English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

For this month of August 2024 we have at present 8 books to choose from. I note that we will add books as they become available. Good reading.

1) Tundra Beat: A Greenland Missing Persons Stand-Alone Novel by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 2nd of August 2024. Greenland & Canada.

Alone in the Canadian Arctic Tundra, Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen discovers an Inuit camp that appears to have been ravaged by polar bears, but appearances can be deceiving, and Petra must dig deep to survive when she uncovers the truth.

Tundra Beat is a stand-alone novel from the Greenland Missing Persons series of novellas and novels set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.

Tundra Beat continues the adventures of Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen, ably assisted by interesting characters, together with a few familiar faces making cameo appearances in the series.

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

2) The Last Time We Met by Anna E. Wahlgren to be published on the 6th of August 2024. Sweden. 336 Pages.

Six former friends are forced to relive their deadly past in this psychologically charged and suspenseful locked-room mystery perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

Old friends. Old grudges. One evening back together again. The last time they all had dinner, someone wound up dead. What could go wrong?

Sophie Lind hasn’t seen her college friends in a decade when a dinner invitation from one of the friends, Ava, arrives on her doorstep. They used to all be inseparable, meeting for dinner every week even after graduation. But the last time they all had dinner, ten years ago, someone was dead by the end of the night.

It was Sophie’s then-fiancé William who died that night in his apartment, just a room away from the friends he called family. Sophie isn’t sure if it’s curiosity—or guilt—that pushes her to accept Ava’s dinner invitation and unbury those old wounds. When the six friends arrive for the dinner, there’s a small box waiting for each of them by their plates. Each box uncovers secrets that the friends have kept hidden all these years, and with the door to the apartment locked from the outside, it’s clear that Ava didn’t plan this dinner just to reminisce about the past.

What happened to William is buried beneath someone’s lies—and nobody’s leaving this dinner table until the truth comes out.

3) The Divorce by Moa Herngren to be published on the 6th of August 2024. Sweden. 352 pages.

A decades-long, seemingly rock-solid marriage suddenly falls apart during one hot Stockholm summer in this addictive domestic drama that marks the American debut of #1 Swedish bestselling author Moa Herngren. There are two sides to every story. . . Bea couldn't be more excited to trade the stifling Stockholm summer heat for vacation on Gotland Island. She’s looking forward to spending quality time with her beloved husband of thirty-two years, Niklas, and their two moody teenage daughters, and recuperating from the stress of daily life in the company of her beloved in-laws. One night shortly before their departure, Bea and Niklas have a seemingly mundane argument over a trivial issue, and Niklas goes out with a friend to blow off steam. But as the hours pass, Niklas doesn’t come home. Bea’s irritation soon gives way to could something terrible have happened? She soon learns that though her husband is fine, their marriage is not. With a callous, three-word text, Niklas shatters Bea’s world. Her kind, gentle pediatrician husband is insisting on a divorce. While Bea is distraught and confused, is the split really coming out of the blue? Written with the warmth and empathy that have made her insightful, page-turning family novels bestsellers in her native Sweden, Moa Herngren raises thoughtful questions about why relationships fall Is the person who leaves always the bad guy? What emerges once you begin scratching the surface of what seems like a clear-cut situation? Told from dual perspectives, The Divorce is a gripping domestic drama that deftly explores the complexities of modern marriage. Translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies

4) The Last Light Over Oslo by Alix Rickloff The Last Light Over Oslo to be published on the 6th of August 2024. Norway & Sweden. 384 Pages.

A gripping historical novel set in Norway and Sweden in 1940, based on true events, which follows one of the first female US Ministers, Daisy Harriman, and her fictional niece as the two are unexpectedly caught up in the German invasion of Norway.

Cleo Jaffray was an American. A war in Europe had nothing to do with her. She told herself that right up until the man she loved went missing in Poland and Cleo was forced to turn to the only person who might be able to help—her aunt Daisy, the US Minister to Norway.

Daisy Harriman has never shied away from a challenge, be it canvassing for women’s suffrage or driving Red Cross ambulances in WWI, so as only the second woman ambassador, she is determined to prove the naysayers wrong and succeed in her post. When her disgraced niece Cleo lands on her doorstep, penniless and demanding help to find her lost lover, Daisy must balance her responsibilities as a diplomat with her desire to help her family.

Their search for answers is interrupted when Germany invades Norway and the two of them find themselves on the run in a countryside that is quickly becoming a battleground. Then as Daisy is given the task of escorting the Norwegian Crown Princess and her young children to America, Cleo’s lover resurfaces with a story that doesn’t add up and dangerous enemies on his trail.

This riveting historical novel, based on the astounding life of Daisy Harriman and a real-life royal rescue, vividly captures a desperate time and a fearless heroine.

5) The Group by Sigge Eklund to be published on the 8th of August 2024. Swedish author. Spain. 299 pages.

'A stunningly written ( and translated) story about greed, fraud, hedonism and identity. The story hooks you in with its languid prose . . . Compelling.' Reader, Netgalley

'Feels a lot like Donna Tart . . . a page turner and captivating from the start' - Reader, Goodreads

'A combination of craftsmanship and artistic ambition ... bingeable' Expressen

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO BECOME ONE OF THEM?

When Hanna moves to Spain for an internship at the prestigious Prado gallery, she finds herself spending her days buried in the museum's stifling archives, and her nights alone in a tiny rented flat.

Then one day she sees them; Tom, Samuel, and Leah. Glamorous and elegant, they are also foreigners in the city. But unlike her they are fabulously wealthy, their lives an endless whirl of creativity and hedonism. And when Hanna discovers an uncatalogued 17th century etching in the archive, she makes a decision which changes everything . . .

From the sultry streets of Madrid to the gleaming world of Mediterranean luxury villas and exclusive art world parties, as Hanna gets closer to her deepest desire, the stakes mount ever higher. Intoxicating and unputdownable, The Group is a timeless story of hidden identity and obsession.

6) Pursued by Death: The breathtakingly tense new Varg Veum thriller by Gunnar Staalesen to be published on the 15th of August 2024. Norway. 322 Pages.

When Bergen PI Varg Veum becomes involved in the disappearance of a young activist, he comes up against one village's particular brand of justice … The international bestselling, critically acclaimed Varg Veum series returns…
`As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times
`One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin
`The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø
When Varg Veum reads the newspaper headline 'YOUNG MAN MISSING', he realises he's seen the youth just a few days earlier – at a crossroads in the countryside, with his two friends. It turns out that the three were on their way to a demonstration against a commercial fish-farming facility in the tiny village of Solvik, north of Bergen.
Varg heads to Solvik, initially out of curiosity, but when he chances upon a dead body in the sea, he's pulled into a dark and complex web of secrets, feuds and jealousies.
Is the body he's found connected to the death of a journalist who was digging into the fish farm's operations two years earlier? And does either incident have something to do with the competition between the two powerful families that dominate Solvik's salmon-farming industry?
Or are the deaths the actions of the 'Village Beast' – the brutal small-town justice meted out by rural communities in this part of the world.
Shocking, timely and full of breathtaking twists and turns, Pursued by Death reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world's greatest crime writers.

7) Shadow of Doubt by Brad Thor to be published on the 28th of August 2024. Norway. 368 pages.

In a world shrouded in shadows, where doubt is the only weapon, can one spy expose the truth?

A mysterious cargo plane, flanked by a squadron of Russia’s most lethal fighters, has just taken off from a remote airbase. Closely monitored by the United States, no one inside the Pentagon has any idea where it’s going or what it’s carrying.

A high-level Russian defector, a walking vault of secrets that could shatter the West, seeks asylum in Norway. Across the continent, in the heart of Paris, a lone French agent stumbles upon a conspiracy so explosive it could ignite a global firestorm.

