English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

For the month of November 2020 we have 7 books to choose from, they are:

1) The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir to be published 1 November 2020. Iceland.

When a body of a woman is discovered at a lighthouse in the Icelandic town of Akranes, it soon becomes clear that she’s no stranger to the area.

Chief Investigating Officer Elma, who has returned to Akranes following a failed relationship, and her collegues Sævar and Hörður, commence an uneasy investigation, which uncovers a shocking secret in the dead woman’s past that continues to reverberate in the present day …

But as Elma and her team make a series of discoveries, they bring to light a host of long-hidden crimes that shake the entire community. Sifting through the rubble of the townspeople’s shattered memories, they have to dodge increasingly serious threats, and find justice … before it’s too late.

2) The Historians by Cecilia Ekbäck to be published on 3 November 2020. Sweden.

“The Historians blends a fascinating historical intrigue with the quick pace and excitement of a thriller.” — Ellen Keith, author of The Dutch Wife

The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during WWII by critically acclaimed author Cecilia Eckbäck.

It is 1943 and Sweden’s neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the bright, young right-hand of the chief negotiator to Germany, is privy to these tensions, even as she tries to keep her head down in the mounting fray. However, when Laura’s best friend from university, Britta, is discovered murdered in cold blood, Laura is determined to find the killer.

Prior to her death, Britta sent a report on the racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. In the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, Jens doesn’t understand why he’s received the report. When the pursuit of Britta’s murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to get at the truth.

But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstance surrounding Britta’s death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail will lead to a conspiracy that could topple their nation’s identity—a conspiracy some in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.

3) Olav Audunssøn: I. Vows by Sigrid Undset to be published on 10 November 2020. Norway.

The initial volume in the Nobel Prize–winning author’s tumultuous, epic story of medieval Norway—the first new English translation in nearly a century

As a child, Olav Audunssøn is given by his dying father to an old friend, Steinfinn Toressøn, who rashly promises to raise the boy as his foster son and eventually marry him to his own daughter, Ingunn. The two children, very different in temperament, become both brother and sister and betrothed. In the turbulent thirteenth-century Norway of Sigrid Undset’s epic masterpiece, bloodlines and loyalties often supersede law, and the crown and the church vie for power and wealth. Against this background and the complicated relationship between Olav and Ingunn, a series of fateful decisions leads to murder, betrayal, exile, and disgrace. In Vows, the first book in the powerful Olav Audunssøn tetralogy, Undset presents a richly imagined world split between pagan codes of retribution and the constraints of Christian piety—all of which threaten to destroy the lives of two young people torn between desires of the heart and the dictates of family and fortune.

As she did when writing her earlier and bestselling epic Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset immersed herself in the legal, religious, and historical documents of medieval Norway to create in Olav Audunssøn remarkably authentic and compelling portraits of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. In this new English edition, renowned Scandinavian translator Tiina Nunnally again captures Undset’s fluid prose, conveying in an engaging lyrical style the natural world, complex culture, and fraught emotional territory of Olav and Ingunn’s dramatic story.

4) The Night of the Fire by Kjell Eriksson to be published 17 November 2020. Sweden.

Swedish police inspector Ann Lindell finally returns in internationally bestselling and award-winning Kjell Eriksson's newest novel.

Police inspector Ann Lindell has left the Uppsala police and is living a quiet life, producing local cheese in a small town in Uppland. But life in the country is not as idyllic as it seems. On New Year’s Eve someone sets fire to the former village school which is now a home for asylum seekers, and three people are killed. Ann Lindell’s investigative instincts come back to life and soon she takes on the case. She is contacted by a person who has been involved in a previous investigation and who wants to warn her. His message is short and clear: Many will die. A few weeks later a bomb explodes in a suburb of Stockholm.

Kjell Eriksson wrote seven highly acclaimed novels about Ann Lindell, beginning with award-winner The Princess of Burundi, and now, after ten years, he returns to the Uppsala region and his sympathetic police inspector. The Night of the Fire is the first of two new volumes featuring Ann Lindell.

5) Invisible Touch by Christoffer Petersen to be published on 24 November 2020. Greenland.

