English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

I have just finished reading the girl with dragon tattoos, and I'm looking for some Scandinavian crime fictions like this one but less detail on some less unnecessary part, do you have any recommendations??

Caleb, here are some Recommendations - Henning Mankell's Wallender series and Hakan Nesser are 2 of my favorites. also Ake Edwardson, Quentin Bates, Arne Dahl, K.O. Dahl and Jo Nesbo.

Thank you dian, I like jo nesbo as well. I was looking for the snowman today in the book shop but couldn't find it, so I bought 'I am pilgrim' instead. which isn't Scandinavian crime but it sounds interesting. Have you read this book before?

Caleb, thanks for the tip! I have not heard of 'I am pilgrim', so I looked it up - as you said, it sounds interesting, so I will put it on my list of books to read.

I hope you like it Diana, are you reading any books at the moment?

I am currently reading The Stranglers Honeymoon by Hakan Nesser. I enjoy his writing style and will have read all of his Van Veeterin crime novels that I am able to read, that is, translated in English :) until I can get my hands on The G File! I didn't like the reading about the crime at the beginning of the book, but it's a good book, nonetheless. You will have to tell me if you like 'pilgrim '.

Yeah will do ;) btw, is the g file about the hypothesis of what if the Berlin Wall didn't fall?? If that's the one, I'm quite interested! Haha so you're also an English speaker instead of a Scandinavian ?

I would recommend the Wallander books by Henning Mankell as a good place to start. It is one of the few long series that has been translated into English and is set in Sweden. I like the Jo Nesbo books as well but they are rather gritty compared to most of the others.

Caleb, as far as I am aware, the g file is not about what would have happened if the Berlin Wall did not come down. There is a book, which I just had in my hands or read about recently which is about just that. If you come across it, let me know what it is, as I know what book you are referring to, but I am drawing a blank as to the name. Yes, I am an English speaker, American, so I enjoy reading books that take place in other countries, particularly the Scandinavian authors.

Thx Gary and diana, I can't agree more with you diana, I especially like how the author describes the scenery and the people in Scandinavia, which is really cool! and also convince me to go to those places one day, and luckily I'm going to visit my Norwegian girl friend next year, so I have to chance to visit the beautiful places mentioned in the book!

Caleb, when you get to Norway, make sure you go to Vigeland Park - there.are amazing sculptures - one of my favorites! You are lucky to have the chance to visit such a beautiful country. After you have been there, you will enjoy the Scandinavian books even more as you can picture yourself back on vacation!

Yes I bet! so you must have been there before?

Yes, I have been to several of the Scandinavian countries!

I think Sjöwall & Wahlöö haven't yet been bettered. They were the pioneers of what we now call Nordic Noir or Scandicrime. They wrote a series of 10 books in the 60-70s, and if you disregard that Martin Beck & co catch buses and don't use computers or mobile phones, they're as fresh today as they were then.

I just joined this group a few minutes ago. I love Camilla Lackberg - to be read in order, Karin Fossum, Jussi Adler-Olsen (to be read in order). Also agree that the Wallander series (best in order, but not necessary) are fabulous.

Ruth, are they like crime fictions?

re: Quentin I wont :)

Caleb, Ruth's recommendations are crime fiction, Karin fossum's are more psychological crimes, really good suggestions. Helene Tursten, Liza Marklund and Anne HOlt are a few more women Scandinavian crime authors who I enjoy reading. I also have to add - if you can get them, Quentin is right, the Beck series is great, even though they are decades old, the only thing that "dates" them is technology.

I am a big fan of Jussi Adler-Olsen, who in my opinion, wins the best thing since Girl with the Dragon Tattoo award. His Dept Q series has great characters but to really appreciate the novels the books need to be read in order.

I don't care for Karin Fossum at all because of the lack of development of the detective characters and the fact that most of the victims and some of the perpetrators are young and/or innocent. As someone mentioned recently, if they just did the right thing there won't be a serious problem.

I really like the Helene Tursten and Liza Marklund books. There are Swedish TV shows for both of these series which are also very good. Unfortunately there are 4 books in the Irene Huss series by Tursten that have not been published in English and 2 in the Annika Bengtzon (who is reporter not a cop) by Marklund that have not been published either. Apparently you have to be Jo Nesbo to get prompt translation and publication of your books in English.

There is another problem in the Annika Bengtzon TV show versus the books. The books take place over quite number of years which doesn't work for a TV series. I found myself frequently confused about the state of Annika's marriage in the TV episodes (which aren't necessarily shown in order) while it was clear in the books.

