Petrona Award 2025 - Update

With many apologies but due to unforeseen circumstances the winner of the Petrona Award 2025 will now be announced on 23 October 2025, rather than 16 October 2025.

Black History Month (UK)

It's Black History Month here in the UK and these are some titles published in the UK in 2025 by writers of colour. I would love to extend this list so do please put any additional authors/titles in the comments.

Kia Abdullah - What Happens in the Dark

Tariq Ashkanani - The Midnight King

Nina Bhadreshwar - The Day of the Roaring

A A Chaudhuri - The School Gates

A A Dhand - The Chemist

Renita D’Silva - Two Perfect Couples

Vaseem Khan - The Girl In Cell A

Vaseem Khan - Quantum of Menace

Remi Kone - Innocent Guilt

Dorothy Koomson - Beach Hut 512 (audio/ebook only)

Dorothy Koomson - Give Him to Me 

Rupa Mahadevan - Nine Dolls

Dreda Say Mitchell - Gone (with Ryan Carter)

Dreda Say Mitchell - Love and Hate

Abir Mukherjee - The Burning Grounds

Kingsley Pearson - Flat 401

Mel Pennant - A Murder for Miss Hortense

Paula Sutton - The Body in the Kitchen Garden

Blog Tour - A Lethal Legacy by Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir tr. Quentin Bates

Welcome to the latest stop on the blog tour for A Lethal Legacy by Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir translated by Quentin Bates. A Lethal Legacy was published by Corylus Books on 20 September 2025 as both an ebook and in paperback.

A Lethal Legacy is the first book from Icelandic author Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir to have been translated into English and I am very pleased today to be able to share the teaser extract below.

Blurb:

Nothing has changed at Bjargarlækur for as long as anyone can remember – so are moves to bring change to this remote farm in the Icelandic countryside a motive for murder? 

Three elderly siblings have lived more or less peacefully in this isolated place their whole lives, until Brynjólfur is found dead in his own bed. Called on to help out at the farm, freelance journalist Alma is far from certain that the old man died a natural death. Determined establish the facts of the matter, she finds herself caught up in a vicious family feud.

Sisters Klara and Thórdís are unable to agree on the future of the farm, just as others with an interest in the place circle hungrily around them. Echoes of missed opportunities, lost love and age-old crimes surface as a reckoning takes a bitter toll on those left behind – and Alma struggles to get to the truth.

Extract

The sinister side to this was that from whatever angle you were to look at this, Brynjólfur could hardly have taken his own life. It was far more likely that someone else had routed carbon monoxide into his room. Who could have done it, and why? And how?

She left the room. The house was quiet. At this moment she would have given anything to have had Sveinbjörg there. Instead, she would have to cope with all this on her own, maybe even accept that she could be in danger herself.

Her thoughts went to the incident on the stairs. Perhaps it wasn’t her imagination that she had been pushed to fall down the stairs? Who could have done that? It couldn’t have been Klara, who was still seated in the chair when she went back to her room. Could she have got to her feet, despite her condition, and followed her? Was she maybe not as ill as she made out?

Thórdís was a more likely perpetrator. The floors in the attic didn’t creak, only the stairs. Or could someone have been in Thórdís’s room, and made their way out unseen? But then wouldn’t she have heard the stairs creak? She recalled that the stairs hadn’t creaked as loudly when she went down after speaking to Klara. She'd assumed that this was due to the damp. Maybe someone had managed to sneak downstairs? Or was Bjargarlækur haunted after all?

Then there was the other aspect of this. Why would someone at the farm or in the district wish to do her harm? At that point she had no inkling that Brynjólfur could have been murdered. Had she blurted out something relevant? Or had she said anything that could turn out badly for someone? What had she been told? That Thórdís dyed her hair and was Rósa’s friend. That Rósa was determined to get the farm. That Thorbjörn could be brewing moonshine in the workshop. None of this could conceivably be a motive for murder.

Alma recalled Gunnhildur mentioning having heard the sound of an engine from the workshop when she woke during the night. Had Brynjólfur’s Volvo been pushed out and another vehicle driven into the workshop during the night? If so, what car? Rósa’s car, or Thorbjörn’s? Or Jón’s? Birgir’s car had been seen down by the road, so could that have been driven into the workshop? And hadn’t Brynjólfur’s car always been kept in the workshop? Gunnhildur was supposed to be the one holding the key, but Alma had found the key locked away in Brynjólfur’s room. Did someone else have a key to the Volvo, had started it up and channelled the exhaust up to Brynjólfur’s room? Was it a possibility that Brynjólfur hadn’t taken a sleeping pill, but had instead gone down to the workshop and started the car – and then gone upstairs to die? That was a very distant possibility. But then someone would have had to have hidden any traces the following morning. No, she decided. That last possibility was too far-fetched. He had taken his medication to help him sleep and Gunnhildur had watched him swallow his pill. Or what?

