English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

In the month of October 2022 we have 11 books to choose from. As always we will add books as they become know to us. Good reading.

1) The Winners by Fredrik Backman to be published on the 4th of October 2022. Sweden.

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?

As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.

So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?

Everything.

2) Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland's Elves Can Save the Earth by Nancy Marie Brown to be published on the 4th of October 2022. Iceland.

In exploring how Icelanders interact with nature—and their idea that elves live among us—Nancy Marie Brown shows us how altering our perceptions of the environment can be a crucial first step toward saving it.

Icelanders believe in elves.

Why does that make you laugh?, asks Nancy Marie Brown, in this wonderfully quirky exploration of our interaction with nature. Looking for answers in history, science, religion, and art—from ancient times to today—Brown finds that each discipline defines what is real and unreal, natural and supernatural, demonstrated and theoretical, alive and inert. Each has its own way of perceiving and valuing the world around us. And each discipline defines what an Icelander might call an elf.

Illuminated by her own encounters with Iceland’s Otherworld—in ancient lava fields, on a holy mountain, beside a glacier or an erupting volcano, crossing the cold desert at the island’s heart on horseback—Looking for the Hidden Folk offers an intimate conversation about how we look at and find value in nature. It reveals how the words we use and the stories we tell shape the world we see. It argues that our beliefs about the Earth will preserve—or destroy it.

Scientists name our time the Anthropocene: the Human Age. Climate change will lead to the mass extinction of numerous animal species unless we humans change our course. Iceland suggests a different way of thinking about the Earth, one that offers hope. Icelanders believe in elves— and you should, too.

3) The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce to be published on the 4th of October 2022. Norway.

The Witch in the Well is a dark Norwegian thriller from Camilla Bruce, author of You Let Me In.

When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.

When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with—and feeling inspired to write about—Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.

What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they could ever imagine.

4) The Reindeer Hunters: A Novel by Lars Mytting to be published on the 11th of October 2022. Norway.

The second novel in the internationally bestselling Sister Bells trilogy, an epic, moving, and gloriously told historical novel following The Bell in the Lake, an Indie Next pick

The second novel in Lars Mytting’s powerful and compelling Sister Bells trilogy, The Reindeer Hunters is both a sequel to The Bell in the Lake and a stand-alone novel. Set again in fictional Butangen, Norway, where the story of the conjoined twin sisters Halfrid and Gunhild Hekne provides the mythical and mystical undergirding, The Reindeer Hunters unfolds around the extraordinary tapestry that portrays the sisters’ vision of Doomsday. After their death in 1613, the tapestry was given to the village church and lost at some point over the centuries.

The year is 1903. Twenty-two years after the events of The Bell in The Lake, Astrid Hekne’s son, Jehans, is now a young man. Driven out by his family, he lives on a homestead in the mountains near the village of Butangen, where he relishes the freedom of his life apart, fishing and hunting for his livelihood. One August morning, Jehans kills a massive reindeer and at the same moment encounters an enigmatic hunter . . .

At the new church in Butangen, Pastor Kai Schweigaard is living with the consequences of his past betrayal––arranging the dismantling and sale of the stave church––including deaths and the loss of the church’s mystical sister bells. Kai becomes obsessed with finding the ancient tapestry woven by the conjoined sisters in whose memory the bells were cast, with the hope that the tapestry will bring him redemption.

Despite the unraveling legends from the past that continue to haunt these people, they must figure out how to look to the future. A magnificent story about love, sorrow, and courage, as well as taming waterfalls and the first flash of electric light in the village night, The Reindeer Hunters is a grand and thrilling novel about what it takes to live in and embrace a new era.

5) The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire by Tore Skeie to be published on the 11th of October 2022. Viking.

A thrilling work of popular history that gives a new perspective on the Viking-Anglo conflicts and brings the bloody period to life.

In the eleventh century, the rulers of the lands surrounding the North Sea are all hungry for power. To get power they need soldiers, to get soldiers they need silver, and to get silver there is no better way than war and plunder. This vicious cycle draws all the lands of the north into a brutal struggle for supremacy and survival that will shatter kingdoms and forge an empire.

The Wolf Age takes the reader on a thrilling journey through the bloody shared history of England and Scandinavia, and across early medieval Europe: from the wild Norwegian fjords to the wealthy cities of Muslim Andalusia. Warfare, plotting, backstabbing and bribery abound as prize-winning historian Tore Skeie weaves together sagas and skaldic poetry with bold dramatization to bring the world of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons to vivid life.

6) Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir to be published on the 13th of October 2022. Iceland.