Someone is murdering the residents of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital city. The butchered bodies indicate that the murderer is a hunter, and a fleeting description of the suspect points to someone close to Police Commissioner Petra Jensen.

As Christmas draws near and the body count rises, Petra is forced to personally investigate. But when the murderer assumes the guise of someone Petra loves, she is drawn into a wicked game of ghosts from her past, her present and her future.

Set in Greenland, Invisible Touch twists Greenlandic politics, traditions and myths into a dark tale set in the darkest month of the year, in a frighteningly imaginable future.

Invisible Touch is set shortly after the events in The Calendar Man and The Twelfth Night, and features several of the characters introduced in those books.

Inspired by the Scandinavian and Greenlandic tradition of Christmas Advent Calendars, Invisible Touch has 24 parts, one for each day in December, leading up to the conclusion on December 24th, Christmas Eve, when Greenlanders and Scandinavians celebrate Christmas.

6) Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen to be published on 24 November 2020. Faroe Islands (Denmark).

Death brings the young woman back to the Faroes, the windswept rocky islands of the north where she has never lived but which she has always called home. There she finds her stories entwining with those of her ancestors as she searches for a way to connect with Faroese culture. But is “home” just a place name, or something more?

Island is a literary tale of exile and homecoming, split across three generations of a Faroe islands family, strongly inspired by the author’s own family history. It is a beautiful story of emigration and immigration, and of what it means to belong.

7) The Inner Darkness by Jørn Lier Horst to be published on 26 November 2020. Norway.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE HIT BBC FOUR SHOW WISTING

'Up there with the best of the Nordic crime writers' THE TIMES
_______

After four years behind bars, notorious serial killer Tom Kerr is ready to talk.
And Chief Inspector William Wisting is waiting to listen.

Kerr has finally agreed to lead the police to his final victim's grave. But the expedition goes horribly wrong when he escapes deep into the Norwegian forest.

Wisting must launch a frantic search to find this cold-blooded killer before he strikes again.

But the body of another woman, killed weeks before Kerr's escape, has been found. Murdered in the same way as his victims.

Is there a copycat killer on the loose?

Has Kerr become a twisted role model for a second killer?

And, if so, what might happen if master and apprentice unite?

As the clock counts down to the next murder, Wisting must put everything on the line to stop a terrifying evil before it strikes again . . .

..............As always we will add books as they become known to us. Good reading.

Interesting titles....added them to my list!

John Swallow's new book out on 31 October 2020 is called "The Waves of Helsinki: Nordic Noir from Finland (Jussi Alonen - A Detective in Finland Book 2). Finland. On Amazon not yet on Goodreads.

The Waves of Helsinki takes the reader back to Finland for a thrilling new crime adventure. This time, the story is based in Helsinki, the spectacular capital city of Finland. Jussi, is now a Detective-in-Training and becomes involved in an intriguing investigation which quickly escalates. This Nordic Noir mystery starts with apparently simple thefts, which if not stopped, will escalate to the spread of major organised crime. Jussi Alonen's career is heading towards his ambition of being a fully-fledged Detective, that's if he can survive the events in Helsinki, Latvia, Russia and his home town of Rauma. Theft and murder on the high seas, combined with a new romance, will challenge Jussi more than he ever thought possible.

*United Kingdom Only* A Necessary Death by Anne Holt published 5th November 2020. Norway.

The snow is falling

Selma Falck is living a nightmare. Trapped in a burning cabin on a freezing snow-covered mountain, she has no idea where she is or how she got there. Bruised, bleeding and naked, she barely makes it out in time as the flames engulf the cabin. With no signs of human habitation nearby, the temperature rapidly dropping, and a blizzard approaching, how will she survive?

She's lost in the wilderness

As Selma fights the cold, the hunger and her own wounds, she eventually forms a frightening picture of the past six months. Not only does she have to find a way to stay alive, she needs to make it back to civilization, quickly. Murder has been committed, and a great injustice must be stopped. The very future of the nation itself is at stake...

If the cold doesn't kill her, they will...

Ken wrote: "*United Kingdom Only* A Necessary Death by Anne Holt published 5th November 2020. Norway.

The ..."

Looking forward to this but not on iBook yet !!