Crime & Fjords: 9 Scandinavian writers you should read

As a child, I read all Agatha Christie novels during my summer holidays. When I moved to the UK, I read them all over again, but in English. Up until recently, I used to mostly read whilst on holidays, either on the go or on the beach. However, since I moved to London and started commuting on the train, I have also been reading on my way to and from work. I am ever so thankful to the Scandinavian crime writers for providing me with plenty of material. I still wonder how it happens and the Nordic countries score high on happiness with murder rates being so high, or is this only in fiction? On a more serious note, I’ve always found that novels set abroad traveled me to those places and made me want to visit them in real life. Perhaps I should thank Jo Nesbø for my recent holiday in Norway.

Here are my favorite ‘Nordic Noir’ authors:

 

Ragnar Jónasson

An Icelandic crime writer and lawyer, Jónasson lives and works in Reykjavík, where he also teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University. He has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV-news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, and has translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic.

His ‘Dark Iceland’ series is set in and around Siglufjörður, a small fishing town on the northern coast of the country. The series features Detective Ari Thor Arason and includes five novels:

Snowblind
Blackout
Rupture
Nightblind
Whiteout

He has also written the ‘Hulda’ series, which includes three novels:

The Darkness
The Island

The Mist (not yet available in English)

Jónasson has also written short stories that have been published internationally.

 

 

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Another Icelandic crime writer, Sigurðardóttir also works as a civil engineer.

Her ‘Thóra Gudmundsdóttir’ series, featuring the female attorney of the same name, includes six novels:

Last Rituals: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 1
My Soul to Take: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 2
Ashes to Dust: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 3
The Day is Dark: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 4
Someone to Watch Over Me: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 5
The Silence of the Sea: Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 6

Other novels by Sigurðardóttir include:

I Remember You
The Undesired
Why Did You Lie?
The Legacy
The Reckoning

The Absolution (not yet available in English)

 

Arnaldur Indriðason

Perhaps the most famous of the Icelandic crime writers, Indriðason has worked as a journalist and a film critic.

His ‘Reykjavík Murder’ series, featuring Detective Erlendur, includes 14 novels. Jar City (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 1) is the third one in the series, but was the first to be translated in English. It has been adapted into a film directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2006).

Available in English also are:

Silence Of The Grave (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 2)
Voices (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 3)
The Draining Lake (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 4)
Arctic Chill (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 5)
Hypothermia (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 6)
Outrage (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 7)
Black Skies (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 8)
Strange Shores (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 9)
Reykjavik Nights (Reykjavik Murder Myst/Prequel)
Oblivion

Other Indriðason novels available in English are:

Operation Napoleon
The Shadow District
The Shadow Killer

 

Jussi Adler-Olsen

Son of the successful sexologist and psychiatrist Henry Olsen, Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen used to be a manager before he began to write full-time.

His ‘Department Q’ series, featuring Detective Carl Mørck, includes seven novels:

Mercy (Department Q 1)
Disgrace (Department Q 2)
Redemption (Department Q 3)
Guilt (Department Q 4)
Buried (Department Q 5)
The Hanging Girl (Department Q 6)
The Scarred Woman (Department Q 7)

Some of these novels have been released in the US with different titles.

Jussi Adler-Olsen’s stand-alone novels are yet to be translated in English.

 

Jørn Lier Horst

A former Senior Investigating Officer at Vestfolf Police district, Horst has kept busy writing crime novels since 2004.

His ‘William Wisting’ series includes 12 novels, six of which have been translated it in English:

Dregs (William Wisting series)
Closed for Winter (William Wisting series)
The Hunting Dogs (William Wisting series)
The caveman (William Wisting series)
Ordeal (William Wisting series)
When It Grows Dark (William Wisting Series Prequel)
The Katharina Code

He has also written 10 novels in the ‘Clue’ series (not yet translated in English), as well as children’s books.

 

Jo Nesbø

I shouldn’t have to introduce Jo Nesbø, since he is one of the most famous Scandinavian crime writers. The famous Norwegian author used to work as a freelance journalist and a stockbroker before he began his writing career.

His famous ‘Harry Hole’ series includes 11 novels:

The Bat: Harry Hole 1
Cockroaches: Harry Hole 2
The Redbreast: Harry Hole 3
Nemesis: Harry Hole 4
The Devil’s Star: Harry Hole 5
The Redeemer: Harry Hole 6
The Snowman: Harry Hole 7
The Leopard: Harry Hole 8
Phantom: Harry Hole 9
Police: Harry Hole 10
The Thirst: Harry Hole 11

‘The Redbreast’ is the first of these novels to be set in Norway, whereas ‘The Snowman’ was the first to be adapted into a film, which was directed by Tomas Alfredson and starred Michael Fassbender (2017).

Nesbø has also written two novels in the ‘Olav Johansen’ series, stand-alone novels, and children’s books. Headhunters has also been adapted into a film directed by Morten Tyldum (2011).

 

Camilla Läckberg

Sometimes called the Swedish Agatha Christie, Läckberg worked as an economist before she started writing full-time. Many of her novels are set in her hometown Fjällbacka, a small town on the western coast of Sweden.

She has written 10 crime novels:

The Ice Princess (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 1)
The Preacher (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 2)
The Stonecutter (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 3)
The Stranger (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 4)
The Hidden Child (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 5)
The Drowning (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 6)
The Lost Boy (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 7)
Buried Angels (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 8)
The Ice Child (Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 9)
The Girl in the Woods(Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 10)

‘The Hidden Child” has been adapted into a film by Per Hanefjord (2013).

 

Stieg Larsson

Larsson was a Swedish journalist. He unfortunately died of a heart attack at the age of 50. He is best known for the posthumously published ‘Millennium’ trilogy:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Series Book 1)
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium Series Book 2)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (Millennium Series Book 3)

All three books have been adapted into films in Swedish. The first one has also been adapted into a film in English, directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

 

 

David Lagercrantz

Lagercrantz is another Swedish journalist and author. As well as writing the autobiography of the footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he’s also written the fourth and fifth novels in Larsson’s ‘Millennium’ series:

The Girl in the Spider’s Web: Continuing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye: Continuing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series

His previous works are yet to be translated in English.

 

Further (non-crime) reading

If you’d rather read about hygge and why Scandinavians are amongst the happiest people in the world, check out my post ‘Hygge, Lagom & Lykke: 10 books about Scandi happiness’.

 

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Happy reading!

 

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)