonderful police procedural. Indridason’s descriptions of the tedious work of the police, the characters in the book, and - in particular - of the somewhat mellow and slightly depressed Erlendur, are masterful. It is an intelligent, very written crime book, written by one of the very best of Scandinavian crime authors. I do not hesitate to recommend it!

You can also order Arnaldur Indridason’s The Draining Lake from amazon UK.

Gunnar Staalesen is Norwegian, born in Bergen, 1947. He has, among other books, written a series of crime books starring Varg Veum. The first book in this series was published in 1977. Varg Veum is a kind of Scandinavian Philip Marlowe. He is a former social worker turned private detective. Staalesens books have been translated in 12 languages. The Writing on the Wall was originally published in Norwegian in 1995.

In The Writing on the Wall, Varg Veum returns from the funeral of his ex-wife’s most recent husband to find the distressed mother of missing 16 year old girl Torild, waiting to see him. Usually, when women are waiting to see Veum, something bad has happened or will happen.

Also, Bergen is buzzing with rumours about the death of Judge Brandt after he is found dead in a hotel room wearing flimsy female underwear.

Varg Veum starts digging. He looks into the last known sightings of Torild and her few friends. They seem to centre around a local amusement arcade. What initially seems pretty normal, rebellious behaviour seems to be covering up something more sinister, and Veum soon receives death threats. Then Torild is found dead.

Gradually what appears as the result of Veum’s digging, is a thriving teenage prostitution scene in the city. Varg is also convinced, that there is a connection to the death of Judge Brandt. Before long, Varg finds himself deep within the seedy underbelly of Bergen’s criminal world.

The Writing on the Wall is a detective novel you like or don’t like. To a large extent this has to do with Varg Veum. The novel itself is good, it is well written, and Staalesen is great with dialogues, but it doesn’t really excite you. However, if like me you have read a number of Staalesen’s novels and love Varg Veum, it is a great book. And generally, I think readers that like Veum will also like this book. But Veum isn’t all that likeable! He is a straight, believable hero, but he is a little boring and simpleminded to some readers. Personally, I like him because he is pretty low key for a guy from Bergen, and is a little bit shabby. I do recommend it.

Order The Writing on the Wall (Eurocrime), by Gunnar Staalesen from amazon UK!

The Fourth Man, actually the fifth novel about inspectors Gunnarstranda and Frolich (Frølich) by K O Dahl, is in some ways more similar to American crime novels than for instance those by Scandinavian authors like Karin Fossum, Karin Alvtegen, Jo Nesbo, Ake Edwardson or Henning Mankell. It is a hard-boiled noir style novel with a lean style, and reminds me more of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. There is, however, considerable psychological depth.

In the course of a routine police raid, Detective Inspector Frank Frolich of the Oslo Police saves the life of Elizabeth Faremo. She is a dark-haired beauty with mysterious eyes who was inadvertently caught in the crossfire. This is where The Fourth Man starts. Some weeks later, Frolich coincidentally runs into her again. He is attracted to her and they start an affair, even though his colleagues warn him about it.

By the time Frolich learns that Elisabeth is the sister of a known local gang-member, Johnny Faremo, it is already too late. And then Johnny is implicated in a crime, a security guard is attacked and killed. But Elisabeth gives her brother and his gang an alibi and Frolich’s name is mentioned. Then Elisabeth disappears. Now Frolich is plunged into both an emotional tempest as well as a complex investigation. He is forced to rethink their relationship. Were things as they seemed?

Frolich is asked to take some time off. And his boss Gunnarstranda is upset and believes Frank has been played from the very beginning. And as the body count increases, Frolich begins his own unofficial investigation.

Complex, dark and tragic, The Fourth Man is a tale of revenge and erotic obsession, where love lures a good cop to walk on the wild side. This is classical crime noir in a modern setting. It has it all: cynical strippers, tough-talking gangsters, corrupt businessmen, mixed identities and a bona fide femme fatale. Dahl’s language is, as one critic put it “spiced with small poetic observations … of remarkably high quality.” The author himself says that this is his project, to “combine the genre literature with a little poetry and literary storytelling.” The Fourth Man proves that Dahl is able to do this.

