New Releases - September 2023

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in September 2023 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 69 titles this month. September and future months (and sometimes years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.

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.

• Amphlett, Rachel - Cover the Bones #5 Detective Mark Turpin
• Archer, Jeffrey - Traitors Gate #6 Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick
• Beaton, M C - Agatha Raisin: Dead on Target (with R W Green) #34 Agatha Raisin, Retired PR person, Cotswolds
• Beevis, Keri - The Boat House
• Benn, James R - Proud Sorrows #18 Billy Boyle, WW2
• Briggs, J C - The Waxwork Man #11 Charles Dickens and Superintendent Jones
• Bright, Verity - Murder by Invitation #15 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
• Burnside, Heather - Redemption #3 Manchester Thrillers
• Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman of Dubious Reputation #2 The Lord Julian Mysteries
• Cambridge, Colleen - Murder by Invitation Only #3 Phyllida Bright, housekeeper to Agatha Christie
• Carson, John - Now or Never (ebook only) #19 DCI Harry McNeil
• Cartwright, Jack - Her Dying Mind (ebook only) #11 Wild Fens Murder Mystery
• Clark, Anne Wyn - The Secrets of Mill House
• Clarke, Sarah - The Ski Trip
• Comley, M A - Sinner #10 DI Sally Parker
• Cookman, Lesley - Murder in Autumn #24 Libby Sarjeant, middle aged actress/investigator, Kent
• Cox, Helen - A Body in the Borderlands #8 Kitt Hartley, Yorkshire
• Croft, Kathryn - The Wedding Guest
• Day, Becca - The Secrets We Buried
• Ellis, Emmy - Revived #21 Cardigan Estate
• Ellis, J R - The Brewery Murders #9 Detective Chief Inspector Oldroyd, Yorkshire
• Everett, F L - Murder in the Blitz #1 Edie York, 1940s
• Francis, Dick - No Reserve (by Felix Francis)
• Galbraith, Robert - The Running Grave #7 Cormoran Strike
• Gatland, Jack - Kissing A Killer #16 DI Declan Walsh
• Gillan, Florence - The Forfeit
• Glass, Ava - The Traitor #2 Alias Emma series
• Golding, Melanie - The Sight
• Hanley, C B - Blessed are the Dead #8 Edwin Weaver, C13
• Herron, Mick - The Secret Hours
• Hood, D K - Dark Angel #1 Detective Beth Katz
• Hood, D K - Shadow Angel #2 Detective Beth Katz
• Howell, Lis - The Gardener in the Graveyard #5 The Norbridge Chronicles
• Hunter, Cari - A Calculated Risk
• Hunter, E V - A Marriage To Murder For #3 Hopgood Hall Murder Mysteries
• James, Peter - Stop Them Dead #19 Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, Brighton
• Johnstone, Doug - The Opposite of Lonely #5 Skelfs family
• Kinsey, T E - A Fire at the Exhibition #10 Lady Emily Hardcastle, 1908
• Kovach, Carla - Her Hidden Shadow #14 Detective Gina Harte
• Lee, M J - The Irish Convict (ebook only) #10 Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mysteries
• Lindsay, Douglas - I am Multitudes #11 DS Hutton
• McCabe, Amanda - Flora Flowerdew and the Mystery of the Purloined Papers #2 Flora Flowerdew, Victorian Era
• McLean, Rachel - The Ghost Village Murders #9 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• McLean, Rachel & Hames, Joel - The Harbour #1 Cumbria Crime
• MacLean, S G - The Winter List #6 Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector, 1654
• Mackay, N J - The Quiet Dead #1 DI Sebastian Locke
• Malliet, G M - The Washing Away of Wrongs #8 Max Tudor, Vicar
• Malone, Michael J - The Murmurs #1 Annie Jackson
• Matthews, L V - Silent Waters
• Nickson, Chris - Rusted Souls #11 Detective Inspector Tom Harper, Leeds Police, 1890s
• Organ, Emily - Death in Westminster (ebook only) #5 Augusta Peel, 1920s
• Osman, Richard - The Last Devil To Die #4 The Thursday Murder Club
• Penrose, Andrea - Murder at the Merton Library #7 Wrexford & Sloane
• Peston, Robert - The Crash
• Phifer, Helen - Stolen Darlings #10 Detective Morgan Brookes
• Ripley, Mike - Mr Campion's Memory #11 Albert Campion
• Ross, L J - The Bay #3 Summer Suspense Mysteries
• Schellman, Katharine - Murder at Midnight #4 Lily Adler, London, 1815
• Seddon, Holly - The Short Straw
• Smith, Alexander McCall - From a Far and Lovely Country #24 Mma Ramotswe, PI, Botswana
• Swann, Leonie - The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp tr. Amy Bojang #1 Agnes Sharp
• Thomson, Lesley - The Mystery of Yew Tree House #9 Stella Darnell
• Tobin, Sam - Wind Up Dead #3 Manchester Underworld
• Veste, Luca - Trust In Me
• Wallace, Joanna - You'd Look Better as a Ghost
• Ward, Cameron - The Safe House
• Waugh, Daisy - Old School Ties #3 Tode family
• Wells, Kate - Murder on the Farm #1 Jude Gray
• Young, Glenda - Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel #3 Helen Dexter, Scarborough

Blog Tour - Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist tr. Quentin Bates

I'm very pleased to be today's stop on the Blog Tour for Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist tr. Quentin Bates. 

I have a teaser extract for you. 

You can read a review of Murder at the Residence at yesterday's stop at Books'n'Banter.

Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist 

Translation Quentin Bates

Corylus Books

‘Let me up the stairs, guys,’ I say.

One of them spreads his arms wide.

‘Come to daddy, baby,’ he croons.

I try to push my way between the men. But they both grab. They’re holding on tight.

The younger one says something in a language I don’t understand. Just then, he slides a hand up my leg, over the top of one tall black boot.

His pal sniggers.

I glare into dark, drunken eyes.

‘You want to go to prison?’ I snap, in English.

‘Me no prison,’ the man replies, shaking his head.

‘I’m a lawyer,’ I continue in the same harsh tone. ‘Hands off. Right now. Or I’ll have you both charged with assault.’

‘No fucking prison,’ the guy repeats, reluctantly withdrawing his hand.

The other one does the same.

The blonde grabs my arm.

‘You real lawyer?’ she asks in stiff English.

‘Of course.’

‘Can I talk with you?’

‘No. I’m going home.’

‘Please. I’m desperate.’

There’s anguish in her dark eyes.

‘All right.’

Those horny-as-hell guys aren’t going to let the blonde get away without getting what they’ve been waiting so long for. They encircle her. Their voices babble. Banknotes are waved. Euros and dollars.

She manages to calm them down. It looks like she’s promised to come right back to deal with their needs.

I’m not going to interfere in private enterprise. Let alone meddle in every patriarchy’s oldest profession. But these girls’ enthusiasm for their work seems to be at a low ebb, if they need to pep themselves up with a blast of white powder between clients.

The girl follows me up the stairs. There are three of the boys in black in full uniform waiting at the top of the stairs. Two of them are young bucks. One’s fair. The other has dark hair. The third is a red-haired girl. Looks hardly more than twenty.

‘Do good business down there?’ the fair-haired one asks in easy English, with a superior grin on his face.

‘Has the police college stopped teaching youngsters manners?’ I retort, my voice waspish.

The grin slips from the face of the boy in black.

‘Show me your ID,’ he orders.

‘My name’s Stella Blómkvist and I’m a lawyer,’ I say coldly, handing him a business card. ‘Come to my office if you need to talk to me.’

Many thanks to Ewa, Stella, Quentin and Corylus Books for this extract and the opportunity to be involved.

Tomorrow's stop is at Emerald Reviews.

 

The Petrona Award 2023 - Shortlist

 

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

Outstanding crime fiction from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland shortlisted for the 2023 Petrona Award 

Seven impressive crime novels from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have been shortlisted for the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 7 September and is as follows:

Pascal Engman - FEMICIDE tr. Michael Gallagher (Sweden, Legend Press)

Anne Mette Hancock - THE CORPSE FLOWER tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Håkan Nesser - THE AXE WOMAN tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, Mantle)

Petra Rautiainen - LAND OF SNOW AND ASHES tr. David Hackston (Finland, Pushkin Press)

Joachim B Schmidt - KALMANN tr. Jamie Lee Searle (Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)

Lilja Sigurðardóttir - RED AS BLOOD tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)

Gunnar Staalesen - BITTER FLOWERS tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The winning title will be announced on 5 October 2023. 

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 continued generous support of the Petrona Award. 

The judges’ comments on the shortlist:

There were 43 entries for the 2023 Petrona Award from six countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland). There were twenty-one female, nineteen male, two female/male pairs and one male/male pair of authors. The novels were translated by 22 translators and submitted by 22 publishers/imprints. 

This year’s Petrona Award shortlist sees Sweden represented with two novels and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a particularly strong pool of candidates with the shortlisted titles ranging from police procedural and private investigator to historical. 

As ever, we are extremely grateful to the seven 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:

Pascal Engman - FEMICIDE tr. Michael Gallagher (Sweden, Legend Press)

FEMICIDE is a page turning, absorbing, thriller featuring Detective Vanessa Frank. A young woman is found murdered in her apartment in the same week her violent ex-boyfriend is released from prison. Meanwhile, we hear the story of Jasmina, a survivor of a recent severe sexual assault. Engman dives into the world of incels through Tom, a very believable character who is part of a weaponised gender war. 

As expected this is not a comfortable read, addressing the whole incel phenomenon which is of growing concern. The well written characters and increasingly tense plot strands keep the reader absorbed as the story comes to a pinnacle as the attacks against women escalate.

Anne Mette Hancock - THE CORPSE FLOWER tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Journalist Heloise Kaldan is trapped in a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying. Then she receives a cryptic letter from Anna Kiel, wanted for murder, but not seen by anyone in three years. When the reporter who first wrote about the case is found murdered, detective Erik Schafer comes up with the first lead. Has Kiel struck again? As Kaldan starts digging deeper she realises that to tell Kiel’s story she will have to revisit her own dark past.

A dark and compelling story with echoes of Stieg Larsson's THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, this is an exceptionally strong start to the series, with a balanced blend of journalistic detection, psychological thriller and police procedural.

Håkan Nesser - THE AXE WOMAN tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, Mantle)

The fifth and final Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti novel from Håkan Nesser, sees Barbarotti returning to work after a personal tragedy and tasked with the investigation of a cold case, based on the unexplained disappearance of Arnold Morinder five years previously. Morinder's former partner Ellen Bjarnebo, who had been previously convicted of the brutal murder of her first husband, is sought by Barbarotti for more information, but she too has disappeared.

Håkan Nesser's credentials as a superior storyteller are once more in evidence in THE AXE WOMAN, with its impressive narrative arc and peerless characterisation, coupled with a perceptive translation by Sarah Death.

Petra Rautiainen - LAND OF SNOW AND ASHES tr. David Hackston (Finland, Pushkin Press)

LAND OF SNOW AND ASHES is set at a prison camp in Finnish Lapland in 1944 during the occupation by Nazi Germany, and in 1947 when journalist Inkeri arrives in remote Enontekiö on an assignment to chart the area’s social development. Inkeri gets to know the small community, discovers disturbing silenced crimes, and tries to find out what happened to her missing husband. Rautiainen weaves in the elements of Finland’s recent hidden history in the European context, and gives voice to the Sámi people, while Inkeri’s personal investigation shows the painful truths of human brutality and the cost of survival in extreme conditions. 

A harsh yet beautiful landscape adds to the mystery and allows for reflection and thought in this striking historical but contemporary novel. 

Joachim B Schmidt - KALMANN tr. Jamie Lee Searle (Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)

A local hotel owner and entrepreneur has gone missing, then Kalmann Odinsson discovers a pool of blood in the snow in the quiet village of Raufarhofn. Kalmann is an engaging, highly observant,  neurodiverse character who sees the world his own way and who can easily become overwhelmed. He hunts and makes fermented shark and his usually quiet life in the small community falls into turmoil as the police arrive to investigate formally. 

This quirky Icelandic story quickly draws the reader in, and information is revealed slowly as the mystery is solved. KALMANN is a beautifully written, absorbing, character-driven tale set in a rich Icelandic landscape.

Lilja Sigurðardóttir - RED AS BLOOD tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)

Following the events in COLD AS HELL, the UK-based financial investigator Áróra Jónsdóttir still searches for her sister Ísafold in Iceland, now convinced she will only find her sister’s body. Teaming again with Daníel, an old family friend and a detective, she becomes involved in the murky, violent, criminal underworld when the entrepreneur Flosi’s wife gets kidnapped. 

The chilling scenery and tight plotting with unexpected twists propel the novel into the uncommon sphere of financial crime mixed with a strong sense of unease and danger. The writing is sharp, intelligent and witty, and the characters authentic. Sigurðardóttir surprises at every step with her exciting style, faultlessly brought into English by Quentin Bates. 

Gunnar Staalesen - BITTER FLOWERS tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

BITTER FLOWERS is set in Norway in the 1980s during the heated atmosphere of toxic waste environmental protests. Private investigator Varg Veum is just out of rehab for his alcoholism. The story starts with a body found under suspicious circumstances in a swimming pool. The lifestyle of the rich, their power and the privilege their money affords them comes into question.

Staalesen is an expert at making his characters just complex enough that the reader can empathise with the human condition in the majority of them. BITTER FLOWERS is finely crafted and translated giving the reader a clear sense of location and an array of vivid characters to spend their time with.

The judges

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

Miriam Owen - founder of the NORDIC NOIR blog, passionate about the arts, she moderates author panels and provides support at crime fiction festivals.

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

Award administrator

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

On social media, please use #PetronaAward23.

New Releases - August 2023

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in August 2023 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 91 titles this month. August and future months (and sometimes years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.

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.

• Abbott, Rachel - Don't Look Away #3 Stephanie King
• Adams, Jane - The Lost Daughter #5 Ray Flowers, ex-police officer, Leicestershire
• Allen, Hania - The Unexpected Guest #5 DS Dania Gorska
• Anderson, Lin - The Wild Coast #18 Rhona MacLeod, forensic scientist, Glasgow
• Baker, J A - The Woman in the Woods
• Barber, Lizzy - Nanny Wanted
• Baylis, Edie - The Price of Betrayal (ebook only) #2 Scarred
• Beard, Susanna - The Best Friend
• Blómkvist, Stella - Murder at the Residence tr. Quentin Bates #7 Stella Blómkvist, Lawyer
• Brack, Graham - Murder In Maastricht #7 Master Mercurius
• Brightwell, Emily - Mrs Jeffries Aims to Win #41 Mrs Jeffries
• Brolly, Matt - The Bridge #6 Detective Louise Blackwell
• Brooke, S J - The Body on Scafell Pike #1 DI Jess Chambers and Margot Voyce, Lake District
• Brownlow, John - Assassin Eighteen #2 Last Man Standing series
• Callaghan, Helen - The Drowning Girls
• Carpenter, Elisabeth - The Family on Smith Street
• Cassidy, Amanda - The Returned
• Cassidy, Jane - The Desire Line
• Cavanagh, Steve - Kill For Me Kill For You
• Chowdhury, Ajay - The Invitation (ebook only) #1 Kamil Rahman Novella
• Cleeves, Ann - The Raging Storm #3 Detective Matthew Venn, Devon
• Comley, M A - To Hold Responsible #10 DI Sam Cobbs
• Davison, Anita - Murder in the Bookshop #1 Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet, 1915, London
• Dixon, Helena - Murder at the Village Fair #13 Miss Underhay
• Ellis, Emmy - Roulette #20 Cardigan Estate
• Ellis, Kate - The Killing Place #27 Wesley Peterson (policeman) and Neil Watson (archaeologist), Tradmouth, Devon
• England, Caroline - The Stranger Beside Me
• Evans, Maz - Over My Dead Body
• Ewan, C M - The House Hunt
• Feeney, Alice - Good Bad Girl
• Fennell, David - The Silent Man #3 DI Grace Archer & DS Harry Quinn, London
• Filteau-Chiba, Gabrielle - Feral tr. David Homel
• Ford, P F - A Date With Death #5 West Wales Murder Mysteries
• Fortin, Sue - Death at Applewick Manor (ebook only) #2 Applewick Village
• Frank, Anita - The Good Liars
• Gatward, D J - Dead Man's Hands (ebook only) #15 DCI Harry Grimm
• Goddard, Robert - The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction #2 Umiko Wada
• Goodhind, J G - Murder Runs in the Family #13 Honey Driver, Hotelier, Bath
• Goodwin, Sarah - The Blackout
• Gray, Lisa - To Die For
• Greene, Morgan - The Last Light of Day #8 DI Jamie Johansson
• Hamdy, Adam - White Fire #3 Scott Pearce
• Hausmann, Romy - Anatomy of a Killer tr. Jamie Bulloch
• Hayes, Samantha - The Inheritance
• Hepburn, Sam - The Mistake I Made • Howard, B M - Blood on the Tiber #2 Gracchus & Vanderville • Howard, Catherine Ryan - The Trap
• Hurst, Daniel - The Doctor's Widow #2 The Doctor's Wife
• Jameson, Emma - A Death at Bay View Hotel #5 Jemima Jago, Librarian, Isles of Scilly
• Jeffrey, Diane - The Other Couple
• Jonasson, Ragnar & Jakobsdottír, Katrín - Reykjavík tr. Victoria Cribb
• Khan, Vaseem - Death of a Lesser God #4 Inspector Persis Wadia
• La Plante, Lynda - Taste of Blood #9 WPC Tennison
• Leigh, Judy - Foul Play at Seal Bay #1 Morwenna Mutton, Librarian, Cornwall
• Leitch, Fiona - A Cornish Seaside Murder #6 Jodie 'Nosey' Parker, Chef
• Lewis, Susan - I Know It's You
• Llaca, Verónica E - Blood Ties tr. Mark Fried
• Lloyd, Catherine - Miss Morton and the Spirits of the Underworld #2 Miss Morton, Regency England
• London, Kate - The Misper #4 DS Sarah Collins
• Louth, Nick - The Body in Nightingale Park #12 DCI Craig Gillard
• MacDonald, Dee - A Body in a Cornish Village #7 Kate Palmer, Cornwall
• Malliet, G M - Death in Print #5 Detective Chief Inspector St Just
• Marlowe, Deb - Murder on the Mirrored Lake #3 Kier and Levett, Victorian Era
• McAllister, Gillian - Just Another Missing Person
• McDermott, Andy - The Knights of Atlantis #17 Archaeologist Nina Wilde & ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase
• McKinty, Adrian - The Detective Up Late #7 Sean Duffy
• Mott, Tony - Deadly Autumn Harvest tr. Marina Sofia
• Mumford, Louise - The Hotel
• Oliver, Kelly - Mayhem in the Mountains #3 Fiona Figg
• Parker, Kate - Deadly Manor #10 Olivia Denis, 1930s London
• Parks, Adele - Just Between Us
• Parsons, Tony - Who She Was
• Pryor, Mark - The Dark Edge of Night #2 Henri Lefort
• Ramsay, Caro - In Her Blood #2 DCI Christine Caplan, Highlands
• Rose, M L - Stolen Souls #1 Detective Nikki Gill, Oxford
• Rosenberg, Kenneth - London on Fire (ebook only) #4 Nathan Grant
• Russell, Leigh - Without Trace #20 DI Geraldine Steel
• Russell, Michael - The City of God #8 Garda Detective Stefan Gillespie
• Selman, Victoria - All the Little Liars
• Shemilt, Jane - All Her Secrets
• Silva, Jo - Murder on a Cornish Isle #2 The Edge of the World Detective Agency
• Simpson, Carla - Deadly Illusion #4 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
• Smirnoff, Karin - The Girl in the Eagle's Talons (Millennium VII) tr. Sarah Death
• Smith, Alex - Lucky Number Seven #13 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
• Smith, Fiona Veitch - The Picture House Murders #1 Miss Clara Vale, 1929
• Staalesen, Gunnar - Mirror Image tr. Don Bartlett #13 Varg Veum, PI in Bergen, Norway
• Stone, Lisa - The Gathering
• Tope, Rebecca - A Discovery in the Cotswolds #21 Thea Osborne, House Sitter, Cotswolds
• White, M J - Leave no Trace #3 Cora Lael, Suffolk
• Williams, T A - Murder in Siena #4 Armstrong and Oscar
• Yarwood-Lovett, Sarah - A Generation of Vipers #4 Nell Ward

