Nordic Noir fans, listen up: if you haven’t yet explored bestselling Finnish crime writer Max Seeck’s page-turning thrillers, today’s post is for you! Last fall, I devoured Seeck’s gripping debut THE WITCH HUNTER, and this month, he’s back with his next dark crime novel featuring investigator Jessica Niemi. In THE ICE COVEN, available in the US today, protagonist Jessica finds herself caught in a race against time to find a link between a body bearing cryptic markings that has washed up on the shore in Finland, and the puzzling disappearances of two Instagram influencers. Seeck’s first thriller THE WITCH HUNTER blended page-turning plotting with a dark serial killer plot and elements of the occult—it was one of my personal favorite Nordic thrillers I read last year, and I’m so excited to see what his next crime novel has in store for us! Fans of Nordic crime writers like Lars Kepler and Søren Sveistrup, as well as any reader who’s in the market for extra-chilling serial killer stories, won’t want to miss Max Seeck’s dark and engrossing work. In today’s blog post, I’m thrilled to give CBTB readers the chance to read an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Max Seeck’s newest thriller, THE ICE COVEN! I’ll be digging into this new thriller today, and I’m so excited to give you the chance to start reading along with me. For more information on Seeck’s first thriller THE WITCH HUNTER, you can find my full review on the CBTB blog here. Read on for more information on THE ICE COVEN, and to sample an excerpt from the book’s first chapter!
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Cover Reveal + Excerpt: THE CORPSE FLOWER by Anne Mette Hancock
There’s nothing more exciting to me than learning about an up-and-coming Scandinavian crime writer, and today I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to spotlight one such author for CBTB readers! I first learned about Danish crime writer Anne Mette Hancock through social media, where I began to notice all the buzz surrounding her (then brand-new!) Kaldan & Schäfer crime series. Hancock’s debut novel, The Corpse Flower, was awarded the Danish Crime Academy’s debutant prize in 2017; in 2018, Hancock was named “Author of the Year” in Denmark. And to top it all off, two Danish crime writers whose work I love and opinions I very much trust—Sara Blædel and Katrine Engberg—have both raved about Hancock’s work. It’s safe to say I’ve been quite eager to be able to give Anne Mette Hancock’s work a try for myself, and I’m absolutely thrilled that, this fall, Anne Mette Hancock’s debut novel will be published in the US! THE CORPSE FLOWER is the first installment in Hancock’s Kaldan & Schäfer crime fiction series, and today I’m thrilled to be able to reveal the book’s cover exclusively for CBTB readers!
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Nordic Noir November: Spotlight on Icelandic Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’m spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country, and sharing a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve already explored Norwegian crime fiction, Swedish crime fiction, and Danish crime fiction, and this week, we’re “traveling” to beautiful Iceland! This blog post is going to be shorter than my previous Nordic Noir November posts for a very simple reason: when it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, I have two ride-or-die authors whose work I will literally always read, no matter what, and those are the two authors I want to spotlight for you all today. There are a number of fantastically talented Icelandic crime writers whose work has been translated to English (and many more whose work looks very intriguing, and I hope will be translated to English soon!), but as has been the case with all my previous installments in this series, I want to keep this list focused on highlighting just my personal favorite authors from each country. When it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, that means I’ve got two authors to spotlight for you today! Whether you love creepy, horror-inspired thrillers, modern mysteries with classic crime vibes, or gritty procedurals, my two favorite Icelandic crime writers have a book for you.
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Nordic Noir November: Spotlight on Danish Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers, and welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’ll be spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country. We’ve already explored Norwegian crime fiction and Swedish crime fiction, and this weekend, it’s Denmark’s turn! Denmark is home to two bestselling crime writers whose work helped introduce me to the Scandinavian crime fiction genre, writers who remain some of my favorites to this day,, and it’s also home to a number of up-and-coming crime writers whose novels are shaking up the genre, and delivering truly gripping and inventive stories. Today I’ll be walking you through my personal favorite Danish crime writers, and giving you tips for where to start with their work! I’ll add the same disclaimer here that I’ve had on my last couple Nordic Noir blog posts: this list is by no means an exhaustive rundown of all the Danish crime writers out there, simply a guide to my personal favorites, which I hope will help you embark on your own journey discovering their work!