Order from amazon UK: The Fourth Man and The Man in the Window.

The Demon of Dakar is the third book by Kjell Eriksson about Detective Ann Lindell of the Uppsala police. The first was The Princess of Burundi, and the second Cruel Stars of the Night.

The life of Manuel Alavez, a Mexican peasant, has changed for the worse. One of his brothers have died, the other is imprisoned in Sweden for drug smuggling. Both were set up by a stranger. The Zapotek indians of Mexico, Manuel’s tribe, call such men bhni guí’a. They tempt people with riches and a good life, but in return take their souls.

Manuel decides to go to Sweden. He learns that the demon is the unpleasant owner of two restaurants in Uppsala who with his partner has set up a smuggling operation to finance his restaurant empire. His name is Slobodan Andersson.

One day Ann Lindell shows up in the restaurant. Slobodan’s partner, Armas,has been killed, and has been found with his throat sliced. All clues lead straight back to the popular restaurant Dakar, owned by Slobodan Andersson. has some shady connections in his past, and his partner’s reputation is equally murky.

The murder of Armas seems to have started a wild chain of violent and dramatic events, centered around restaurant Dakar. A large number of people are suspicious. The meat chef is an oddball, to say the least. The newest hire’s personal life is a tangled web of lies. Even Eva Willman, the seemingly blameless older woman returning to the workforce as a waitress, has skeletons in her closet. Ann Lindell feels she is chasing some shadow on a revenge mission that is likely to hit again.

The Demon of Dakar is a wonderful police procedural. If Ann Lindell is to prevent a bloodbath, she must match wits with and out-maneuver an invisible killer whose motives are seemingly completely obscure.

But the reader knows the killer well. To the killer, the crimes are justified. Actually, he’s a very likable fellow who is only looking for justice.

In The Demon of Dakar, as in all of Kjell Eriksson’s compelling spellbinders, though, justice entails a frantic race to the finish, a race without rules and fraught with danger.

Anne Holt (born 1958 in Larvik, Norway) is a lawyer and writer: She has sold over 4 million books worldwide, and is a former Minister of Justice, TV news editor and anchor, and journalist. She has written 13 books. She is one of the most successful crime authors in Norway.
What Never Happens is a chilling, densely written book. It’s a police procedural about a copy cat killer committing a series of gruesome murders in Oslo, Norway.
The main characters in What Never Happens (as well as her earlier What is Mine), are former FBI profiler Johanne Vik and he husband, police inspector Adam Stubo. Even though Johanne is home with their newborn child and cares for a young daughter with autistic-like behaviors as well, she is reluctantly pulled into the investigation as a result of discussions about the terrible and shocking cases at home with her husband.
The victims are all celebrities and theatrically posed. A talk show hostess is found with her tongue cut out, mutilated and lovingly arranged. The leader of a political party is crucified, with a copy of the Koran inserted in her vagina. And grumpy, aspiring literary and political critic is bludgeoned and stabbed in the eye.

There are absolutely no clues, and any connections that Stubo can make among the slain only confuses matters. Gradually Johanne Vik realizes that the murders are familiar to her. This forces her to confront an incident in her past that is her greatest secret, one she keeps even from Stubo.
The mystery in What Never Happens is fascinating. Holt tells a story with several fabulous twists. For instance, once Stubo gets a solid suspect, he finds that he has inadvertently established the suspect’s innocence - even as he becomes certain that this individual is the murderer.

Holt’s talent is partly developing an telling a great tale in a quiet, somewhat remote fashion. Partly it is her ability to let us see the story from both sides, yet to understand very little until it is gradually revealed. Also, she develops her characters very well. It is interesting to follow Johanne, Adam, and their children. The interaction between Kristine and Adam is heartwarming.

