English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Thank God 2020 is over. For the month of January 2021 we have seven books to choose from, they are:

1) The Butterfly House by Katrine Engberg to be published 5th January 2021. Denmark.

Detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner from the #1 international bestseller The Tenant—which New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs heralded as a “stunning debut”—return in this compulsively readable thriller as they race to solve a series of sordid murders linked to some of the most vulnerable patients in a Danish hospital.

Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing. But in the coronary care unit at one of Copenhagen’s leading medical centers, a nurse fills a syringe with an overdose of heart medication and stealthily enters the room of an older male patient.

Six days earlier, a paperboy on his route in central Copenhagen stumbles upon a macabre find: the naked body of a dead woman, lying in a fountain with arms marked with small incisions. Cause of death? Exsanguination—the draining of all the blood in her body.

Clearly, this is no ordinary murder. Lead Investigator Jeppe Korner, recovering from a painful divorce and in the throes of a new relationship, takes on the investigation. His partner, Anette Werner, now on maternity leave after an unexpected pregnancy, is restless at home with a demanding newborn and an equally demanding husband. While Jeppe pounds the streets looking for answers, Anette decides to do a little freelance sleuthing. But operating on her own exposes her to dangers she can’t even begin to fathom.

As the investigation ventures into dark corners, it uncovers the ambition and greed that festers beneath the surface of caregiving institutions—all the more shocking for their depravity—and what Jeppe and Anette discover will turn their blood as cold as ice….

2) Love and Other Lies: A Novel by Ben McPherson to be published 9th January 2021. Norway.

A mother and father search for the truth behind their daughter’s disappearance in this stunning psychological suspense novel that takes Nordic noir to a level that is “emotional, painful, and utterly memorable” (Alex Marwood, Edgar Award–winning author of The Poison Garden).


Cal and Elsa have the perfect relationship; they’re still deeply in love after fifteen years of marriage, they have three incredible children, and most importantly, they never lie to each other. But when their oldest daughter disappears in a summer camp shooting outside Oslo, Norway, Cal and Elsa’s lives are changed forever.

Cal believes his family is strong enough to weather this blow and hold out hope for Licia’s return, but as they all deal with the tragedy in different ways, doubts begin to creep in. Their younger daughter, Vee, is definitely hiding something from her parents. And Elsa would never lie to Cal, but is she telling him the whole truth? As the reality of what happened at the camp comes to light, each family member’s morals will be tested. In the end, will their love for one another be enough to hold them together?

3) In the Land of the Cyclops: Essays by Karl Ove Knausgård to be published 12th January 2021. Sweden.

In the Land of the Cyclops is a collection of thirty-seven essays by Karl Ove Knausgaard. In these pieces, he discusses Swedish politics, brain surgery, Laurie Anderson, Edvard Munch, the Northern Lights, and the work of an array of writers and visual artists (paired with full color images of their art). These essays beautifully capture Knausgaard’s ability to mediate between the deeply personal and the universal, demonstrating his trademark self-scrutiny and his deep longing to authentically see, understand, and experience the world.

4) In Bad Company by Viveca Sten to be published 12th January 2021. Sweden.

Sandhamn Island’s archipelago is a beautiful place to visit. For a mother on the run, it’s the only place to hide in a novel of escalating suspense by Viveca Sten, bestselling author of Still Waters.

Building a case against Andreis Kovač is a risky strategy for prosecutor Nora Linde. A violent key player in Stockholm’s drug trade and untouchable when it comes to financial crimes, he has the best defense money can buy. To topple Andreis’s empire, Nora’s working a different angle. It’s personal. Nora’s critical witness is Andreis’s wife, Mina—if she’ll testify.

Mina has suffered her husband’s rage too long. It’s nearly cost her her life. Still carrying the traumas of the Bosnian War, Andreis can be triggered like an explosive. He must be taken down. And as the trial looms, Mina and her infant son must disappear. The police have found her a safe place to hide on Runmarö Island in Sandhamn’s archipelago. But there’s no shelter from a man as powerful and merciless as Andreis. Especially when he’s being crossed.

His campaign of terror has just begun. He’s prepared to crush anyone who stands in his way: Mina, Nora, and everyone they know and love. Andreis is coming for them. This time, Nora is on the defense.

5) To Cook a Bear Mikael Niemi to be published 12th January 2021. Sweden.

A fantastic tale set in the far north of Sweden in 1852 following a runaway Sami boy and his mentor, the revivalist preacher Laestadius, as they investigate a murder in their village along with the mysteries of life.

Jussi, a runaway, becomes the famous preacher Laestadius's faithful son and disciple. The Preacher is an avid botanist, and with Jussi in tow he sets out on long botanical treks filled with philosophical discussions, teaching Jussi all about plants and nature; but also how to read, write and about spirituality. One day a maid goes missing in the deep forest. When she is found dead, the locals suspect a predatory bear is at large. The constable is quick to offer a reward for capturing it, but the Preacher sees other traces that point to a far worse killer on the loose.

