English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

We have two books from January to read and one book for February, they are:

1) The Chill Factor: Suspense and Espionage in Cold War Iceland by Richard Falkirk published 21nd 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.

2) The Winter Trap: A Constable Petra Jensen Novella by Christoffer Petersen published 30th 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.

3) Wild Swims by Dorthe Nors published 2nd February 2019. Denmark.

In this dazzling new collection, the acclaimed Danish writer Dorthe Nors creates a series of intimate, psychologically acute portraits of individuals in states of emotional crisis: a woman's attempts to cope with a recent breakup lead her to commit a deeply immoral act, a professor's relationship with a much older woman takes a sudden sinister turn, a man who has grown resentful of his partner takes drastic action, and a young woman's nostalgic memories of wild swimming draw her back to the water.

In attempting to escape the present moment, Nors' characters must confront the impact of the past. In prose that is both elegantly spare and saturated with emotion, Nors explores the relationships that we have with others, and those we forge with ourselves, with characteristic empathy and insight.

4) As always we will add books as they become available during the month. Good reading.

The Shaman's Daughter by Christoffer Petersen to be published 6th February 2021. Greenland.

When the shaman’s daughter goes missing, and her father is the subject of a manhunt, Constable Petra Jensen must break the rules to find them both before it is too late.

The Shaman’s Daughter is the sixth in a new series of Greenland Missing Persons novellas set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.

‘Petra Jensen is an intriguing character.’ – Margaret Kirk

The Shaman’s Daughter 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.

Stina Jackson's new book out in the U.K., for now, is The Last Snow to be published 4th February 2021. Sweden.

Stina Jackson (b. 1983) hails from the northern town of Skellefteå in Sweden. Just over a decade ago she relocated to Denver, Colorado, where she penned her debut novel, the acclaimed The Silver Road. A runaway bestseller, the novel established Jackson as a rising new star within Nordic suspense.

What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland?

Early spring has its icy grip on Ödesmark, a small village in northernmost Sweden, abandoned by many of its inhabitants. But Liv Björnlund never left. She lives in a derelict house together with her teenage son, Simon, and her ageing father, Vidar. They make for a peculiar family, and Liv knows that they are cause for gossip among their few remaining neighbours.

Just why has Liv stayed by her domineering father's side all these years? And is it true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune? His questionable business decisions have made him many enemies over the years, and in Ödesmark everyone knows everyone, and no one ever forgets.

Now someone wants back what is rightfully theirs. And they will stop at nothing to get it, no matter who stands in their way...

Steen Langstrup's book "The Whispering of the Flies" is on Amazon not yet on Goodreads. To be Published 15th February 2021. Denmark.

This terrifying supernatural thriller takes you around some of Copenhagen’s well known sites as its demonic tale unfolds. It’s the summer of 1999. During a seemingly never-ending heatwave, Copenhagen has seen a tremendous rise in the numbers of flies in the city. Two police detectives are working a strange case, the victims killed in the most gruesome and unimaginable ways. The two detectives soon come to realize, this isn’t the work of a serial killer. This is something much worse.


Steen Langstrup.
Award winning author of more than twenty-five books, the majority of which are horror and thrillers. Nicknamed ‘The Danish King of Horror.’ His work has been filmed, Kat (2001), The Ringmaster aka Finale (2018), made into radio plays, The Whispering of the Flies (2004, 2006) , Kat (2005), and translated into English, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish.

New book only on Amazon called Iceland by Andrew David James published 19th February 2021. Iceland.

The only way to live; cold, distant and calculating. Never to be beaten, never to be out manoeuvred, never to be killed. In control. Always in control. Isn’t that what keeps us sane? Isn’t that what keeps us alive?

A professional hit man on the run to Iceland has to confront his past as he struggles with acute anxiety and remembers childhood trauma.

M.J. Furtek's book called Beginner's Luck published 13th February 2021. Iceland.

It’s summer in Iceland.

The land of Fire and Ice is beautiful and serene.

Peaceful… But not for Hildur.

In the undying light of an Icelandic summer, Hildur is on her first assassination mission, with the power and weight of the organisation behind her: TESS – The Elite Scandinavian Syndicate. They are the powerhouse of the Nordic region, and no one can match them.

So, when Hildur ends up on the run across this rugged landscape she once called home, will her training be enough to keep her alive in her fight for survival?
Will the land she once called home hurt or heal her?

Iceland will provide you with 24 hours of daylight throughout this fast-paced thriller. Hildur has choices to make, and will have to run across the country to escape the consequences.
Will you run with her?