Scandinavian crime fiction is my personal favorite crime fiction subgenre, and a staple of Crime by the Book—and luckily for all of us who adore it, 2020 is going to be a fantastic year for new releases in this category! Today I’m rounding up the Scandinavian crime fiction that belongs on your to-read list early this year, including both books I’ve already read and covered here on CBTB, and titles that I haven’t yet dug into, but which are on my personal TBR list. The books included in this post have US publication dates that fall between January and April 2020—which means that some of them are already on sale, and some are releasing very soon! From new installments in beloved series to exciting debuts, there’s a little something for every Scandinavian crime fiction fan releasing early this year. Dive into this list and fill your TBR with all the gritty, gripping storytelling that Scandinavian crime fiction has to offer.
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Book Review: THE ABSOLUTION by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
It’s the rare author who truly gets better with each new book, but then nothing about Yrsa Sigurdardottir is typical. A director at one of Iceland’s largest engineering firms, Yrsa’s second job just happens to be as a bestselling crime novelist with a growing international readership and a fantastic movie adaptation of one of her novels, I Remember You, under her belt, too. Yrsa’s qualifications alone make her a great candidate for your next author to investigate, and that’s before we even talk about her books themselves. Yrsa is currently in the middle of releasing her Children’s House series—a stellar Nordic crime series that is one of my favorite new series launches of the 2010’s. THE ABSOLUTION, the third installment in the Children’s House series, releases in the US on February 11, 2020, and it’s the best book in the series yet. True to theme for the Children’s House books, THE ABSOLUTION explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma; in this case, our story centers around the insidious nature of bullying. As with all of her series releases thus far, Yrsa displays in THE ABSOLUTION astute emotional intelligence and crafty, masterful plotting in equal measure. A rich, layered crime novel with a dark atmosphere and darker crimes, THE ABSOLUTION is a must-read this winter.
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Book Review: THE RECKONING by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Iceland’s Queen of Crime returns in 2019 with the second installment in her superb Children’s House series: THE RECKONING. Picking up where her 2018 release THE LEGACY left off, Sigurdardottir’s newest crime novel delivers a gritty, layered procedural exploring the longstanding implications of childhood trauma. Readers follow series protagonists Detective Huldar and psychologist Freyja as they find themselves immersed in a bizarre case: a school’s time capsule is opened, and in it is discovered a note predicting the deaths of six people. A child wrote it… it can’t be real, can it? But when a string of inexplicable - and gruesome - events take place, Huldar and Freyja begin to suspect the note isn’t just the product of a child’s imagination after all—and, if they’re right, there’s much more darkness to come. Living up to her work’s well-earned reputation as crime fiction that borders on horror, Sigurdardottir’s THE RECKONING is guaranteed to give you goosebumps. In a story both gruesome and heart-wrenching, Sigurdardottir weaves a masterful mystery that belongs on the bookshelf of every Scandinavian crime fiction reader.
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Crime Festival Journal: Iceland Noir 2018
This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Reykjavik, Iceland for Iceland Noir 2018 - a crime fiction festival that takes place in Iceland's capital city every other year. And what an incredible trip it was! In this blog post, I’ll be sharing a day-by-day recap of my time in Iceland, including panel notes, book recommendations, lots of photos, and a whole lot more. A huge thanks to the entire Iceland Noir team for organizing such a memorable festival!
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Crime Festival Preview: Iceland Noir 2018
Two years ago, I went on my very first solo international trip to Reykjavik for Iceland Noir 2016. I had never met anyone at the conference in “real life”; I was still a relatively new blogger, and, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. Well, to make a long story short, it was the absolute best thing I could’ve done for myself and for the development of CBTB. I made great friends, learned about tons of new crime books, and fell head over heels in love with the beauty and magic of Iceland. Now, two years later, I’m more than ready to pack my bags and head back to Reykjavik for Iceland Noir 2018! I’ve been to quite a few crime festivals all around the world now, and I can honestly say that Iceland Noir remains my favorite festival yet. I can’t wait to see what Iceland Noir 2018 has in store for me!
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