English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion
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March 2026 - read-along
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by Stella Blómkvist
to be published on the 5th of March 2026. Iceland.Sometimes murder runs in the family. Or does it?
When a well-known artist is found in Snorri's Pool with an axe buried deep in his chest, Stella Blómkvist is immediately thrown in at the deep end, brought in to defend the apparently harmless young man the police have in their sights as the killer.
The man's mother had spent time prison, convicted of the killing of a personal trainer, despite her protestations of innocence. Stella can't help being drawn into both the cold case and this fresh murder, with a trail of guilt that stretches half-way around the world.
As if she doesn't have enough to keep her busy, Stella's pursuing a political high-flyer suspected of being a serial rapist, and defending a senior police officer on corruption charges that have all the hallmarks of a vendetta. But the toughest challenges Stella faces are among her own loved ones…
With a razor-sharp tongue and a moral compass all of her own, Stella Blómkvist has a talent for attracting trouble. Her trademark explosive mix of murder, intrigue and surprise has made this of Iceland's best-loved crime series.
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by Anneli Jordahl
to be published on the 17th of March 2026. Finland. 400 pages.In this modern day fairy tale, seven sisters raised in the woods fight to keep their freedom.
Deep in the woods of western Finland, a bear hunter has raised his seven daughters to live off the land and steer clear of the trappings of life in town, like cell phones and a social life outside their family. When on his youngest Elga’s twelfth birthday the hunter is killed by his prey, and their mother dies soon thereafter, the sisters are left with unpaid bills and a leaky house.
The tension between sticking to the wild ways their father taught them and submitting to well-meaning townsfolk’s efforts to “help” threatens to divide the seven sisters. Eldest Johanna tries to wield control, young Elga feels tempted by the pull to education, artist Laura spends all her time dreaming up sculptures and exploring nature – but their trips to the farmer’s market to sell foraged mushrooms and their free time exploring their vast forest home bring them together in riotous fun. With evocative language and visceral scene-setting, readers get lost in world they’ve invented together and join the fight to protect it.
Inspired by Aleksis Kivi’s classic Finnish novel Seven Brothers (1870), The Bear Hunter’s Daughters is at once realistic and fantastical, an intensely sensory exploration of our essential bonds both with nature and with one another.
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by JC Duncan to be published on the 19th of March 2026. Viking. 354 pages.💥💥The grand finale in JC Duncan's epic Last Viking adventure series featuring 👑Harald Hardrada ⚔️ Must-read for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Peter Gibbons and Matthew Harffy ⚔️ Born to be king. Destined to die for glory.
1066 AD, Norway
Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, the Thunderbolt of the North, reigns supreme; undefeated on the battlefield and unchallenged at home. His banner, Land-Waster, flies triumphant everywhere he marches. Everything that was stolen from his brother, King Olaf, has been regained.
But power does not satiate. Glory does not fill the empty void in an ambitious heart. Victory is an elixir that runs dry no matter how freely it flows. No matter the height on which the triumphant stand, there, in the corner of his eye, is the glitter of another conquest.
Harald has achieved more than any man of his time, but fate is not done with him. His destiny lies on the banks of a quiet river in England’s green and pleasant land - Stamford Bridge.
To finish his great story, to forge the empire he always desired, all the last Viking conqueror must do is defeat a worthy opponent; King Harold of England, and seize his country and his crown.
His life changed nations.
His death will change the world.
The thrilling conclusion in the extraordinary tale of Harald Hardrada 'The Last Viking'. A formidable warrior king known for his military prowess, ambition, and ruthlessness.
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by Greta Sinclair to be published on the 19th of March 2026. Denmark. MULTIPLE BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND THE 2025 GLOBAL BOOK AWARDS WINNER FOR A VERY STICKY MURDER.
Copenhagen in late winter promises candles, canals, and comfort food—not murder.
When international food critic Darcy Finnegan arrives to sample Denmark’s coziest cuisine and quietly plan her European elopement, she expects hygge, pastries, and good coffee. What she doesn’t expect is the murder of an elite Danish customs inspector—and her Schnoodle, Mozart, obsessively sniffing a suspicious shipment of gourmet coffee beans.
Ignoring the firm objections of her Interpol fiancé, Darcy follows the inspector’s final trail through roasteries, Michelin kitchens, and candlelit cafés. With help from her fearless photojournalist best friend, she uncovers a hidden world of high-end culinary smuggling, where rare delicacies are concealed inside luxury imports—and silence is deadly.
As suspects close in and a poisoned cup nearly claims Darcy herself, she must expose a killer hiding in plain sight.
Because in Copenhagen, even comfort food can conceal lethal secrets.