Áróra becomes involved in the search for an Icelandic woman who disappeared from her home while making dinner, as she continues to hunt for her missing sister. The second breathtaking instalment in the chilling, addictive An Áróra Investigation series…

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.

7) The Color of Ice by Barbara Linn Probst to be published on the18th of October 2022. Iceland.

A story of love and redemption set among the glaciers and thermal lagoons of Iceland, and framed by the evocative art of glassblowing . . .

Cathryn McAllister, a freelance photographer, travels to Iceland for a photo shoot with an enigmatic artist who wants to capture the country's iconic blue icebergs in glass. Her plan is to head out, when the job is done, on a carefully curated "best of Iceland" solo vacation. Widowed young, Cathryn has raised two children while achieving professional success. If the price of that efficiency has been the dimming of her fire--well, she hasn't let herself think about it. Until now.

Bit by bit, Cathryn abandons her itinerary to remain with Mack, the glassblower, who awakens a hunger for all the things she's told herself she doesn't need anymore. Passion. Vulnerability. Risk. Cathryn finds herself torn between the life--and self--she's come to know and the new world Mack offers. Commitments await her back in America. But if she walks away, she'll lose this chance to feel deeply again. Just when her path seems clear, she's faced with a shocking discovery--and a devastating choice that shows her what love really is.

8) Deeds of Autumn Anders de la Motte to be published on the 22nd of October 2022. Sweden.

Seasons change but people never do, in this atmospheric thriller from award-winning international bestselling author, Anders de la Motte. Perfect for fans of Val McDermid and Henning Mankell.

ONE TRAGIC NIGHT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING

SOUTHERN SWEDEN, 1990
Five lifelong friends gather for a last farewell to their childhoods and each other at an abandoned quarry. The mood is effervescent, but under the surface tensions run deep as not everyone is ready to let go - or be left behind. When dawn breaks, only four remain alive. The police rule the death a tragic accident, but not everyone is convinced, and the incident remains an open wound in the community.

AUTUMN, 2017
When the old chief of police is replaced by Anna Vesper, a newly arrived detective from Stockholm, whispers and rumours about that night can no longer be silenced. Soon Anna is left with no choice but to ignore all warnings and reopen the case - while hoping her own sins won't catch up with her.

BUT SOMEONE WILL DO ANYTHING TO HIDE THE TRUTH . . .

(9 Olav Audunssøn: III. Crossroads by Sigrid Undset translated by Tiina Nunnally to be published on the 25th of October 2022. Norway.

The third volume in the Nobel Prize–winning writer’s epic story of medieval Norway, finely capturing Undset’s fluid, natural style in the first English translation in nearly a century


In the early fourteenth century, Norway is a kingdom in political turmoil, struggling with opposing forces within its own borders and drawn into strife with neighboring Sweden and Denmark. Bloody family vendettas and conflicting loyalties sparked by the irrepressible passion of a boy and his foster sister (also his betrothed) have now set in motion a series of terrible consequences—with a legacy of betrayal, murder, and disgrace that will echo down through the generations. Crossroads, the third of Olav Audunssøn’s four volumes, finds Olav heartbroken by loss and further estranged from his son. To escape his grief, Olav leaves his home estate of Hestviken and agrees to serve as captain on a small merchant ship headed to London. There, separated from everything familiar to him, Olav begins a visionary journey that will send him far into the forest and deep into his soul. Questioning past decisions and future plans, Olav must grapple with his own perceptions of love and guilt, sin and penitence, vengeance and forgiveness.

Set in a time and place where royalty and religion vie for power, and bloodlines and loyalties are law, Crossroads summons a powerful picture of Northern life in medieval times, as the Swedish Academy noted in awarding Sigrid Undset the Nobel Prize in 1928. Conveying both the intimate drama and epic sweep of Olav’s story as grief and guilt drive him to ever more desperate action, Crossroads is a moving and masterly re-creation of a vanished world tainted by bloodshed and haunted by sin and retribution.

As with Kristin Lavransdatter, her earlier medieval epic, Undset immersed herself in the legal, religious, and historical documents of the time while writing Olav Audunssøn to create astoundingly authentic and compelling portraits of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. And as in her translation of Kristin Lavransdatter, Tiina Nunnally does full justice to Undset’s natural, fluid prose, in a style that delicately and lyrically conveys the natural world, the complex culture, and the fraught emotional territory against which Olav’s story inexorably unfolds.

10) Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth to be published on the 25th of October 2022. Norway.