After another maid is severely injured, Jussi and the Preacher track down the murderer, unaware of the evil that is closing in on him. For it is revivalist times, and thanks to the Preacher impassioned faith spreads like wildfire among the locals. While the preacher's powerful Sunday sermons grant salvation to farmers and workers, they gain him enemies among local rulers, who see profits dwindle as people choose revival over alcohol.

A completely absorbing and gripping novel, To Cook a Bear both entertains and burrows deep down into the great philosophical questions of life.

6) In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce a Norwegian author. U.S.A.

An audacious novel of feminine rage about one of the most prolific female serial killers in American history--and the men who drove her to it.

They whisper about her in Chicago. Men come to her with their hopes, their dreams--their fortunes. But no one sees them leave. No one sees them at all after they come to call on the Widow of La Porte. The good people of Indiana may have their suspicions, but if those fools knew what she'd given up, what was taken from her, how she'd suffered, surely they'd understand. Belle Gunness learned a long time ago that a woman has to make her own way in this world. That's all it is. A bloody means to an end. A glorious enterprise meant to raise her from the bleak, colorless drudgery of her childhood to the life she deserves. After all, vermin always survive.

7) Knock Knock by Anders Roslund to be pubished 19th January 2021. Sweden.

He thought she was safe. Then the past came knocking.

Seventeen years ago, Criminal Inspector Ewert Grens was called to the scene of a brutal crime. A family had been murdered, and the only survivor--and witness--was the five-year-old daughter. The girl was placed in the witness protection program, and the case went cold, but years later, Grens is still haunted by the seemingly random slaying, and the little girl who was spared. So when he learns that the apartment where the crime occurred is now the scene of a mysterious break-in, Grens immediately fears that someone is intent on silencing the only witness. He races to find her...before they do.

Meanwhile, someone in the city's criminal underworld is executing weapons smugglers, and has placed former police informant Piet Hoffman's family in grave danger. He must unravel the secret threat to his family, all while keeping secrets of his own. Soon his hunt for answers intertwines with Ewert's, and the two men find themselves in the middle of a criminal conspiracy that is more complicated--and dangerous--than they could have imagined.

8) We will add books as they become available during the month of January 2021. Good reading.

The Winter Trap: A Constable Petra Jensen Novella by Christoffer Petersen to be published 30 January 2021. Greenland.

A chance encounter at a residential home in Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, marks the beginning of an emotionally charged investigation for Police Constable Petra Jensen, as she searches for a missing woman, last seen more than 40 years earlier.

The Winter Trap is the fifth in a new series of Greenland Missing Persons novellas set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.

‘Chilling crimes, stark settings, and the remote Arctic brought to life. Petersen's depth of knowledge make his thrillers unmissable for any lover of extremes.’ – J.F. Penn

The Winter Trap introduces many new and interesting characters, together with a few familiar faces making cameo appearances in the series.

The Greenland Missing Persons stories are set prior to The Ice Star and Seven Graves, One Winter.

We have a book in Amazon not on Goodreads yet called "The IN-sect: In the Shadows of the Inner Circle" by Naomi Gattegno, a Swedish author, to be published 16th January 2021. Sweden.

A mysterious stranger. Crossing paths. And a new age movement with dark secrets.

On her birthday, Isabella Lindt has a run-in with an annoying stranger, Michael Khalifa, the mastermind behind ‘The IN’ - a successful international New Age movement. When their paths keep crossing, Isabella ignores her initial instincts and joins The IN.
It’s not long before Michael invites Isabella to become a member of his personal Inner Circle, a privilege of a chosen few. But while Isabella gets more involved in The IN, she experiences more and more disturbing incidents directed towards her and other women in the movement.
When these events have fatal consequences for Isabella, she can no longer tell herself that it’s just coincidence that lies behind the chain of events that threaten to change her life forever.
Although it means putting herself in peril, Isabella courageously fights to uncover the truth. Her goal is to help all women in The IN who have been abused or harassed. Torn between justice and her loyalty to the movement, Isabella is faced with an unthinkable question: There was no way she could have prevented these tragic events from happening, or was there?

We have The Chill Factor: Suspense and Espionage in Cold War Iceland by Richard Falkirk to be published 21 January 2021. Iceland.

Iceland. In the winter it gets light at 10am and dark at 2pm. The daily announcement of the Chill Factor allows you to calculate how quickly you could die from exposure…

Iceland is erupting – and not just its volcano.

It is 1971, the height of the Cold War, and anti-American feeling among Icelanders is running high. When a teenager is found dead after a drunken night out, her clothes torn and face bruised, anger is directed towards the military personnel at the NATO air base at Keflavik who outnumber the local population.

British agent Bill Conran, invited by the Americans to uncover a Russian spy ring, comes to realise that this is no routine assignment. Unsure who can be trusted, and targeted by an unknown assassin, he discovers that Iceland, for all its cold beauty, has never been hotter.