The situation is also such that after Stieg Larsson was such an unexpected runaway success, English-language publishers were falling over themselves to sign up mainly Norwegian and Swedish authors, many of whom have something of a backlist. The drill is normally to test the water, rarely starting with an author's first book, but instead starting off with what is perceived as that author's strongest book. If that one clicks and sells a few copies, then there's a chance the publisher will move on to having the rest of the backlist translated. If that book doesn't attract a readership, then the author disappears without trace in translation.

All the authors I recommended are crime fiction. Some are darker than others. I love to think about the differences between the male and female authors and their main characters. As a whole, the male author characters are darker and flawed while the female authors characters are more or less just trying to solve crimes, earn a living, etc. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

while the female authors characters are more or less just trying to solve crimes, earn a living

This is an interesting comment. In the books from the UK I have read, I think there are more flawed female police characters than male. This is regardless of the sex of the author.

Gary wrote: "while the female authors characters are more or less just trying to solve crimes, earn a living

This is an interesting comment. In the books from the UK I have read, I think there are more flawed ..."

I don't have such an extensive reading list as you but I'm intrigued. My favorite UK authors, to name a few, are Val McDermid, Minette Walters, Lynda la Plante. Their female police characters are not flawed. Not that I'm defending them or anything. But could you name few authors whom are your favorites and have flawed female protagonist.

You don't think Lynda La Plante's characters aren't flawed? (I haven't read the other authors.) Perhaps not as badly as many other authors, but I don't think that Anna Travis or Jane Tennison are "normal" either.

But could you name few authors whom are your favorites and have flawed female protagonist.

A couple of examples more or less off the top of my head are: Stephen Booth Diane Fry, Sharon Bolton DC Lacey Flint, and Harry Bingham Fiona Griffiths.

In contrast some of the characters that I would consider "normal" are: Deborah Crombie Jemma James and Aline Templeton DI Marjory Fleming.

Gary wrote: " But could you name few authors whom are your favorites and have flawed female protagonist.

A couple of examples more or less off the top of my head are: Stephen Booth Diane Fry, ..."

i can see from your reading list that Deborah Crombie and Aline Templeton seem to be your liking. But you gave them mostly a 3 star rating. What do you like or dislike about these two authors?

Sharon Bolton is one of my favorites too. But I'm beginning to like her stand alone novels more than her series. Her stand alone novel main characters are "normal" people.

I don't particularly like flawed detectives. But my guess for all those flawed male or female detectives is perhaps they've seen too much horrors in life, can't separate themselves from the job and normal life, and lastly, perhaps it takes one to know one? All getting a little cliche.

I really like Deborah Crombie's books. I am currently rereading them and will probably have more accurate ratings as I work through them. I have given the first four books 3.5 stars each. I think hard about my ratings. I think I only gave 5 stars once in 2013 and that was to Jo Nesbo's The Police. I expect my ratings for the Crombie books will be higher once I reach the books where the settings are an important part.

I am not in love with the Aline Templeton books. DI Marjory Fleming is not a damaged character and that was what I was posting about. I don't thing the plots of these books are outstanding but just ok.

Highly recommend Norwegian by Night -and- Among the Saints.

Alisa wrote: "Highly recommend Norwegian by Night -and- Among the Saints."

I really enjoyed Norwegian by Night as well.

BTW, who's the author for Among the Saints?

???!!! wrote: "BTW, who's the author for Among the Saints?"
I have "Jori Tervo" in my notes.

I found Norwegian Nights one of the best of readings this year.

Mary wrote: "???!!! wrote: "BTW, who's the author for Among the Saints?"
I have "Jori Tervo" in my notes."

It's Jari Tervo.

Jari Tervo

if anyone is interested my blog www.krimihjerte.blogspot.com has a new facility - translation to other languages then Danish :) I hope it works :)

Lone wrote: "if anyone is interested my blog www.krimihjerte.blogspot.com has a new facility - translation to other languages then Danish :) I hope it works :)"

The translation is not perfect - but i suppose it is better than no translation :)

Mary wrote: "I found Norwegian Nights one of the best of readings this year."

Thanks so much for the great review. Will read Norwegian Nights

I'm fairly new here. I enjoyed the Stieg Larsson trilogy ... and the movies. I'd like to join Mary and Elizabeth in praising NORWEGIAN BY NIGHT by Derek B. Miller. That was my favorite book last year. In contrast to Gary, I love Karin Fossum's books for the very fact she isn't writing the same formula used by so many other authors. I began with BAD INTENTIONS, which is a psychological suspense. More than any other author, hers are a study in human behavior, character driven. I enjoyed the Sjowall and Wahloo books (only six so far). I began reading Arnaldur Indridason with JAR CITY translated by Bernard Scudder but since Scudder's death, I find a difference, perhaps an unease in the structure / vocabulary; not the same feel. Like so many here, I loved the Henning Mankell books, including his one-offs. I noticed he had three different translators over the course of the Wallander series. Two were translated by Stephen T. Murray, the same translator of the Larsson trilogy (Reg Keeland is Stephen T. Murray).