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by Malin Persson Giolito
to be published one the 31st of March 2026. Sweden. 288 pages.These 10 sharp yet deeply human stories show how people from all walks of life can end up on the wrong side of the law, regardless of their intentions.
A compelling portrait of modern Sweden that speaks to universal questions about crime and morality, from the internationally bestselling author of Quicksand.
A police officer fresh out of the academy becomes acutely aware of the deadly consequences of prejudice and how biases color our actions, leading us to justify faulty choices. A teenager has lost her voice and resorts to violence to get heard, even against those she loves. A university student breaks a law on a night of youthful revelry, which soon has fatal consequences that plunge those involved into an abyss of remorse. A mother commits the very same crime her son is being prosecuted for, in order to protect him. A man extends a helping hand in defiance of state restrictions, keeping a refugee safe from the harsh Swedish winter and deportation.
With her unique and prominent voice in Swedish literature, Malin Persson Giolito sheds light on the lives of people at all levels of the society through these ten thought-provoking and emotionally charged stories. She delivers a poignant portrayal of societal failure, vividly illustrating that actions driven by good intentions may still be considered criminal in the eyes of the law, underscoring that the legal system doesn’t always shield those who need protection the most.
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by Inger Wolf
to be published on the 1st of March 2026. Denmark. 314 pages.Some towns are built on lies. The dead boy was only the beginning.
Police detective Nelly Birkebæk and her teenage son, Matthias, leave Aarhus in search of a new—and hopefully quieter—life in the provincial town of Hedeborg in central Jutland. Nelly has purchased a run-down house in one of Hedeborg’s nicer neighborhoods, where her neighbor, the friendly—and a little too curious—Ejnar Skjold, quickly takes an interest in her.
But there’s no time to settle in. A missing teenage boy is found dead in a creek in a wooded area just outside town, and it soon becomes clear that the person who called it in was not the first to discover the body.
Hedeborg is a town with many layers. The local eccentric, Randi Bruun, keeps talking about a drone circling over her house. The powerful Eskelund family, who live near the forest, pull more strings than anyone dares admit. And then there are those who live out in the Village—those nobody really talks about.
The investigation takes Nelly Birkebæk and her trusted colleagues at the Hedeborg Police Department from quiet residential neighborhoods to the fringes of society, deep into the town’s most influential families, and out into the abandoned brown coal fields.
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by Violetta Rand
to be published on the 15th of March 2026. Viking. 239 pages.She will never surrender—except, perhaps, to love.
Noelle Sinclair has always fought for what she believes in. But when her treacherous brother bargains her away to save himself from a ruthless Viking raid, she is forced into the unthinkable—becoming the unwilling captive of Jarl Randvior Sigurdsson.
Cold, powerful, and dangerously compelling, Randvior is nothing like the savage brute she expected. As he takes her across the wild, unforgiving landscapes of Norway, Noelle vows to resist him at every turn and find a way back home.
Yet the longer she remains at his side, the harder it becomes to deny the truth. Beneath his commanding presence lies a fierce honor—and a passion that awakens desires she cannot control.
Torn between loyalty to the life she lost and the powerful pull of the man who claimed her, Noelle must decide: will she risk everything to escape… or surrender to the Viking who is steadily conquering her heart?
Tropes You'll Love:
Viking captor romance
Enemies to lovers
Captive heroine
Forced proximity
Arranged / bartered marriage
Warrior hero
Strong-willed heroine
Opposites attract
Kidnapped by the hero
Alpha Viking hero
Fish-out-of-water heroine
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by O. Huldumann to be published on the 7th of March 2026. Denmark. 316 pages.If you do not wish to read a fairy- crime- love-story, then this is not the story for you.
However, if you might wish to read such a story, then you should know that this very particular story concerns a young woman named Lillie, who is an orphan. The story takes place (mostly) on Rue Fleur, which is a backwater within the grey pall which shrouds the city. Rue Fleur is forgotten, which is just as well.
In addition, it may be helpful to know that this particular story also concerns itself with night-typing; a wallpaper fall; Apple Green paint; Bruno's ladder; Alexandr's Magic Eye, and the Shop which is definitely not a café. There is also the Tower and a light in the night.
If you believe such a story might be for you, you are welcome to look inside. If this is not what you seek, please move along. Thank you.
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by Klaus Gröbel to be published on the 12th od March 2026. Sweden. 176 pages.A body in the forest. A fire built to deceive. And a silence twenty years in the making.
An autumn morning in Västergötland. A dead man lies at the edge of a woodland clearing near Skara — the scene meticulously staged, every trace deliberately placed. No accident. No isolated crime.
Detective Inspector Lasse Lund and local journalist Helena Sjöberg begin closing in — on the case, and on each other. But the deeper they dig, the clearer it becomes that someone has spent two decades protecting a secret. Someone who knows they are watching. Someone prepared to kill again.