What Never Happens is an innovative, well crafted crime masterpiece.
Also by Anne Holt: What Is Mine.
Order from amazon UK: What Is Mine (also known as Punishment), and The Final Murder

The White Lioness may well be the best Henning Mankell ever, at least as far as his Wallander series is concerned. I just read his Italian Shoes, which has not yet been translated, and currently think that’s his best.

The are many ingredients to the plot in The White Lioness. First, a happily married woman disappears in southern Sweden while going about her business as an estate agent. There is no explanation and no motive. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team are called in to investigate this case of a missing person.

As readers, we know right from the beginning what is going on: she was at the wrong time at the wrong place. However, Wallander does not know this. Inspector Wallander has a gut feeling that the victim will never be found alive, but he has no idea how far he will have to go in a search of the killer and the origin of the crime.

The case turns out to be much more complicated that it appeared to be. The search for the truth behind the killing eventually uncovers an assassination plot, and Wallander finds himself in a tangle with both the secret police and a ruthless foreign agent.

It turns out that it all started in South Africa. A pro-apartheid conspirator has sent a gaunt, steel-eyed former KGB assassin and a black hit man to Sweden to train for a unnamed killing. When their hideout is destroyed in a fireball and the remains found in the ashes - a precision firearm, a sophisticated, high-powered radio, and a severed human thumb - the clues lead Wallander back to South Africa.

Combining compelling insights into the sinister side of modern life with a riveting tale of international intrigue, The White Lioness keeps you on the knife-edge of suspense. Some may find the book a little long-winded in the passages about South-African politics, but it is a wonderful book even so!

The White Lioness has been filmed as well. You can order the DVD from amazon (US): The White Lioness.

Or, order from amazon UK: The White Lioness (book) or White Lioness [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC).

In a sleepy little village at the foot of a Norwegian mountain, a child — 6 year old Ragnhild — goes missing. It is a village where the children run in and out of one another’s houses and play unafraid in the streets. Yet the search for her reveals the naked body of a well-liked local schoolgirl. Why would anyone want to murder Annie Holland? The investigation is in the hands of Inspector Konrad Sejer and his young colleague Jacob Skarre.

Karin Fossum is my favorite Norwegian crime writer. Karin Fossum was born November 6, 1954 in Sandefjord. Fossum now lives in Oslo. Karin Fossum’s Inspector Sejer novels are masterfully constructed, psychologically convincing, and compulsively readable.

This is a wonderful book with great characters, and it is very carefully written. The dialogue is realistic. It is also a book that gives a strong sense of community and that makes you feel and know that, yeah, this is how is could really have happened. The book is highly recommended to anyone who likes police-procedural novels.

And, so that you know that this really is a quality book, I should mention that Don’t Look Back! received The Riverton Prize and The Glass Key (for the best Nordic detective novel).

Read an excerpt of the book at the Hardcourt publishers’ site. We have more reviews of Karin Fossum’s books at ScandinavianBooks!

Aftenposten’s reviewer said the book “has hit the bull’s eye. It has scored a direct hit and is an exceptional top score! This is a dazzling writing in the crime genre”.

“Don’t Look Back! shows just how well Fossum deserves her continental fame.” — Sunday Times

Inger Frimansson is well established as a Swedish crime writer, and Good Night, My Darling is one of her best books. It has won the Swedish Academy of Mystery Authors Award for Best Swedish Crime Novel in 1998.

Good Night, My Darling is the first book in a series about the mysterious Justine Dalvik, a wealthy and eccentric woman in her forties living alone in a big house by the beach, with a bird as her only companion. It is a beautiful house, but full of memories of a tortured childhood. As readers, we are witnesses to her childhood hardships. And we start to are feel vindictive on her behalf. However, not until Justine is in her forties does she catch up with the our feelings.

Inger Frimansson enables the reader to enter Justine’s child-thoughts of being an almost willing victim while she absorbs both the hurt and the methods of cruelty used to hurt her. We sympathize with Justine the child, but as she grows to maturity we become less sympathetic. Now the memories come back to haunt Justine, but she is prepared. It is time for Justine to take revenge on everyone who has done her wrong. Terrible things start to happen.

