English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

For the month of April 2020 we have 5 books so far that we can read, they are:

1) Northernmost by Peter Geye to be published 14 April 2020. Norway.

From the acclaimed author of Wintering: a thrilling ode to the spirit of adventure and the vagaries of loss and love

In 1897 Norway, Odd Einar Eide returns home from a harrowing disaster in the northernmost arctic only to witness his own funeral in full swing. His wife Inger, stunned to see him alive, is slow to return his devoted affection: she'd spent countless sleepless nights convinced she had now lost both her husband and their daughter, Thea, who'd emigrated to America two years before and has yet to answer their many anxious letters. Further complicating their reconciliation, a newspaperman gets wind of Eide's miraculous survival and invites them both to the city of Tromsø so he can write what he is sure will be a bestselling story.
In 2017 Minnesota, Greta Nansen, desperately unhappy, decides to leave her children in her father's care and follow her husband to Oslo, where he's on assignment, in order to end their marriage. But for reasons mystifying even to her, she travels instead to the upper fringe of Norway--to the town where her great-great grandmother Thea was born.
A dual narrative told by blood relatives separated by five generations, Northernmost confronts the darkest recesses of the human heart and celebrates our astonishing ability to endure the most excruciating trials.

2) The Third Sister by Sara Blaedel to be published 7 April 2020. U.S.A. with Danish people.

Family drama, deadly secrets, and deception come to a head in the explosive conclusion of #1 internationally bestselling author Sara Blaedel's Family Secrets trilogy.

Ilka Jensen's life is in chaos following the tumultuous events of Her Father's Secret. The funeral home she inherited after her estranged father's death is bankrupt. Her new business partner, Artie, lies unconscious in the hospital after a savage attack by mysterious assailants, and her father's second wife is in prison.

Then, just as Ilka learns a shocking revelation about her father, two menacing strangers turn up at the funeral home -- dangerous men who mean to draw her further into a world of secrets, betrayal, and murder.

In order to protect herself and those around her, Ilka sets off on a twisting journey to confront the truth about the man who abandoned her as a child. But the long-buried secrets of her father's past are more tangled and perilous than Ilka could ever imagine . . .

3) The Talented Mr. Varg by Alexander McCall Smith to be published 28 April 2020. Sweden.

In the second installment in the best-selling Detective Varg series, Ulf and his team investigate a notorious philanderer—a wolf of a man whose bad reputation may be all bark and no bite.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes, renowned for taking on the most obscure and irrelevant cases is always prepared to dive into an investigation, no matter how complex. So when the girlfriend of an infamous author who insists her bad-boy beau is being blackmailed approaches Ulf Varg, the department’s lead detective, Ulf is determined to help. It’s rather difficult to determine what skeletons hide in the hard-living lothario’s closet, though. And while Swedes are notoriously tolerant . . . well, there are limits. Even for the Swedish.

The case requires Ulf’s total concentration, but he finds himself distracted by his ongoing attraction to his co-worker, Anna, whose own fears about her husband’s fidelity are causing a strain on her marriage. When Ulf is also tasked with looking into a group of dealers exporting wolves that seem more canis familiaris than canis lupus, it will require all of his team’s investigative instincts and dogged persistence to put these matters to bed.

4) Gallows Rock by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir to be published 16 April 2020. Iceland.

On a jagged, bleak lava field just outside Reykjavik stands the Gallows Rock. Once a place of execution, it is now a tourist attraction. Until this morning, when a man was found hanging from it...

The nail embedded in his chest proves it wasn't suicide. But when the police go to his flat, a further puzzle awaits: a four-year-old boy has been left there. He doesn't seem to have any link with the victim, his parents cannot be found, and his drawings show he witnessed something terrible.

As detective Huldar hunts the killer, and child psychologist Freyja looks for the boy's parents, the mystery unfolds: a story of violence, entitlement, and revenge.

5) X Ways to Die by Stefan Ahnhem to be published 30 April 2020. Sweden.

X Ways to Die continues the tense, multi-stranded story which begun with Motive X. It is at once an explosive, high-voltage thriller and a fearless exploration of the darkest side of human nature. To enter Stefan Ahnhem's world, with its interwoven plotlines and sprawling cast of characters, is to put yourself in the hands of a master storyteller.

.......As always we will add books during the month when we hear about them. Good reading.

Looking forward to these. Can’t wait until the library is allowed to re-open!

Icewineanne wrote: "Looking forward to these. Can’t wait until the library is allowed to re-open!"

Good reason to begin reading digitally.... most libraries also reserve and supply digitally. Good luck.

On Amazon not on Goodreads yet is a new book by Christoffer Petersen called "Ice, Wind and Fire" book 20 to be published 14 April 2020. Greenland.

When thin ice prevents firefighters from responding to a house fire, Constable David Maratse must organise an evacuation, before strong winds spread the flames through the settlement.

Ice, Wind and Fire is the twentieth in a series of novellas to feature Constable David Maratse in Greenland. Each novella is set during Maratse’s career as a police constable, and features aspects of Greenlandic culture, tradition, and not least the stunning natural environment.

We have Maggie Freeman's new book The Clock-Mender to be published 16 April 2020. Sweden.

In a rural village in interwar Sweden, Nils Lindgren is content with his simple life as a clock-mender. Unfortunately his partner, Katarina, is not. Nils is utterly devoted to her and is desperate to make her happy. He is aware of her many affairs over the years but finds it in himself to accept her infidelity as part of her character. That is until he discovers that Katarina has been having an affair with his best friend, Josef Olsson. The confrontation between Josef and Nils escalates out of control, leaving Nils very badly injured and Josef in need of an alibi. Meanwhile, Katarina is dreaming of setting sail for America with her daughter's boyfriend - an aspiring film writer. When she visits her daughter, Freja, in Stockholm and finds out that her boyfriend has already left, it is the final straw. The clock is ticking and something has got to change. Spreading a web of lies about Nils, Katarina dismantles his reputation and ruins his friendships with very serious repercussions. The quiet and familiar life that Nils once had is replaced by upheaval and uncertainty. While war threatens, can he find happiness again? Will Freja find love again? Or will Katarina's reckless search for her own contentment tear her family apart?

Just found we have The Priest of Evil by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu to be published 19 April 2020. Finland. First published in 2006.

There has been a strange succession of deaths at Helsinki tube stations. The police are baffled - nobody has seen anything and the tapes from the CCTV show nothing. Detective Sergeant Timo Harjunpaa of the Helsinki Violent Crimes Unit is called to investigate.

Pandemic is a new book on 17 April 2020 by Christoffer Petersen. It's a book of Poetry. Denmark. On Amazon not of Goodreads Yet.

They closed the Danish borders today at 12 p.m. They won’t open again for a month – if they open.
These 31 poems will be my personal snapshot from a sealed-off Scandinavia, from the first day until the last.
The politicians hold pandemic press conferences.
I write pandemic poetry.