Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our final spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction this year! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’ve been spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Scandinavian country, and sharing with you a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve “traveled” (virtually!) to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, and today we’re going to be exploring crime fiction from Finland! Of all the Nordic crime fiction traditions, I am the least familiar with Finnish crime fiction—but I’m on a mission to change that! As always, in today’s blog post I will share with you a rundown of the Finnish crime writers whose work I’ve read and loved. But given that I’m still in the learning-what’s-out-there phase of exploring crime fiction from Finland, I’m also going to give you a little sneak peek into another Finnish crime book that’s on my TBR list. I hope this will be a helpful resource for anyone else who wants to start on their own journey into Finnish crime fiction!
Read More
Book Review: THE WITCH HUNTER by Max Seeck
Looking for a serial killer thriller with an extra-chilling edge this winter? Look no further than Finnish crime writer Max Seeck’s US debut, THE WITCH HUNTER. In this thoroughly entertaining—and thoroughly chilling—serial killer tale, a shadowy group is bringing the horrific crimes of a bestselling trilogy of books to life, and it’s up to a detective with secrets of her own to crack the case. Roger Koponen has made his fortune writing the Witch Hunter trilogy, a gruesome and terrifying fiction series. When Roger’s wife is found brutally murdered, her body displayed in a manner eerily similar to one of the crimes depicted in Roger’s books, investigator Jessica Niemi is assigned to the case. But the deeper Jessica digs into the murder, the more unusual the case becomes. And when more bodies start piling up, and it becomes clear there must be more than one villain responsible for these brutal acts, Jessica finds herself drawn into a web of conspiracy and sinister intrigue. THE WITCH HUNTER is a page-turning, entertaining Nordic thriller with plenty of appeal for fans of Nordic Noir and serial killer thrillers alike. Laced with elements of witchcraft and the occult, THE WITCH HUNTER delivers a seriously chilling read perfect for the winter months ahead. Max Seeck’s US debut has positioned him as an author to watch.
Read More
Book Preview: THE WITCH HUNTER by Max Seeck
This fall is bringing with it a huge variety of exciting new crime novels to read, and one that’s high on my personal list of most-anticipated fall releases is Finnish writer Max Seeck’s US debut, THE WITCH HUNTER. A new Nordic thriller is basically always something I’m excited about, but there are a couple of different elements to Seeck’s new novel that have particularly caught my eye. First and foremost: this serial killer thriller involves a villain who appears to be reenacting murders from a (fictional) book trilogy. If you’ve been around Crime by the Book for a little bit, you’ll no doubt know just how much I love crime books that somehow involve books—and I cannot wait to see what Seeck does with this thread of his story. Add in themes of witchcraft and the occult, and you’ve got yourself a thriller that looks absolutely perfect for your fall (and Halloween!) TBR list. Thanks to Seeck’s US publisher, Berkley, I’m thrilled to be able to give CBTB readers an inside glimpse into this highly-anticipated new thriller! I’ll be digging into this book tonight, and you can dip into the book with me right here in this blog post, where you’ll find an excerpt from the book’s first chapter! You can also learn more about the book’s plot and find a link to pre-order the book, should it catch your eye. Happy reading!
Read More
CBTB's Most-Anticipated Fall 2020 Crime Fiction Releases
The best time of year is upon us! As we head into the chillier months of the year, now is the perfect moment to start stocking up on some equally-chilling reads. In today’s blog post, I’m rounding up my personal most-anticipated releases of Fall 2020! This list by no means encompasses all of the thrilling new crime books that will be published this fall, but it does highlight the books I’m personally most excited to read, and most excited to talk about with you! For ease of reference, I’ve organized this blog post in order of publication date. Some of these books I’ve already been lucky enough to read, others are still on my fall TBR list—but all of them look poised to deliver some truly outstanding crime fiction storytelling. Dive into this blog post and start building your own Fall 2020 crime fiction reading list!
Read More