A cat and mouse game of surveillance and psychological torment develops between a middle-aged artist and her aging mother, as Vigdis Hjorth returns to the themes of her controversial modern classic, Will and Testament

'To mother is to murder, or close enough', thinks Johanna, as she looks at the spelling of the two words in Norwegian. She's recently widowed and back in Oslo after a long absence as she prepares for a retrospective of her art. The subject of her work is motherhood and some of her more controversial paintings have brought about a dramatic rift between parent and child. This new proximity, after decades of acrimonious absence, set both women on edge, and before too long Johanna finds her mother stalking her thoughts, and Johanna starts stalking her mother's house.

11) The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen to be published on the 27th of October 2022. Finland.

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?

Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late…

Absurdly funny, heart-stoppingly poignant and full of nail-biting suspense, The Moose Paradox is the second instalment in the critically acclaimed, pitch-perfect Rabbit Factor Trilogy and things are messier than ever…

12) The Call of the Sea by Sian Ann Bessey to be published on the 31st of October 2022. Viking.

On the eve of her betrothal to a nobleman she’s never met, Rhiannon seeks comfort on the shores of the sea she loves so well. But instead of offering peace to her uneasy heart, the ocean heralds doom with the arrival of dreaded Viking ships. A vicious raid leads to the death of her beloved father and leaves Rhiannon’s life in tatters. Heartbroken, she travels to Ynys Môn, where she takes up residence at the royal court of Owain Gwynedd.


Leif loves voyaging on the open water. As the son of a Viking chief, he’s accustomed to his people’s practice of plundering and looting. But when one of his companions ruthlessly kills an old man in front of the man’s beautiful daughter, Leif is haunted by the memory. Desperate to find forgiveness for the atrocity he allowed to occur, he’s offered a chance at redemption through the kindly teachings of an Irish priest and the unexpected arrival of a royal fugitive. Suddenly thrust into the midst of the Cymry’s political turmoil, Leif is reunited with the dead man’s daughter―Rhiannon. Forced to work side by side to uncover the truth behind the turmoil, they come to discover that love can grow from even the most tragic of beginnings. But with such incompatible backgrounds, surely a future together can never be theirs.

13) Kristian Corfixen has a book called The Nurse: Inside Denmark's Most Sensational Criminal Trial to be published on the 25th of October 2022. Denmark. This is on NetGalley for those who are NetGalley readers (under True Crime).

In the early hours of March 2015, the police receive a call from a nurse at a provincial Danish hospital. She suspects her colleague is deliberately killing patients and fears that it has just happened again.

Soon, several witnesses reveal that they too suspect the same nurse of poisoning patients; some have been harbouring their suspicion for years… so why has no one done anything about it before? And now that those patients’ bodies have long been cremated, where is the evidence?

To this day, the nurse, Christina Aistrup Hansen, maintains her innocence. Is this an example of small-town gossip snowballing out of control, or a sinister case of serial sociopathic harm?

In this award-winning, best-selling account, Danish journalist Kristian Corfixen reconstructs the fateful night shift in 2015 when three patients die under mysterious circumstances, setting in motion one of Denmark’s most sensational criminal trials.

With thorough research and extensive source material – including medical records, autopsy reports, text and email correspondence, and police reports – Corfixen tells the true story of the events. The book includes testimonies from key players in the case, including the convicted nurse, Hansen, and the key witness, both of whom are speaking publicly about the case for the first time.

14) The Cave by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 31st of October 2022. Greenland.

When Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen searches for a group of elderly tourists missing in the Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, she finds more than she bargained for.

Unbeknownst to Petra, the raw energy and power of the Ilulissat Icefjord combines to provide the perfect storm of natural and supernatural elements necessary to bring life to dark forces hidden for thousands of years.

The ice is the trigger.

Petra is the vessel.

The residents of Ilulissat will be the victims unless Petra can overcome the evil inside her.

The Cave is a stand-alone novella-length story perfect for Halloween.

15) Deceit by Jónína Leósdóttir on Amazon not on Goodreads yet. to be published on the 30th of October 2022. Iceland.

Reykjavík detective Soffía finds herself struggling to cope with a single-handed investigation into a spate of malicious acts taking place across the city, and enlists help from an unexpected direction.

Her psychologist ex-husband Adam has advised the police before, but with Covid raging in the city, would prefer to stay holed up in his basement flat as he deals with challenges in both his working and private life.

He grudgingly agrees to work with Soffía, as the stakes in the investigation are continually raised.

Working out who bears a grudge that goes deep enough to lead to murder, they unravel complex family ties, lingering enmities and a dark past that the victims would prefer to keep secret, while Adam encounters a young woman in a race against the clock to find the father she has never seen, but for what purpose?