Behind the murder lies the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl in 2006. A case that was never solved. A truth that was never meant to surface.
Swedish Torch is a taut Nordic Noir thriller about control, buried guilt, and the kind of silence that only holds until someone starts asking the right questions.
Dark. Precise. Unsettling.
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by Donovan Cook
to be published on the 20th of March 2026. Viking. 351 pages.Ragnar Lothbrok is dead, and King Horik of the Danes is hunting down those he believes are plotting against him.
Ulf Bear-Slayer Bjornson, unaware of Ragnar’s death, prepares to go raiding with the legendary jarl. But when he returns to Jelling, he finds himself caught in a trap and barely escapes.
Now hunted by the king of the Danes for a plot he knew nothing about, Ulf runs to Jarl Leif, a close ally and friend of Ragnar. But Jarl Leif is surrounded by King Horik’s men, and Ulf does not find the safety he hoped for.
Forced into a battle he does not want, Ulf must fight not only for his own survival but also for the survival of those who now depend on him. All the while, the gods urge Ulf to do the one thing he never could. To run.
Will Ulf defy the gods and face the fury of the Danish king?
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by Alma Vinter to be published on the 19th of March 2026. Norway. 239 pages.An unexpected circumstance brought Synnøve Andersen and Isak Rávdna together.
She found him one night rummaging through the kitchen of her home in Tromsø, at the far north of Norway. He didn’t look like an ordinary thief. Tall, silent, with a gaze hardened by too many winters on the tundra, Isak belonged to an ancient Sami family and had returned north to say goodbye to his dying grandfather, the last great reindeer herder of his lineage.
He knew who Synnøve was: the daughter of a powerful businessman accused of exploiting ancestral Sami lands… and he wasn’t willing to risk his mission.
Before she could call for help, she became his hostage.
Synnøve found herself dragged deep into the Arctic, crossing frozen roads, white valleys, and villages swallowed by the polar night. As the journey went on, her initial anger slowly gave way to a troubling curiosity.
Because Isak did not hide the contempt he felt for her family…
nor the attraction, growing ever stronger, that was building between them as they moved toward the wild heart of the north.
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by Freya Nyström to be published on the 14th of March 2026. Viking. 358 pages.Astrid Halvorsen learned far too early that danger can hide within one’s own family.
When she was eleven, she witnessed a brutal crime and nearly died. Since then, she has devoted her life to understanding the minds of killers. Today she works as a criminal analyst at Kripos, renowned for her analytical intelligence and her ability to see patterns others overlook.
But her past is catching up with her.
Her aunt Liv mysteriously disappears during a trip to Hardangervidda. With very few clues and far too many questions, Astrid is forced to investigate on her own. The search leads her to Eirik Falk, a former soldier who spent years on international missions and who is now tracking a professional killer known as Morten Eid.
Falk knows darkness all too well. Since then, he has lived on the margins, trying to leave behind the man he once was.
Now he and Astrid are forced to work together. Falk is the kind of man who seems perfectly comfortable with danger… but completely uncomfortable with love.
As the clues drag them through a web of secrets, manipulation, and old crimes, Astrid begins to understand that Morten is not the one truly pulling the strings.
Someone else is behind it all.
Someone who knows every corner of her past.
As the danger draws closer and the truth begins to surface, Astrid will have to trust the only man who seems capable of protecting her… even though he himself is not sure he deserves to.
Because this time the threat doesn’t come from just a killer.
It comes from someone willing to destroy her from within.
And the past has finally come to collect its debt.
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to be published on the 9th of March 2026. England. 67 pages.Join Sherlock Holmes in this collection of six new short stories featuring the world's greatest consulting detective!
The Case of the Pharaoh's Owl leads a collection of new Sherlock Holmes pastiche stories written by Christoffer Petersen, author of the popular Greenland Crime and Greenland Missing Persons novels, novellas, and short stories.
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by Angelina Rose
to be published on the 18th of March 2026. Denmark & Germany. 162 pages.In East Germany, freedom is only a horizon away.
Marta Voigt is built for endurance. A national-level distance swimmer in the German Democratic Republic, she has spent her life pushing through pain, discipline, and silence—both in the water and on land. In a system that measures human worth in medals and obedience, Marta has learned not to ask questions.
Until now.
When she meets Thomas, a thoughtful and quietly defiant student, something shifts. Conversations that once felt dangerous begin to feel necessary. Questions she has buried for years rise to the surface—about truth, control, and the life she is expected to accept.
And then comes a single, impossible idea:
What if she didn’t stay?
Across fifty kilometers of cold, unforgiving Baltic Sea lies Denmark—and freedom. But between here and there stand patrol boats, surveillance, betrayal, and the ever-present risk of losing everything.