The footprints in the basement and the length of green hose came suddenly to mind. Did this have something to do with Thorbjörn’s moonshining, or had it been used for another purpose? Was that piece of hose anything to do with Thorbjörn?

That left the big question. Was there a murderer on the loose at Bjargarlækur?

---

Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir trained in drama, and after having been on the stage she became a producer and later a reporter for Icelandic state broadcaster RÚV. She subsequently had a 25-year career as a journalist for daily newspaper Morgunblaðið, making a name for herself for the quality of her interviews with people from all walks of life.

Her literary output has been prodigious, having written biographies, books of interviews, collections of short stories and a book of verse, as well as the enduringly popular series of novels featuring the exploits of journalist Alma Jónsdóttir.

Guðrún lives in Kópavogur. She has no plans to retire, and is still writing when most people of her age are taking it easy.

Many thanks to Ewa, Quentin and Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir for this extract and do please check out the rest of the stops =>

The Petrona Award 2025 - Shortlist

From the Press Release, embargoed until Thursday 18 September 2025, 8am: 

Outstanding crime fiction from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2025 Petrona Award 

Seven impressive crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 18 September and is as follows:

Samuel Bjørk - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)

Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)

Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)

Óskar Guðmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)

Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)

Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The winning title will be announced on 16 October 2025. 

The Petrona Award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia, and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his generous support of the Petrona Award. 

The judges’ comments on the shortlist:

There were 31 entries for the 2025 Petrona Award from six countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland). This year’s shortlist sees Norway represented with three novels, Sweden with two and Finland and Iceland with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a strong pool of candidates with the seven shortlisted authors including three previous Petrona Award winners: Pascal Engman, Malin Persson Giolito and Gunnar Staalesen.

As ever, we are extremely grateful to the translators whose expertise and skill have allowed readers to access these outstanding examples of Scandinavian crime fiction, and to the publishers who continue to champion and support translated fiction. 

The judges’ comments on each of the shortlisted titles:

Samuel Bjørk - DEAD ISLAND translated by Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)

DEAD ISLAND, the fifth instalment in the Mia Krüger and Holger Munch series, sees the duo away from their stomping grounds in Oslo, pondering their future. Both police investigators are dealing with separate professional and personal traumas yet cannot escape the violent events and aftermath of those, on the picturesque island of Hitra in northern Norway. While Mia re-examines a cold case of a missing boy, a teenage girl is brutally murdered. Convinced that the cases are connected, she digs deep into the individual stories of people living behind the sheen of a respectable community. The idyllic surface crumbles to show deceit, danger and darkness as the plot delves into psychological and cunning ways of using violence. A focus on personal dynamics and processing the nuanced information creates tension and a gripping story with empathy and depth, affecting everyone in the vicinity of the crimes. 

Pascal Engman - THE WIDOWS translated by Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)

In THE WIDOWS, two bodies are discovered in a Stockholm park, one a policeman and the other an unidentified young woman. With the police believing the woman to be nothing more than unfortunate collateral damage, they focus on the murder of the police officer. But Detective Vanessa Frank takes a different approach and her investigation turns out to be more personal than she could have imagined. Frank must tread carefully as she moves into the world of terrorist networks operating deep within the shadows, where society's fears make her job more chaotic and dangerous than ever. A previous winner of the Petrona Award with FEMICIDE, Pascal Engman once again produces a high-octane thriller which impressed the judges with its complex plotting, nerve wracking tension and strong characterisation throughout.

Malin Persson Giolito - DELIVER ME translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)

DELIVER ME is a harrowing crime thriller that explores the devastating impact of gang violence and class differences on two childhood friends in suburban Stockholm. The story centres on Billy and Dogge, two boys from different backgrounds whose friendship is tested by the allure of gang activity. Recruited as drug runners, their lives spiral out of control, leading to a tragic confrontation.

The novel is a gritty and uncompromising look at a topical social problems such as restrictive immigration policies, corrupt law enforcement, and economic inequality. Giolito’s account of the boys lives and circumstances is so convincing it might as well have been a true account. A lawyer herself, she poses questions about justice for children who commit crimes in a society that has failed to protect them. DELIVER ME is a powerful, yet unsettling, examination of the dark underbelly of suburban Stockholm and the real victims of gang violence and social inequality. 

Óskar Guðmundsson - THE DANCER translated by Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Tony is a young man who has always been on the losing side in life. He was brought up by his troubled, alcoholic mother who had a past of her own as a talented ballerina, until a life-changing accident brought her dreams to a sudden end. As her own ambitions for fame and success were crushed, she used cruel and brutal methods to project them onto her young son - with devastating consequences. There's no doubt that a body found on Reykjavik's Oeskjuhlid hillside has been there for a long time and when the case is handed to veteran detective Valdimar, and his new partner Ylfa, it's not long before it's clear a vicious killer is on the loose - and very little about the case is what it appears to be at first glance. THE DANCER is an incredibly dark and uncompromising crime read, that plays with the reader’s perceptions from the outset, alternating between empathy and horror, balanced out by the enjoyable repartee between the police protagonists.

Aslak Nore - THE SEA CEMETERY translated by Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)

THE SEA CEMETERY is a suspenseful literary thriller and complex family saga moving through Norway’s recent history, its links to Europe and the Middle East, and questioning individual choices made by the main characters. The universal human issues are hidden just below the surface of the dramatic story about trust, legacy and control, and consequences of untruths. Set in the dramatic harsh Norwegian natural beauty and inspired by a devastating maritime disaster during World War II, it follows the fate of two warring branches of the powerful Falck dynasty. The death of its writer matriarch, intestate, and the secrecy surrounding her manuscript confiscated by the secret police decades earlier, sets in motion an inheritance dispute between families in Oslo and Bergen. Private investigation into the affairs, connections and conflicts between those in power are painted with astute detail, making this ambitious novel both a historical and contemporary tale with strong message about Norwegian values and delivering a thrilling mix of espionage, tension and seduction. 

Satu Rämö - THE CLUES IN THE FJORD translated by Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)

Hildur Rúnarsdottir is the only police detective working on the isolated west coast of Iceland. She is desperate to forget her traumatic past by burying herself in her cases alongside her new trainee, Jakob Johanson. Jakob's life has its own complications however, and it soon becomes clear that neither can run from their pasts for long. When a local man is found with his throat slit, underneath an avalanche that has buried much of the evidence, Hildur and Jakob must set their own problems aside and unravel the dark secrets to expose a killer. THE CLUES IN THE FJORD is a sophisticated and atmospheric police procedural with a pleasingly unpredictable dark and twisty plot, set against the backdrop of the raw and untamed beauty of rural Iceland.

Gunnar Staalesen - PURSUED BY DEATH translated by Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

PURSUED BY DEATH, the latest in the long-running Varg Veum series, is a hard-boiled noir that tackles contemporary social issues in Norway. The plot begins when private investigator Varg Veum reads a newspaper article about the missing Jonas Kleiva, a man he recognises as the driver of a camper van he noticed at a bus stop. Kleiva disappeared after attending a demonstration in Solvik against the powerful salmon-farming corporation, Sunfjord Salmon. This case leads Veum to investigate not only the missing protestor but also a cold case from the past that was originally dismissed by the police.

The novel, told through a first-person narrative, showcases Veum's wry, deadpan observations. Staalesen consistently creates fully fleshed-out, vibrant, and lively characters, with Veum standing out as an unforgettable protagonist. The story is set against a compressed history of Norway's salmon-farming industry, while also providing a critical look at the environmental and social conflicts surrounding it. Staalesen, again, masterfully blends a traditional detective story with a commentary on modern issues, making the novel a relevant, topical, and thoroughly engaging read.

The judges

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

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

Sonja van der Westhuizen - book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS. 

Award administrator

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

Further information can be found on the Petrona Award website.

On social media, please use #PetronaAward25.

The Petrona Award 2025 - Longlist

 From the press release which was embargoed until 8.00am today:

Petrona Award 2025 - Longlist

OUTSTANDING CRIME FICTION FROM FINLAND, ICELAND, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 PETRONA AWARD

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

Samuel Bjørk - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam)

Stella Blómkvist - Murder Under the Midnight Sun tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press)

Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster)

Óskar Guðmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger - Victim tr. Megan E Turney (Norway, Orenda Books)

Jo Nesbo - Blood Ties tr. Robert Ferguson (Norway, Harvill Secker)

Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press)

Sólveig Pálsdóttir - Shrouded tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books)

Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (Finland, Zaffre)

Max Seeck - Ghost Island tr. Kristian London (Finland, Mountain Leopard Press)

Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The longlist contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners Pascal Engman, Malin Persson Giolito, Jørn Lier Horst, and Gunnar Staalesen.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Corylus Books having an impressive three entries. The breakdown by country is Norway (5), Iceland (3), Finland (2) and Sweden (2).

The shortlist will be announced on 18 September 2025.

The Petrona Award 2025 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller for a major book chain in the UK, Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE, and Sonja van der Westhuizen, a book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS. 

The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his continuing support of the Petrona Award.

The Petrona Award was established to celebrate the work of Maxine Clarke, one of the first online crime fiction reviewers and bloggers, who died in December 2012. Maxine, whose online persona and blog was called Petrona, was passionate about translated crime fiction but in particular that from the Scandinavian countries. 

The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.

More information on the history of the Award and previous winners can be found at the Petrona Award website.

Award News: Petrona Award Entries 2025

I am pleased to announce that 31 titles have been entered by the publishers for the 2025 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

The Longlist will be announced in August.

The rules for eligibility are:

• The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2024.
• The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.
• The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))
*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

More details about the award and the history behind it can be found on the Petrona Award website. The winner of the 2024 Award was Dead Men Dancing by Jógvan Isaksen translated from Faroese by Marita Thomsen and published by Norvik Press.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries 

[15 titles are by Female authors and 14 by Male plus 1 team of Female and Male authors and 1 team of 2 Male authors. There are 21 translators (13 Female (18 titles), 8 Male (13 titles)) and 6 countries are represented (9 Norway, 8 Sweden, 7 Iceland, 4 Finland, 2 Denmark, and 1 Switzerland).]

Jussi Adler-Olsen - Locked In tr. Caroline Waight (M, Denmark, Quercus)
Alex Ahndoril - I Will Find The Key tr. Alice Menzies (M&F, Sweden, Zaffre)
Tove Alsterdal - Deep Harbour  tr. Alice Menzies (F, Sweden, Faber & Faber)

 
Samuel Bjork - Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (M, Norway, Bantam)
Stella Blómkvist - Murder Under the Midnight Sun tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)
Grethe Bøe - Mayday tr. Charlotte Barslund (F, Norway, Mountain Leopard Press)

 
Anki Edvinsson - The Mermaid tr. Paul Norlen (F, Sweden, Thomas & Mercer)
Sigge Eklund - The Group tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (M, Sweden, Bonnier/Ithaka Press)
Pascal Engman - The Widows tr. Neil Smith (M, Sweden, Legend Press)

 
Helene Flood - The Widow tr. Alison McCullough (F, Norway, MacLehose Press)

 
Malin Persson Giolito - Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (F, Sweden, Simon & Schuster)
Oskar Gudmundsson - The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (M, Iceland, Corylus Books)

 
Anne Mette Hancock - Ruthless tr. Tara Chace (F, Denmark, Swift Press)
Jorn Lier Horst - The Traitor tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway, Michael Joseph)
Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger  - Victim tr. Megan E Turney (M&M, Norway, Orenda Books)

 
Ragnar Jonasson - Death at the Sanatorium tr. Victoria Cribb (M, Iceland, Michael Joseph)

 
Martta Kaukonen - Follow the Butterfly tr. David Hackston (F, Finland, Pushkin Vertigo)

 
Camilla Lackberg - The Cuckoo tr. Ian Giles (F, Sweden, HarperCollins)
David Lagercrantz - Fatal Gambit tr. Ian Giles (M, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Jo Nesbo - Blood Ties tr. Robert Ferguson (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)
Aslak Nore - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (M, Norway, MacLehose Press)

Sólveig Pálsdóttir - Shrouded tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)

Satu Rämö - The Clues in the Fjord tr. Kristian London (F, Finland, Zaffre)
Agnes Ravatn - The Guests tr. Rosie Hedger (F, Norway, Orenda Books)

Joachim B Schmidt - Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain tr. Jamie Lee Searle (M, Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)
Max Seeck - Ghost Island tr. Kristian London (M, Finland, Mountain Leopard Press)
Lilja Sigurdardottir - Dark as Night tr. Lorenza Garcia (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)
Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Can't Run, Can't Hide tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)
Gunnar Staalesen - Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Antti Tuomainen - The Burning Stones tr. David Hackston (M, Finland, Orenda Books)

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - Boys Who Hurt  tr. Victoria Cribb (F,  Iceland, Orenda Books)


Book covers courtesy of Goodreads:

Petrona 2025 - Entries

Cover Theme - Keyholes II

Revisiting the recent 'Keyhole' theme.

Further posts on cover themes can be found here.

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