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Nordic Noir November: Spotlight on Swedish Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers, and welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’ll be spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country. Last Sunday, I shared a rundown of my personal favorite Norwegian crime writers, and this week, it’s Sweden’s turn! From iconic bestselling series to under-the-radar books, from serial killer thrillers to psychological thrillers and a whole lot more, there is so much fantastic crime fiction coming out of Sweden. Today I’ll be walking you through a rundown of my personal favorite Swedish crime writers, and giving you tips on where to start with their work. I’ll add the same disclaimer here that I did on last week’s blog post: this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the incredible Swedish crime writers out there (this list could go on and on if I didn’t cut it off somewhere!). Instead, this list is intended to give you a guide to my personal favorite (and most-recommended) Swedish crime writers!
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CBTB’s Guide to Early-2020 Nordic Noir
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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Nordic Noir November: Spotlight on Norwegian Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers, and welcome to our first #NordicNoirNovember feature! If you’ve been around Crime by the Book for a while, you’ll know that I’m always looking for a reason to talk about my favorite crime fiction subgenre: Nordic Noir, aka Scandinavian Crime Fiction. This year, we’re celebrating Nordic Noir November here on CBTB! Every Sunday this November, I’ll be spotlighting a different Nordic country and my personal favorite crime writers from that country here on my blog, and on my Instagram account. To kick off our Nordic Noir November celebration, we’re starting with my personal favorite Nordic country to visit: Norway. From my favorite city, Oslo, to the country’s beautiful fjords and mountains, to smaller (and no less beautiful!) cities and towns in between, Norway is a country filled with stunning locations to visit, and since most of us have to stay home for the time being, now is the perfect time to “armchair travel” to this incredible part of the world. The authors highlighted in today’s blog post will take you from the streets of Oslo to the stunning and remote landscape of northern Norway and beyond, in some of my personal favorite crime books I’ve ever read.
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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!
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Crime Books to Get You Hooked on Nordic Noir
If there’s one request I’ve been getting most frequently on Crime by the Book lately, it’s for Nordic Noir books for newcomers to the genre - and you can imagine how happy that makes me! Nordic Noir (aka Scandinavian crime fiction) is my all-time favorite crime fiction subgenre, and it’s a subgenre overflowing with talented writers for you to discover. But, like with anything, figuring out where to start can be tricky. To help solve that dilemma, I’ve put together a blog post designed to be your launching point into the world of Nordic Noir. Here you’ll find recommendations suitable for readers who are totally new to the Scandinavian crime fiction subgenre: this list includes books by many of the biggest names in Scandinavian crime writing, books that will give you the perfect introduction to the genre and its most prominent characteristics. If you’ve been hoping to dig into Scandinavian crime fiction but weren’t quite sure where to start, let this list be your guide!
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CBTB's Best Nordic Noir of 2019
There's nothing I love more than a great Nordic Noir novel, and today’s blog post is dedicated to celebrating the best of the Scandinavian crime novels 2019 had to offer. 2019 saw the return of some of my personal favorite authors (new Nesbø book, here’s looking at you!) and introduced me to a number of new-to-me authors as well. As always with these sorts of lists, narrowing down my picks proved a very tricky task, but I’m absolutely confident that the titles listed here will deliver all the atmosphere, rich character development, and gritty mystery that any Nordic Noir reader could hope for. Whether you’re a longtime fan of this category of crime fiction or are new to the genre entirely, there’s a book for you on this list.
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Nordic Noir Series Recommendation: The Fjällbacka Series by Camilla Läckberg
One of the trickiest things about blogging for me personally is finding time to highlight books that I loved before starting Crime by the Book. Recently, though, I’ve been feeling particularly inspired to put together a post on one of the very first Scandinavian crime series I fell in love with—so that’s exactly what I’m doing today! After reading (and loving) Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy many years ago, I found myself on a personal quest to learn as much as I could about the Nordic Noir genre. It was during this time period that I discovered Jo Nesbø, Sara Blaedel, and today’s featured author: Camilla Läckberg. In the years since, my love of Camilla Läckberg’s endearing, engrossing Fjällbacka Series has only grown. If you’re a reader who prefers mysteries that focus less on violence and more on character development, these books will be right up your alley; they are undeniably lighter novels than many of their Nordic peers, but that’s not at all a negative. Instead, think of these books as the kind of “comfort read” that you’ll want to come back to over and over, thanks to their rich atmosphere, endearing characters, and chilling (but not terrifying) mysteries. I couldn’t be more excited to finally be taking the time to share exactly why I love this series - and why I think you’ll love it, too.