“Jónína Leósdóttir has written a fantastic crime novel with a unique protagonist and a gripping plot that will keep the reader glued to the pages” – Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Deceit is Jónína Leósdóttir’s first novel to appear in English.

16) Wolf Pack by Will Dean to be published on the 6th of October 2022. Sweden.

A closed community

Rose Farm is home to a group of survivalists, completely cut off from the outside world. Until now.

A missing person

A young woman goes missing within the perimeter of the farm compound. Can Tuva talk her way inside the tight-knit group to find her story?

A frantic search

As Tuva attempts to unmask the culprit, she gains unique access to the residents. But soon she finds herself in danger of the pack turning against her – will she make her way back to safety so she can expose the truth?

Will Dean’s most heart-pounding Tuva Moodyson thriller yet takes Tuva to her absolute limits in exposing a heinous crime, and in her own personal life. Can she, and will she, do the right thing?

17) The Ring Breaker by Jean Gill to be published on the 14th of October 2022. Viking.

Loyalty has a price the children pay.

In the twilight of the old gods, when the last Vikings rule the seas, two cursed orphans meet on an Orkney beach and their fates collide.
Stripped of honour, facing bleak loneliness ahead, Skarfr and Hlif forge an unbreakable bond as they come of age in the savage Viking culture of blood debts and vengeance. To be accepted as adults, Skarfr must prove himself a warrior and Hlif must learn to use women’s weapons. Can they clear their names and choose their destiny? Or are they doomed by their fathers’ acts?
The award-winning author of 'The Troubadours Quartet' returns to the 12th century, with skalds instead of troubadours and Viking warriors instead of crusaders. Get ready for authentic medieval adventures steeped in poetry, politics and passion. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Matthew Harffy and Madeline Miller.

18) Incident on Baker Street: A WPC Petra 'Piitalaat' Jensen novella Christoffer Petersen book called "Incident on Baker Street: A WPC Petra 'Piitalaat' Jensen Novella" to be published on the 25th of October 2022. U.K.

The game is afoot when Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen stumbles out of time and into the middle of a wave of heists sweeping across London.

Travel back in time to 70s London, and join WPC Petra Jensen as she pits her wits against a criminal mastermind in this Sherlock Holmesesque crime novella set in the bustling heart of England!

Time travel?

It's possible there is magic involved!

Incident on Baker Street is a novella length concept story featuring the star of the Greenland Missing Persons series.

19) The Fancy Dress Fugitive by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 21st of October 2022. Greenland.

When an escaped convict intends to make mischief at a fancy dress ball on Halloween, Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen is sent to apprehend him.

The Fancy Dress Fugitive is a fun short story connected to the Greenland Missing Persons series featuring Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen. It’s a light read to balance Christoffer Petersen’s darker books. The Fancy Dress Fugitive is best enjoyed with a hot beverage on a dark October night.

20) Incident on Baker Street: A WPC Petra 'Piitalaat' Jensen novella by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 27th of October 2022. United Kingdom.

The game is afoot when Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen stumbles out of time and into the middle of a wave of heists sweeping across London.

Travel back in time to 70s London, and join WPC Petra Jensen as she pits her wits against a criminal mastermind in this Sherlock Holmesesque crime novella set in the bustling heart of England!

Time travel?

It's possible there is magic involved!

Incident on Baker Street is a novella length concept story featuring the star of the Greenland Missing Persons series.

I finally read Höstdåd/Deeds of Autumn by Anders de la Motte this year, I've just forgotten to write about it here. I can't find the discussion thread. Anyway, since I've had the book for a few years I decided to read it when you announced the translation into English in October. (I read it in Swedish).
I've just read one of his books earlier and I thought that one was okay but not brilliant and that's the reason why I've hesitated. Now I'm so happy that I did since it's one of the best Swedish crime novels I've ever read! The characters and the environment are brilliantly carved and the tension are sublimely and carefully built up. I will definitely read more by this author.

I'm so glad you posted this. I ordered three of the "season" books. I always like to get a feel how other people felt about them. I have so many, many Scandi police procedurals to read. If you have any other recommendations, I'd love to see them.

I've started to read more Scandinavian crime novels since I found this group. Before I wasn't quite aware of how popular this genre is outside Scandinavia and I myself always prefer British crimes :) . But this group has opened my eyes and I've started to pay more attention to Swedish writers. I like Stefan Anheim and Lars Kepler. Lars Kepler is a pseudonym for s married couple that writes together. I like them because they are dark and that is not for all. If I should compare a writer to Anders Lamotte I think that would be Arne Dahl.
I do love Carin Gerhardsen and Ninni Schulman who writes about men's abuse of women (and make the polices in their books to CARE about that), but I don't believe that they have been translated into English.