English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

For the month of August 2026 we have 3 books so far, we will add books as they become known to us. Good reading.

1) Freyja by Margrét Ann Thors to be published on the 4th of August 2026. Iceland. 304 pages.

The unsolved case of a young girl’s disappearance reopens after twenty years in this moody, atmospheric debut of suspense set in Reykjavík and the Icelandic coast.

Unnur has secrets. A single mother to a beloved daughter, Lilja, she lives a deliberately quiet life in Reykjavík, working at a bakery under an assumed last name and pushing away haunting visions of the last summer of her childhood. Her safety—and Lilja’s—now hinges on discretion. But when her ex-husband returns to Iceland and brings with him a new girlfriend, who seems to know more about Unnur than she’s letting on, Unnur may finally have to face what happened long ago on a black sand beach in the remote Dark Valley—and the possibility that she might be responsible for the disappearance of her otherworldly friend Freyja.

As a cold case investigation reopens and the intricate threads of past and present begin to tangle, Unnur must race to recover the broken memory of what happened all those years ago, or risk losing her daughter. Steeped in Icelandic folklore and myth, Freyja is at once a gripping story of a child’s disappearance, a testament to the power of a mother’s love, and an enthralling tale of redemption and forgiveness from a gifted new voice.

2) Post Mortem: A Mystery by David Lagercrantz to be published on the 25th of August 2026. Sweden. 352 pages.

From the bestselling writer of The Girl in the Spider's Web comes another mystery led by detective duo Rekke and this time, their hunt for a serial killer has a literary twist.

It’s 1988. Dag and his friend Pompe are on a road trip through Europe. As they speed through French towns and Basque villages in Dag’s red BMW convertible, they party and discuss Celine, Hemingway, and Leonard Cohen. But when Pompe's drinking gets more intense, a darker side emerges. In the Spanish port city of Santander, Pompe and Dag meet a young waitress, Sandra. She has dreams of becoming a writer and is smitten by the two intellectual Scandinavians, especially Pompe, who represents the literary lifestyle she longs for. Before Dag goes home to Sweden, he decides to tell Sandra what Pompe might be capable of...

Now it's November 2008, back in Stockholm. We’re reintroduced to Professor Hans Rekke and his detective partner Micaela Vargas, who has a new boyfriend she hasn't yet told Rekke about. They receive a surprise visit from a Spanish police chief inspector who is haunted by the unsolved, brutal murder of a young woman in Santander in the late ‘80s, and believes this case is connected to others. Could there be a serial killer on the loose, who leaves numerical codes on the bodies of his victims? Can Rekke help decipher these signs before the killer strikes again?

Post Mortem switches between these two timelines, taking us into the last day of Sandra’s life, and Rekke and Vargas’s search for clues, which lead them by turns to an egomaniac writer, a widely loathed literary agent, and ultimately to Sandra's posthumously published short story. In yet another intricate and exciting puzzle mystery, David Lagercrantz draws on the literary world that he—and we—know all too well to tell a story about guilt, shame, repressed memories, human depravity, and publishing.

3) Snow Kissed: A Frida Skardet Scandi Noir Thriller by Tom Quiller to be published on the 28th of August 2026. Scandinavia.

The next book in the Amazon #1 Bestselling Series of Scandi Noir thrillers featuring Detective Frida Skardet from the author of the Cold Secrets series, Tom Quiller. Pre-book this title now before the price changes.

A GLACIER RETREATS EXPOSING LONG DEAD SECRETS
When a retreating glacier reveals human remains, Frida is pulled into a cold case that has haunted a remote community for decades. Old secrets, buried betrayals, and long-suppressed crimes surface as she digs into the past. The case becomes a mirror for her own buried grief, showing how communities, like people, can be scarred by silence and survival...