As Marta is pulled between loyalty, love, and the desperate need to choose her own life, she must decide how far she is willing to go—and what she is willing to risk—to reach the other side.
A gripping, atmospheric novel about courage, control, and the cost of freedom, The Distance to Denmark explores what it means to break away when the world is designed to hold you in.
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by Martin Aspelund
to be published on the 12th of March 2026. Norway 208 pages.A story about trembling hope, tragedy and love
A Summer Night In Norway is a nerve-racking psychological novel about a fatal misadventure between two best friends—and the subsequent cover-up, aided by the small town's weathered homeless man.
Awoken from his slumber on a park bench, Rickard Wilhelm witnesses a heated argument turn into murder. Instead of exposing the panicked perpetrator, August Linberg, he helps discard the body in the hope of granting him a second chance at life.
Set in the quiet seaside town of Drøbak, a captivating story of betrayal, moral ambiguity, and colliding worldviews unfolds where the men become entangled in an ever-tightening web of guilt, deception and unexpected kinship.
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by ANDREW OBRIEN to be published on the 24th of March 2026. Norway. 378 pages."A masterpiece... this is the greatest book you've ever written." — Tom, Lead Beta Reader
One shot is a skill. The second is a miracle.
A royal honor. A shattered reunion. A hunt through the Norwegian winter.
After six months apart, Frank and Doug have finally reunited with their girlfriends, Aina and Rayna. They came to Oslo for two things: to hold onto the women they love and to witness the elite precision of the IBU Biathlon World Cup.
But in the world of the "Quiet Professional," the past never stays buried.
The vacation is interrupted by a summons to the Royal Palace. King Harald V intends to personally decorate Frank and Doug for their extraordinary heroism during the terror at Rockefeller Music Hall. But the medals are barely pinned to their chests before the celebration turns cold. Doug is recruited for a high-stakes drone reconnaissance mission, and the relaxing week they were promised begins to vanish.
The breaking point arrives with the crack of a rifle at the World Cup. When a top-tier American biathlete is murdered in cold blood, it stops being a sport. It becomes a war.
Plunged into a deadly game across a frozen landscape, Frank, Doug, Aina, and Rayna find themselves in the crosshairs of an opponent who always seems to be one step ahead. From the inner sanctum of the Royal Palace to the grueling ascent of Hellnerbakken and the final, treacherous showdown at Frognerseteren, they must dismantle a conspiracy that threatens the Crown itself.
In this game, a penalty shot is fatal.
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by Robert Appleton
to be published 25th of March 2026. Iceland. 139 pages.On the fifth anniversary of Garth Ingram’s passing, his four closest friends reunite to say a final farewell in the place he most wanted to visit: Freya’s Mirror, a unique glacier cave in one of Iceland’s most spectacular icefalls. Two of them bring their partners along for the guided hike, leaving Jerry and Yvonne, who share a cursed romantic past, as frustrated singletons forced to bite their tongues for one last memorial trek.
None of them have visited Iceland before, and their young guide, Magnus, is eager to keep them safe and entertained on the ice. But a series of disquieting natural anomalies suggests the glacier might not be as stable as he supposes. The neighboring mountain, Konungur, is a dormant volcano that hasn’t erupted for hundreds of years. Tonight, however, the gods of Iceland begin to stir, and the hikers find themselves trapped deep in the glacier when Konungur unleashes its full fiery wrath.
As fissures appear and lava starts to pour, the ice all around them begins to melt. They have no choice but to attempt a nail-biting traverse across the treacherous glacier roof, where softening snow bridges conceal a maze of deadly crevasses. Old passions and grudges add emotional fuel to a combustible race against the clock. When night falls, impossible survival choices mount as the team faces the ultimate battle against the elements in the Land of Fire and Ice.
English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic...
Books mentioned in this topic
Wild Elements (other topics)Penalty Shot: Book 6: Doug Anders Series (other topics)
A Summer Night In Norway (other topics)
The Distance to Denmark: A Novel (other topics)
Shadows over Hardangervidda: On Norway’s most silent plateau, someone is still pulling the strings (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert Appleton (other topics)Andrew O'Brien (other topics)
Martin Aspelund (other topics)
Angelina Rose (other topics)
Christoffer Petersen (other topics)
More...
1) "Blood of a Valkyrie (The Vinland to Valhalla Saga E3)" by Melanie Karsak
Greenland, 985
When Freydis arrived in Greenland, she discovered everything her father told her was a lie. Now, she and the other settlers must carve out a life in an unforgiving land. But survival is not her only battle—Freydis must also navigate the clash of past and present as her two worlds collide.
Continue Freydis Eiriksdottir's epic journey in Blood of a Valkyrie, book three in the Vinland to Valhalla saga.