Harriet I think I agree with you. After reading all of Arnaldur Indridason the last few have not seemed to have the same depth. Indridason's Jar City got me started on Scandi literature and I have never looked back.

Harriet wrote: " I noticed he had three different translators over the course of the Wallander series. Two were translated by Stephen T. Murray, the same translator of the Larsson trilogy (Reg Keeland is Stephen T. Murray).
"

Hi Harriet,
It's Steven T. actually. I did 3 of the Wallander books (FACELESS KILLERS, SIDETRACKED, and THE FIFTH WOMAN) before the UK publisher took over and started using a different translator. Later I did 2 of his African books (EYE OF THE LEOPARD and DANIEL), which are written in a totally different style and not crime fiction per se, but they do have crimes in them.

On Arnaldur's books, I find Victoria Cribb's translations too stiff so I buy them in Norwegian by the excellent translator Silje Beite Løken from Cappelen Damm publishers. She also manages to retain the Icelandic feel (and spelling of names and places) for a true Nordic Noir experience.

For anyone who wants to study a Nordic language, I recommend Norwegian because it's in the middle of all of them and would give a firm foundation for reading knowledge of the others. It's not that hard, since the syntax is very close to English, so give it a try!

Great infomation! Thank you

Steven T. wrote: "Harriet wrote: " I noticed he had three different translators over the course of the Wallander series. Two were translated by Stephen T. Murray, the same translator of the Larsson trilogy (Reg Keel..."

Hi Steven,
You're right. Of course you are. I simply looked through my personal library and found just the two. When I looked through my summary notebooks, because I was sure I had read the entire Wallander series, I noticed one I don't own. I checked it out from our library. When our library director retired last year, I purchased the Wallander series as a going away/thank you present. We have similar tastes in reading material besides both having a Lithuanian ancestry. That part is rare.

I recently purchased and read Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus based on the fact you translated the book. I purchase my mysteries from two mystery bookshops, NYC and Seattle. I explained to Ian that the book must be good if you were the translator. Pat on the back!

You meet oodles of people, especially at conventions so no reason to recall, but we met and talked at Bouchercon years ago when I was the publisher of Mystery News. Haven't attended B-Con for eons and Mystery News no longer exists. One can do something for the pure love and pleasure of it just so long and still work a full time job.

I'm now reading a translation from Afrikaans by K. L. Seegers (author Deon Meyer) and having a devil of a time with all the untranslated words. I don't recall that being the case in earlier books. Funny, but it was someone at a B-Con who recommended Meyer to me and I've been grateful for that. Some of them have been outstanding. This one is driving me nuts but I'll persist.

I feel vindicated about Victoria Cribb. Felt old age creeping in and that it may be evaporating brain cells. Thank you, before I forget to mention it, for your excellent translations. It does make a difference.

Hi Harriet,

Thanks for the pats on the back. You may want to check out my other books by Nele Neuhaus: BAD WOLF from this past January and THE ICE QUEEN (I think it will be called) coming out next January. I'm now working on the next one, for 2016.

If you like grisly Norwegian stuff, try Jørgen Brekke's WHERE MONSTERS DWELL. All books have been from St. Martin's lately. A sequel, DREAMLESS, will be out in January.

My wife Tiina Nunnally is getting starred reviews these days for her translations of Norwegian Vidar Sundstøl's Minnesota trilogy set on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The first two are out: THE LAND OF DREAMS and ONLY THE DEAD. I believe the third, THE RAVENS, is due out in the spring.

That's all the current news from the Albuquerque translation factory.

Happy reading!

Comments on The Gingerbread House by Gerhardsen appreciated?

It's in my to-read list. No comment yet.

Wow, Elizabeth! I just finished Gingerbread House yesterday! I loved it! One of those books that you just wanted to finish in one sitting. In fact, I ordered the second book in the series, The Cinderella Girl. Don't want to share too much. Scandi mysteries are about all I read anymore. Hardly ever disappointed.

Thanks will pick up The Cinderella Girl.

Just an fyi, Gingerbread House is the first in the Hammerby series followed by Cinderella Girl and The Last Lullaby. Sometimes people like to get a feel for the characters. I try to read books in order but not always possible. Also, they have The Killing II and The Killing III out in paperback. I'll see how long it takes my local library to get them. If I get too impatient....Amazon here I come! Enjoy!

Mary wrote: "Wow, Elizabeth! I just finished Gingerbread House yesterday! I loved it! One of those books that you just wanted to finish in one sitting. In fact, I ordered the second book in the series, The Ci..."

Yay! Thanks for this! I've been on a bit of a Scandi crime hiatus, but now that the snow is in full effect, I'm ready for more.