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CBTB's Essential Nordic Noir
Today’s blog post details my picks for essential Nordic Noir reads — aka the authors whose works you should check out to see if this crime fiction sub-genre is for you. This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are tons of fantastic crime writers hailing from Scandinavia - but it’s a great place to start if you’ve never tried Scandinavian crime fiction before, or if you’re trying to expand your Nordic Noir collection!
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Nordic Noir Excerpt: The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Have you read Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s books yet? If not, now is the time to start. Sigurdardottir is Iceland’s Queen of Crime, and in early 2018 her newest series will be launching in the US - the Children’s House Series. Book one, THE LEGACY, is an outstanding series launch: it’s a gripping thriller and an expertly plotted police procedural that cements Sigurdardottir as one of Nordic Noir’s authors to watch. THE LEGACY releases February 13, 2018, but you can sample this book for yourself today - I’m thrilled to share an excerpt from THE LEGACY here on Crime by the Book, courtesy of the publisher!
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Photo Tour of Siglufjörður with Ragnar Jonasson (DARK ICELAND)
If you haven't yet discovered Ragnar Jonasson's outstanding Dark Iceland mystery series, now is the perfect time to start. Influenced in equal measure by the stunning beauty of Iceland and the equally stunning plotting of Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, these books will make the perfect choice for winter reading material - or for any season, really. On December 5th, 2017, American readers are in for a treat: the second book in the Dark Iceland series, NIGHTBLIND, will be released in the US! To help celebrate this upcoming publication, I’m thrilled to provide you with an insider’s glimpse into Siglufjörður, the Icelandic town that provides the backdrop for this internationally-bestselling crime fiction series.
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CBTB's Beginner's Guide to Jo Nesbo
CBTB's "Beginner's Guide" to my all-time favorite author, Jo Nesbo. This post contains a whole bunch of resources to help you get started with Nesbo's works, including a recommendation of where to start with the Harry Hole series, an overview of Nesbo's standalone crime books, and a preview of what's to come from Nesbo in 2017.
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Nordic Noir Excerpt: NIGHTBLIND by Ragnar Jonasson
Ragnar Jonasson’s Dark Iceland series was the first Icelandic crime fiction I ever read, and I’m confident it will remain a favorite of mine for a long time. This December, NIGHTBLIND (Book 2 in the Dark Iceland series) will release in the US! To celebrate this exciting news, I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Jonasson’s US publisher, Minotaur, to share an excerpt of the first two chapters of NIGHTBLIND. If you've haven't yet read Jonasson's work, now is the time to start!
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Nordic Noir Cover Reveal: KILLED by Thomas Enger
When your favorite crime fiction publisher asks you to do the cover reveal for one of your favorite crime series, the answer is a very easy YES. I’m absolutely thrilled to share the cover reveal for KILLED by Thomas Enger, the final installment in one of my personal favorite Nordic Noir series! KILLED releases from Orenda Books on February 15, 2018; American readers, KILLED will be available in the States in Fall 2018! Read on for more information about KILLED, and to see the book's stunning cover!
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Book Preview: THE UNDERTAKER'S DAUGHTER by Sara Blaedel
Ever since my trip to Denmark earlier this spring, I’ve been absolutely dying to get my hands on a copy of Sara Blaedel’s forthcoming THE UNDERTAKER’S DAUGHTER. At this year’s BEA, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the US edition of the book, which will release in the US in February 2018! To help tide you over until then, I’m excited to share a little preview of the book: plot summary, about the author, and the top 3 elements of this book that I loved!
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Throwback Thursday Book Pick + Excerpt: THE BIRD TRIBUNAL
Happy Throwback Thursday! This feature (created by It’s Book Talk) is intended to highlight an older title that deserves another moment in the spotlight. For this week’s Throwback Thursday pick, I’m recommending a brilliant Nordic Noir book from my favorite crime book publisher, Orenda Books: THE BIRD TRIBUNAL by Agnes Ravatn. I'm also delighted to provide an excerpt of this book's first four chapters so you can sample this unique and compelling read.
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Fall 2017 Nordic Noir Reading List
There’s nothing better than a good Scandinavian crime novel. The genre’s grit, moody atmosphere, sharp social commentary, and complex characters never fail to deli`ver my favorite crime fiction reads—and this fall is going to be a huge one for new Scandinavian crime releases! Organized by month, CBTB’s Fall 2017 Nordic Noir Reading List is your guide to all the upcoming releases that will be on my TBR—and that should be on your list too.
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