Inger Frimansson has the courage to experiment with the crime genre. Good night, my darling is not a whodunit or a thriller. This book is a how-could-she-do-it. In her effort to understand this - to peer into the mind of a dark soul - Frimansson has written a deeply psychological crime novel which in several ways reminds me of the Norwegian author Karin Fossum.

Good Night, My Darling takes a while to really pick up speed, but when it does, the tension is almost unbearable. Putting it away does not feel as an option before the end is reached.

Praise for Good Night, My Darling:

“With this book, she stands out as one of the great authors of psychological suspense in contemporary Swedish literature.” - GT

”
.. whereas Mankell often tries to pinpoint the external factors which shape our lives, Frimansson concentrates on what we look like on the inside; what it feels like to be at someone’s mercy.” - Eskilstuna Kuriren

Order Good Night, My Darling by Inger Frimansson from Amazon UK: Good Night, My Darling.

The Fire Engine That Disappeared, originally published in 1969, is one of the books in the marvelous series about Swedish detective Martin Beck and his colleagues, written by Maj Sjowall (Sjöwall) and Per Wahloo (Wahlöö). According to Wahlöö, their intention was to “use the crime novel as a scalpel cutting open the belly of the ideological pauperized and morally debatable so-called welfare state of the bourgeois type.” How well they succeeded as far as the social criticism of the Swedish welfare state is concerned, is open to debate. However, what they did succeed in, was the creation of one of the most interesting and wonderful series of crime novels ever.

In The Fire Engine That Disappeared, detective Gunnvald Larsson and a street cop are on a stake-out when the house they are watching turns into a blaze of flames. While Larsson tries to rescue the survivors, the other cop runs to a phone booth to call in the fire brigade.

As Melander, another of Beck’s colorful colleagues, finds out through painstaking research, one of the inhabitants had committed suicide by closing off all holes in his room, and then filling it with gas. But even when the case is closed, there are a few doubts nagging at the backs of the heads of Martin Beck and Gunnvald Larsson. What caused the gas to explode? Where did the fire engine go that was originally called in?

All attention is focused on finding a possible suspect. Then the suspect is found dead in a car. Further investigation shows that the man was already dead when the house was blown up. The Fire Engine that Disappeared is a top police procedural. It is a wonderful read. However, reading the whole series in sequence is strongly recommended!

In our opinion, Sjowall & Wahloo’s series about Marin Besk is one of the top five series of crime books ever written. Some firmly place it in the number one spot. The stories are great, it works as a series, it is excellently written, the plots are rich and well executed, and the books are both interesting, engaging and funny as well. Great reads. How much more do you want? You can read more about the series at our site!

Order The Fire Engine That Disappeared (Martin Beck) from Amazon UK!

January:

• Alvtegen, Karin: Missing. Demonstrates clearly that Alvtegen is one of the best of Swedish crime writers.
• Larsson, Stieg: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. This is the first book in the Millennium Trilogy by this incredibly talented (now dead) writer. (Status: Released)
• Sigurdardottir, Yrsa: Last Rituals. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is commissioned to find out the truth. (Status: Released)

February:

• Burman, Carina: The Streets of Babylon (released February in the UK, May in the US
• Holt, Anne: What Never Happens (released)

March:

• Nesbo, Jo: Nemesis. This is the fourth crime novel by Nesbo starring Detective Harry Hole, in Oslo, Norway, to be published in English. (amazon.com gives May as publication date)

April:

• Eriksson, Kjell: The Demon of Dakar. Book number 7 starring Detectives Ola Haver and Ann Lindell, from Uppsala in Sweden
• Leckberg, Camilla: The Ice Princess, starring Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, in Fjallbacka in Sweden

May:

• Dahl, K O: The Man in the Window. Book number three about Gunnarstranda and Frolich, from the Oslo Police (amazon.com gives March 18, 2008 as release date)

June:

• Fossum, Karin: Broken, a wonderful novel, borderline between crime and general fiction.
• Nesser, Hakan: Mind’s Eye. The fourth Inspector Van Veeteren novel to be released in English.

July: