New Releases - January 2025

Thank you for your comments and messages regarding the New Releases list. It's inspired me to keep on with them. I'm still a tad behind but I feel I've picked up most of January's titles. As ever, do let me know the ones I've missed! 

Here's a snapshot of what I think was published for the first time in January 2025 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 118 titles this month.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a *** .

Alexander, Magda - Murder in the Mistletoe Shoppe #11 Kitty Worthington
Arlidge, M J - Your Child Next (with Andy Maslen)
Barnett, Tam - How to Get Away with Murder
Baylis, Edie - The Last Promise #5 Scarred
Berry, Peter - Revenge of the Deadly Dozen #2 Deadly Dozen
Bhadreshwar, Nina - The Day of the Roaring ***
Blake, Sam - The Killing Sense
Boyd, Damien - Deceived By the Light #1 DI Bob Willis
Boydell, Natasha - The Doll's House
Brent, Katy - I Bet You'd Look Good in a Coffin #2 Kitty Collins
Burnell, Sam - A Queen's Rebel (ebook only) #9 Mercenary For Hire
Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes #8 The Lord Julian Mysteries
Butler, D S - In Plain Sight #10 DS Karen Hart, Lincolnshire
Cameron, Iain - Looking for Abigail #2 Sharma and Jackson, Norfolk
Carter, A J - The Mother-in-Law
Carter, A J - The Summer Cottage (ebook only)
Cartwright, Jack - The Harder They Fall #2 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Cartwright, Jack - Until Death Do Us Part #3 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Castillo, Javier - The Soul Game tr. Kevin Jerry Dunn #2 Miren Triggs
Chase, Clare - The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder #2 Bella Winter
Clarke, Karen - The Mother's Secret
Clements, Rory - A Cold Wind From Moscow #8 Thomas Wilde, 1930s
Comley, M A - Vanished #26 DI Sara Ramsey
Cookman, Lesley - The Singer in the Snow (with Miles Cookman) (ebook only) #1 Sheena and the Coldharbours
Cutler, Judith - In at the Death #6 Matthew Rowsley, Steward & Mrs Faulkner, Housekeeper, Victorian Era
Dawson, Mark - Pretty Face #6 Isabella Rose
Dean, John - The Meek Shall Inherit #12 Detective Chief Inspector John Blizzard
Delvey, Robyn - The Seven #1 Eve Wren
Devlin, Cara - Shadow at the Morgue #1 Spencer & Reid
Driscoll, Teresa - Close Your Eyes
Dunlap, A. Rae - The Resurrectionist
Dusse, Karsten - Murder Mindfully tr. Florian Duijsens
Dylan, Rhys - The Bowman #15 DCI Evan Warlow
Edwards, Mark - The Psychopath Next Door
Feeney, Alice - Beautiful Ugly
Field, David - Death By Gunpowder #6 Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mysteries
Frankland, Maria - The Valentine
French, Nicci - The Last Days of Kira Mullan
George, Nicholas - A Lethal Walk in Lakeland #2 A Walk Through England Mystery
Giles, Stewart - The Workshop #31 DS Jason Smith
Gray, Philip - The House with Nine Locks
Grayson, C J - The Little Girl in the Wardrobe #4 Detectives Orion Tanzy and Max Byrd, Darlington
Greig, Andrew James - The Graveyard Bell #3 Private Investigator Tearlach Paterson, Scotland
Halsall, Rona - The Soulmate
Hay, Alex - The Queen of Fives
Healey, Emma - Sweat
Hindle, Tom - Death in the Arctic
Hodges, David - Shadows On the Levels #14 DC Kate Hamblin
Hurst, Daniel - The Husband
James, Evelyn - The Mystery of the Brewer's Suicide #13 Colonel Bainbridge and his niece, Victoria Bovington
Jecks, Michael - Death Comes in Threes #9 Jack Blackjack, Tudor Era
Jenkins, Victoria - The Mother's Phone Call
Jensen, Oskar - Helle's Hound #2 Helle and Death
Jesmond, Jane - Gone to Earth #3 Jen Shaw
Johnston, Anthony - The Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead #3 Gwinny Tuffel, Dog sitter
Jordan, Amy - The Dark Hours
Jordan, G R - Wild Swimming #40 Highlands and Islands
Karlsson, Ørjan N - Into Thin Air tr. Ian Giles #1 Jakob Weber, Chief Investigator of Nordland Police
Kavanagh, Emma - The Time of the Fire
Kelleher, Casey - The Perfect Guest
Leadbeater, David - The Angel Deception #6 Joe Mason
Leigh, Judy - The Cream Tea Killer #3 Morwenna Mutton, Librarian, Cornwall
Linskey, Howard - A Serpent in the Garden #1 William Shakespeare
Lynes, S E - The Perfect Boyfriend
Lynn, H M - The Student
McAllister, Gillian - Famous Last Words
MacBird, Bonnie - The Serpent Under #6 Sherlock Holmes Adventure
MacKay, Asia - A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage
McKenzie, Sophie - Anything For You
McLean, Rachel - The Lake (with Joel Hames) #5 Cumbria Crime
Malliet, G M - Bookworm: Revenge is Sweet (ebook only) - Short Story
Malliet, G M - Vanished (ebook only) - Novella
Marsh, Katie - Murder on the Menu #3 Bad Girls Detective Agency
Marston, Edward - Mystery at the Station Hotel #23 Det. Insp Colbeck, Scotland Yard, mid 19th Century
Martin, Faith - The Last Word Is Death #2 Val & Arbie
Mason, Simon - A Voice in the Night #4 DI Ray Wilkins, Oxford
Masters, Priscilla - Bloodline #16 Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy, Leek, Staffordshire
Mayo, Simon - The Grab List
Meyer, Nicholas - Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell - From the Memoirs of John H Watson
Morris, Jenny - An Ethical Guide to Murder
Morris, M S - The Foaming Deep #8 DCI Tom Raven
Mosse, Greg - Murder at Sunny View #5 Maisie Cooper
Murphy, Catie - Death of an Irish Druid #7 Megan Malone, Limo Driver, Dublin
Nadal, Jay - The Bones of Deceit #12 DI Karen Heath
New, Jacqueline - Sins of the Fathers (ebook only) #4 DCI McNeill, Edinburgh
North, Ely - Murder Mystery #9 DCI Finnegan, Yorkshire
Nurse, Angela C - A Killer Conversation #1 DI Ravenscroft & Professor Laing
Parker, Rob - The Troubled Deep #1 Cam Killick, Norfolk
Parsons, Tony - Murder for Busy People #7 Detective Max Wolfe of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, London
Peck, Heather - Buried in the Past #7 DCI Greg Geldard, Norfolk
Penketh, Anne - The Baguette Murders #3 The Brittany Murders
Phifer, Helen - Their Dying Embrace #14 Detective Morgan Brookes
Probyn, Jack - Death's Breath #8 DS Tomek Bowen
Quinn, Cate - The Bridesmaid
Rees-Price, Cheryl - Buried Deep Within #10 DI Winter Meadows, Wales
Reeves, S A - A Murder at the Church #2 The Bookshop Mysteries
Richards, JJ - The Dunes #4 DCI Walker, Lancashire
Richards, S J - Beacon of Blight #7 Ex-DCI Luke Sackville
Rimington, Stella - The Hidden Hand #2 Manon Tyler
Rose, Jacqui - The Good Wife
Ryan, Sadie - The Witness
Sandler, Rosie - Murder in Bloom #3 The Gardener Mysteries
Shapiro, Irina - Murder of a Medium #15 Redmond and Haze
Sharpe, Anna - Notes on a Drowning
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Curse #11 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Steel, Stephanie - The Train from Platform 2
Sullivan, Tim - The Bookseller #7 DS Cross, Bristol
Tait, Victoria - Tartan, Treasures and Murder #12 Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery, Cotswolds
Thorogood, Robert - Murder on the Marlow Belle #4 The Marlow Murder Club
Todd, Marion - Dead Man's Shoes #9 DI Clare Mackay
Veste, Luca - The Stranger in the Room
Watson, Sue - Wife, Mother, Liar
Watt, Holly - The Last Truths We Told
Weatherley, Anna-Lou - What Kind of Mother
Wells, Kate - Death in the Hills #4 Jude Gray
Westerson, Jeri - Rebellious Grace #3 King's Fool
Woods, Karen - The Trade
Wright, Adam J - The Detective Game #1 Dark Peak Detectives

Names in Titles?

Compiling the new releases and working in a library it feels like I keep tripping over titles with women's names in them. Maybe it's not so much British crime fiction as I've just had a look-over last year's releases (1000+) and found only 9, excluding those that included the protagonist's name eg Agatha Raisin and... 

This trend possibly started with Stuart Turton's The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. 

Matthew Blake - Anna O 

Rachael English - Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? 

Nicci French - Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? (and in 2025: The Last Days of Kira Mullan)

Ellery Lloyd - The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby 

Nick Louth - The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle 

Dervla McTiernan - What Happened to Nina? 

Imran Mahmood - Finding Sophie 

M A Purcell - Finding Hannah 

C S Robertson - The Trials of Marjorie Crowe

I haven't spotted any titles with men's names in them.

New Releases - October-December 2024

I'm still behind so I've decided to draw a line under 2024 and list what I've got on my database for October to December, and start afresh with January 2025. 

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a *** 

 
Adler-Olsen, Jussi - Locked In tr. Caroline Waight #10 Carl Morck and his assistant Assad, Department Q, Copenhagen
Alexander, Magda - The Stolen Sparkler - Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Alexander, Tasha - Death by Misadventure #18 Lady Emily
Atkinson, Heather - Guardian (ebook only) #4 Raven
Bartlett, James Y - The Organ Job #1 Johann Sebastian Bach
Bartlett, James Y - The Coffee Garden #2 Johann Sebastian Bach
Beaton, M C - Agatha Raisin: Killing Time (with R W Green) #35 Agatha Raisin, Retired PR person, Cotswolds
Beevis, Keri - The Cottage by the Sea
Belshaw, T A - Ten Years After #5 Amy Rowlings, 1939
Bickford, David - Arctic Betrayal #3 Katya
Bjork, Samuel - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund # 5 Holger Munch & Mia Kruger, Oslo Police
Boland, Peter - The Vanilla Killer #4 Charity Shop Detective Agency
Briggs, J C - The Inheritors of Moonlyght Tower #2 Gothic House Mystery
Burke, Darcy - A Whisper at Midnight #2 Raven & Wren
Cambridge, Colleen - Murder Takes the Stage #4 Phyllida Bright, housekeeper to Agatha Christie.
Cartwright, Jack - When the Storm Dies #1 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Child, Lee - In Too Deep (with Andrew Child) #29 Jack Reacher, ex MP, USA
Clare, Alys - The Chrysanthemum Tiger #6 Gabriel Taverner, Former ship's surgeon, C17 Devon
Cole, Martina - Guilty (with Jacqui Rose)
Coles, Richard - Murder Under the Mistletoe #1 Canon Daniel Clement Novella
Connelly, Lucy - Death by the Book #2 Mercy McCarthy, Ireland
Connelly, Lucy - Death at a Scottish Christmas #3 Dr Emilia McRoy
Craven, M W - Nobody's Hero #2 Ben Koenig
Croft, Adam - No Way Out #6 Rutland crime series
Curtis, Emma - The Commuter
Dalgliesh, J M - Family Doctor
Dawson, Mark - The Mystery of the Missing Pages (ebook only) #1 The Casebook of Atticus Priest
Dawson, Mark - The Case of the Bolted Door (ebook only) #2 The Casebook of Atticus Priest
Dawson, Mark - Code Blue (ebook only) #5 Charlie Cooper
Dawson, Mark - North Star (ebook only) #6 Charlie Cooper
Denzil, Sarah A - The Woman in Coach D
Dylan, Rhys - Dragon's Breath #14 DCI Evan Warlow
Ellis, Emmy - Rebury #35 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Joy - Echoes on the Fens #15 DI Nikki Galena & DS Joe Easter, Greenborough
Finch, Paul - Killer Instinct #2 Detective Mark 'Heck' Heckenberg Novella
Finch, Paul - Rogue 8 - Detective Mark 'Heck' Heckenberg
Flood, Helene - The Widow tr. Alison McCullough
Frankland, Maria - Last One Standing
Gardner, Ashley - A Matter at New Year's (ebook only) - Robert Archer
Gatward, David J - Hatchet Hill #2 DI Gordy Haig
Gatward, David J - Blood Fountain #19 DCI Harry Grimm
Giuliani, C P - A Matter of Blood #6 Tom Walsingham
Granger, Ann - Death on the Prowl #8 Inspector Jess Campbell & Superintendent Ian Carter, Cotswolds
Hawkins, Paula - The Blue Hour
Hollow, Mike - The Soho Murder #9 Blitz Detective
Horst, Jorn Lier - The Traitor tr. Anne Bruce #17 Chief Inspector William Wisting, Larvik
Horst & Enger - Victim tr. Megan E Turney #5 Alexander Blix
Hunt, Rosie - Murder at a Flower Show #7 Lady Felicity Quick, 1920s
Hurst, Mark - Your Secret
Johnsen, Kjersti Herland - Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge tr. Olivia Lasky
Jordan, G R - Cinderella's Carriage #39 Highlands and Islands
Kashiwai, Hisashi - The Restaurant of Lost Recipes Jesse Kirkwood #2 The Kamogawa Food Detectives
Lee, M J - Death on the Dee #2 DI Emma Christie
Lemaitre, Pierre - Going to the Dogs tr. Frank Wynne
Lindsay, Douglas - The Vikstrom Papers: Shadow Tide #3 Sam Vikström, PI, New England
Marsons, Angela - 36 Hours #21 DI Kim Stone
McCleave, Simon - Marshal of Snowdonia #1 Frank Marshal
McLean, Rachel - The Barn (with Joel Hames) #4 Cumbria Crime
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - Saint Valentine's Day Murder #13 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Middleton, Jo - Happy Bloody Christmas
Miller, Fenella-Jane - Danger at Pemberley #4 At Pemberley
Morgan, Anna-Marie - Murder in an Edinburgh Park #4 DI Grant McKenzie
Murray, Jack - A Time for Peace #5 Nick Jellicoe
Nattrass, Leonora - The Bells of Westminster
Rämö, Satu - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London #1 Detective Hildur Rúnarsdottir, West Coast of Iceland
Rankin, Ian -Midnight and Blue #25 Inspector Rebus, Edinburgh
Ross, L J - Amnesia #6 Alexander Gregory
Ross, L J - Poison Garden #22 DCI Ryan
Scarrow, Alex - The Vanishing #11 DCI Boyd
Scarrow, Simon - Revenge of Rome #22 Macro and Cato, Roman soldiers
Seeck, Max - Ghost Island tr. Kristian London #4 Jessica Niemi
Sigurdardottir, Lilja - Dark as Night tr. Lorenza Garcia #4 Arora
Sigurdardottir, Yrsa - Can't Run, Can't Hide tr. Victoria Cribb #1 Policeman Týr and forensic pathologist Iðunn
Sinclair, Doug - A Deadly Flame #3 DS Malkie McCulloch
Smith, Alex - Red Line #17 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
Solana, Teresa - Black Storms tr. Peter Bush
Stevenson, Charlotte - The Family Next Door
Tuomainen, Antti - The Burning Stones tr. David Hackston
Ward, Sarah - Death Rites #1 Professor Carla James, New England
Wilkinson, Diana - The Girl in the Window
Wood, Michael - Last One Left Alive #12 DCI Matilda Darke
Wood, Tom - Firefight #12 Victor, Assassin

Margery Allingham's Mysterious Knits by Kate Davies

I came across Margery Allingham's Mysterious Knits by Kate Davies in one of my knitting magazines. Alongside essays, it contains some lovely knitting patterns which can be bought individually on Ravelry and Ravelry users get a free copy of the ebook when they buy the hardback. Crime fiction fans will recognise some of the contributors.

You can buy the print copy at KDD & Co for £25. 

I haven't got a copy yet but this would appear to make a lovely present for a crime fiction reading knitter (like myself)...

Margery Allingham's Mysterious Knits

What happens when you bring literary plot and pattern design together? 

Margery Allingham was one of the undoubted queens of British detective fiction’s Golden Age, and this bringing together of novel-inspired handknits with critical, contextual essays offers an in-the-round celebration of her work. Kate Davies’ collection speaks to the detective author’s inventive spirit: a single, unbroken strand of yarn transforms itself into a three-dimensional slipper; hats and pullovers are knitted from side to side, while a triangular shawl up-ends itself to eventually become a cardigan. The techniques are all contemporary, but there’s a nod to classic twentieth-century knitting style as well: narrow garter-stitch stripes meet modern short row shaping, while slipped stitches and Art Deco chevrons are incorporated into light knits that will work in many wardrobes. Alongside this most mysterious collection, literary contributors explore themes that illuminate Margery Allingham’s creative world: from the relationship between patterns and plotting, to the fashion, film and popular culture of the 1930s and 1940s; from the wide ranging role played by knitting and knitters in detective fiction, to the distinctive Essex landscape that inspired Margery Allingham throughout her life.  Full of revelations, plot twists, and (of course) the occasional red herring, this highly original exploration of one of detective fiction’s most ingenious authors is sure to surprise and delight. 

Contributors: Tom Barr, Caroline Crampton, Kate Davies, Veronica Horwell, Julia Jones, Sarah Mackay, Imogen Robertson. 

Amazon Bargain - Deliver Me

For some reason the Hardback of Deliver Me by Malin Persson Giolito translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles is only £2.48 on Amazon UK (the kindle is £2.99). I imagine there are only limited copies. 

NB. Giolito and Willson-Broyles won the Petrona Award for Quicksand in 2018.

And if you like covers with playgrounds/swings on, here are a few examples.

Blog Tour: Black Storms by Teresa Solana tr. Peter Bush

Welcome to the final stop on the blog tour for Black Storms by Teresa Solana translated by Peter Bush and published by Corylus Books.

I am very pleased to be able to share an extract from Black Storms (below) (and Euro Crime has reviewed Teresa Solana's previous novels here.)

A country that doesn't acknowledge its past is destined to repeat its mistakes.

Why murder a sick old man nearing retirement? An investigation into the death of a professor at the University of Barcelona seems particularly baffling for Deputy Inspector Norma Forester of the Catalan police, as word from the top confirms she's the one to lead this case.

The granddaughter of an English member of the International Brigades, Norma has a colourful family life, with a forensic doctor husband, a hippy mother, a squatter daughter and an aunt, a nun in an enclosed order, who operates as a hacker from her austere convent cell.

This blended family sometimes helps and often hinders Norma's investigations.

It seems the spectres of the past have not yet been laid to rest, and there are people who can neither forgive nor forget the cruelties of the Spanish Civil War and all that followed.

Extract

The man who was about to commit murder left home at six-thirty, after telling his girlfriend Mary he’d business to see to and checking his car keys were in his pocket. He’d not driven his third-hand Seat Ibiza for days. Its shabby appearance was protection against petty thieves even in a street like theirs where he usually parked it. Nonetheless, when he saw the thick layer of dust and the obscenities a finger had scrawled on the bonnet, sides and windows, he decided a filthy car would attract attention and it might be worth his while to shell out on a wash. The queue he found at the garage started to wear his patience thin. However, he cooled down after taking a glance at his watch: the professor had given him an appointment for eight forty-five and there was no point being early. He had more than enough time. No need to worry.

He drove his gleaming Seat up the Gran Via towards the Plaça d’Espanya, and then turned down Entença on his way to Roma. As soon as he reached the Plaça dels Països Catalans, he left the car in a parking lot and went into Sants station, all set on melting into the crowd. He was sure nobody would notice him in that chaotic, crowded spot—that’s why he’d chosen it—and hurried into the lavatories gripping his black backpack. It contained all he needed to carry out his plan of action: a disguise, latex gloves so he didn’t leave fingerprints, and a length of plastic-covered clothesline. It was an old, light backpack, nothing too flashy to attract thieves on the lookout for easy pickings from commuters and tourists.

He found an empty stall in the gents, checked the catch was working and rather nervously shut himself inside. He took a wrap from his pocket, prepared a line of coke and racked his brain wondering how he’d eke out his meagre supplies until Mary brought a fresh consignment. The cocaine revitalised him, and with the drug still buzzing in his brain, he took off his shirt and jacket and donned the disguise he’d crammed into his backpack. All he needed from now on was inside a corduroy bag he slung over his shoulder that radically transformed his appearance when it was combined with the jeans, the shirt with the Mao collar that was a couple of sizes too big, and a Palestinian scarf he’d bought at the same hippy stall where he’d found the shirt. Just in case, a khaki cap and fake Ray-Bans hid his eyes, hair and part of his face. When he emerged from the lavatories and glanced at the queue at the ticket counter, he could only smile. Nobody would ever recognize him in that jazzy disguise.

He went to the left-luggage office and deposited the backpack in a locker before catching the Line 3 metro. Twenty minutes later the man who was about to commit murder was walking along La Rambla on his way to the history department. While he progressed steadily, trying to dodge the bustling pedestrians and bedazzled tourists in his way, he felt altogether pleased with himself and his brainwave pseudonym and doctoral-student status. Had the professor smelled a rat, he might have caught him out and told someone, even informed the police, but his ploy had worked a treat. The professor had swallowed the lot and agreed to see him in his office in the evening, after classes, when the corridors of the department would have shed their daytime throng of students and professors, and he could avoid dozens of potential witnesses eyeing his every move. If everything went to plan, terminating the professor’s life would be simple enough. So far, the man about to commit murder had calculated right. But only so far.

Teresa Solana is a multi-award-winning Catalan crime writer and literary translator, renowned for her inventive, distinctive style. Her first crime series has been translated into several languages, and her short story collection The First Prehistoric Serial Killer was longlisted for the CWA Short Story Dagger Award in 2019. Black Storms is full of Teresa Solana’s signature humour, but also reflects social issues and acknowledges the weight of history that is part of Catalonia’s psyche.

Peter Bush is one of the most distinguished literary translators into English, and has translated from French, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as from Catalan. Not only active as a translator, he has also been a key figure in developing literary translation as an academic discipline.

Many thanks to Ewa Sherman, Teresa Solana, Peter Bush and Corylus Books for this extract and the opportunity to be involved.

Now check out the previous stops on the Tour!

The Petrona Award 2024 - Winner

Winner of 2024 Petrona Award announced 

The winner of the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is: 

DEAD MEN DANCING by Jógvan Isaksen translated from the Faroese by Marita Thomsen and published by Norvik Press. 

Jógvan Isaksen will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize. 

The judges’ statement on DEAD MEN DANCING: 

Similar to the story of the ancient god Prometheus, a man has been shackled to rocks on the Faroe Islands, and left to drown on the beach. The discovery of his body throws the local community into an unsettling chaos, and as the journalist Hannis Martinsson investigates, he comes across evidence of similar deaths. He realises they are linked to the events in Klaksvík in the 1950s, and a local revolt which tore the community apart. As Martinsson digs into the troubled past, he learns about his country’s history, and also gives the reader a chance to discover what makes the Faroes intriguing and spellbinding. Being a largely unknown territory to most, Dead Men Dancing includes a useful introduction to the modern reality of these islands by the CEO of the Faroese Broadcasting Corporation, mirrored by the social commentary that lies at the heart of the book itself, and the portrayal of the relationship with Denmark throughout the years. 

This is only Isaksen’s second novel to be translated into English following Walpurgis Tide. This contemporary Faroese crime fiction writer places his characters in the wild, beautiful, and unforgiving environment and allows them to search for truth. The judges found the location to be absolutely integral to the unfolding of the plot, and how the raw natural beauty of the Faroes served as a reflection of the thoughts and actions of the characters.

Dogged and uncompromising, Martinsson is a superb creation, similar in his ‘detective’ thinking and approach to Gunnar Staalesen's lonely wolf PI Varg Veum, which the judging panel found very appealing. Martinsson's gloomy demeanour and natural cynicism was beautifully balanced throughout with the more empathetic side of his nature, and in the age-old tradition of crime fiction his personal and professional relationships are fraught with tension. 

The translation by Marita Thomsen is both accomplished and a little unusual, drawing as she does on the vernacular and intonation of the Scottish dialect. Again, the judges found this to be refreshingly different, and enjoyed the unique cadence and rhythm this gave to the book overall, an essential quality of any book in translation. 

The judges agreed that in Dead Men Dancing the balance between location, plot and characterisation worked well, incorporating some of the familiar tropes of crime fiction, but also providing a refreshingly different reading experience. This was achieved by the depiction of the Faroes themselves and their history, working in symmetry with the narrative, and also by the characterisation of Martinsson, reminiscent of the traditional spare style in Nordic crime fiction. The assured and distinctive translation was also a significant factor in the judges' overall decision. 

Statements from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Jógvan Isaksen (author): 

I feel it is a great honour to win this award, especially when I see that the competition includes several of my favourite Scandinavian authors. I am also proud to represent my country, the Faroe Islands, a self-governing part of the Danish Kingdom with its own language and traditions. Furthermore there are special bonds between the UK and The Faroes since the friendly occupation during World War II. I personally became a member of Collins Crime Club when I was only thirteen, and fought my way through crime novels I could hardly read. But at last I got there and have for many years been an admirer of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Eric Ambler, Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin and many, many more. 

Marita Thomsen (translator): 

It was thrilling to translate the Faroese novel Dead Men Dancing and a great honour to receive the Petrona Award. I am privileged to find myself in the company of the master crafters of stories and languages shortlisted this year, congratulations to all! My thanks first and foremost to Jógvan Isaksen for keeping us in suspense, as he navigates the rugged outlines of the psychology and wild shores of the Faroe Islands. This book offers a fascinating window into regional tensions in the archipelago and historical tensions in the Kingdom of Denmark. Thank you to the passionate Norvik team for expert guidance and editorial advice. And to Richard and Jane for your patience and boundless enthusiasm for everything, even the difference between rowing boats and oared boats. 

Janet Garton (Norvik Press Commissioning Editor):

We are delighted that Dead Men Dancing has won this year’s Petrona Award. Jógvan Isaksen is a master of suspense, and his maverick amateur sleuth Hannis Martinsson takes the reader on hair-raising trips by land and sea before – of course – solving the mystery before the frustrated police. The Martinsson series was the basis of the successful TV series TROM, and this is the second of the series to be published by Norvik Press, after Walpurgis Tide in 2016. Hopefully there will be more to come! 

The Petrona team would like to thank David Hicks for his continuing sponsorship of the Petrona Award.

The judges

Jackie Farrant - creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller/Area Commercial Support for a major book chain in the UK.

Ewa Sherman - translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE.

Award administrator

Karen Meek – owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

For more information on the Petrona Award please visit www.petronaaward.co.uk/