As alarm bells ring in Washington, the CIA’s most lethal weapon, Scot Harvath, is forced to choose between his conscience and his country.

You’ll be left breathless as Harvath is swept into a whirlwind of double agents, international intrigue, and heart-stopping chases.

8) The Sign of the Axe by Annelie Wendeberg to be published on the 31st of August 2024. Sweden. 33 pages.

I am Morgan Fox, a cold case analyst and behavioral investigative advisor for the Gotland PD—an epileptic, autistic, non-binary, shady disaster of mixed heritage, who’s not allowed to carry a gun because of all of the above.

Well, mostly because of epilepsy.

And let me tell you, my jaw is feeling a little loose around the hinges right now. I thought I'd seen it all after being trained in law enforcement in the US. But nope, Gotland has its own special brand of crazy.

Take, for example, the Viking wielding an axe at my buddy, Officer Robert Andersson. Yep, you read that right. A Viking. With an axe.

If you're wondering how we got into this mess, let's just say it involves a drunk driver, a butter churn, and a cowbell. And did I mention the Viking?
_____
The Adventures of the Basement Detectives is a cozy mystery short story serial featuring an autistic and non-binary cold-case analyst and a gay detective who solve strange cases on the Swedish island of Gotland. A new episode will be published every 2 months.

9) Afua by Karl Drinkwater & Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 10th of August 2024. Fantasy. 88 pages.

Afua is a promising acolyte of the Shanta Order, on the densely forested planet of Nuafri.

She volunteers to educate orphans – her lively ophanti – every ninth day. When one of her wards goes missing in a dangerous area full of sinkholes and deadly fauna, Afua knows the authorities won't do anything about a single lost child.

Luckily for the orphan, Afua will.

She is armed only with her knowledge of wildlife, and implanted augmentations that can sometimes deter attacks. But she is not alone. The sentient, insect-like Dooga she has bonded with, named Akalie, will follow her anywhere, despite being heavily pregnant.

An unforgettable Amazofuturist adventure about compassion, courage, and finding your way in life.

Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

10) At Once Splendid and Fierce: A Greenland Missing Persons short story by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 13th go August 2024. Greenland.

When a prominent Danish banker falls to his death from the top of an apartment building, Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen is the prime suspect in a classic case of did he fall, or was he pushed?

At Once Splendid and Fierce is a short story plucked from Christoffer Petersen’s Greenland Missing Persons series. It is not necessary to read the other stories in the series to enjoy this one.

Join Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen in this twisty short story from Greenland!

11) Wilding: Prehistoric Action and Adventure by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 15th of August 2025. California, U.S.A..


When her protection detail is rerouted to a stamp exhibition with a ‘critter problem’, palaeontologist Lucille ‘Luci’ Hampton is given the choice between ridding herself of her captors or dealing with three raptors running rampage in California.

Wilding is a short thirty-minute read full of prehistoric action and adventure. Best read after Reviver.

12) Randy in Ringkøbing: A Gabriel Præst Novella by Amulya Malladi to be published on the 3rd of August 2024. Denmark. 80 pages.

What looks like a typical robbery gone wrong leads DI Benito to extremist followers of Viking Age gods in this Danish thriller now available in English.

Called to the scene of a murder outside Trige, Roland Benito assumes it’s a case of petty criminals who made a gruesome mistake. After all, home robberies have been plaguing all of East Jutland for years. But it soon becomes clear that the men who beat Albert Hovgaard to death inside his country estate were no ordinary thieves.

Meanwhile, journalist Anne Larsen has been out of work since the financial crisis shuttered the Daily News. But now an unwelcome visit from the past has her investigating a series of missing homeless people. When the clues lead her to a dangerous group that believes in ancient Norse gods, she fervently wishes she had Benito’s help.

The third crime thriller in Inger Gammelgaard Madsen’s Roland Benito series, A Strange Intrusion is a gritty tale of Viking Age myths and modern-day murder.