Cover Theme - Windows 10 Lock Screen

Not quite the same but similar to the Windows 10 screen:

More cover similarity posts can be found here.

The Petrona Award 2023 - Longlist

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

OUTSTANDING CRIME FICTION FROM DENMARK, FINLAND, ICELAND, NORWAY, SWEDEN AND SWITZERLAND LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 PETRONA AWARD

Twelve crime novels from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have made the longlist for the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

Jussi Adler-Olsen - The Shadow Murders tr. William Frost (Denmark, Quercus)
Lina Areklew - Death in Summer tr. Tara F Chace (Sweden, Canelo Crime)
Kjell Ola Dahl - Little Drummer tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)
Pascal Engman - Femicide tr. Michael Gallagher (Sweden, Legend Press)
Anne Mette Hancock - The Corpse Flower tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)
Susanne Jansson - Winter Water tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Hodder & Stoughton)
Håkan Nesser - The Axe Woman tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, Mantle)
Petra Rautiainen - Land of Snow and Ashes tr. David Hackston (Finland, Pushkin Press)
Joachim B Schmidt - Kalmann tr. Jamie Lee Searle (Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)
Lilja Sigurðardóttir - Red as Blood tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)
Gustaf Skördeman - Codename Faust tr. Ian Giles (Sweden, Zaffre)
Gunnar Staalesen - Bitter Flowers tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)

The significantly increased number of entries for this year’s Petrona Award illustrates the continuing popularity of Scandinavian crime fiction in translation. The longlist contains a mix of new and established authors including previous Petrona Award winner, Gunnar Staalesen.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Orenda Books leading with three entries, and the breakdown by country is Sweden (5), Denmark (2), Norway (2), Finland (1), Iceland (1) and Switzerland (1), with translators Don Bartlett and Tara F Chace having translated two entries each.

The shortlist will be announced on 7 September 2023.

The Petrona Award 2023 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller/Area Commercial Support for a major book chain in the UK; Miriam Owen, founder of the NORDIC NOIR blog, passionate about the arts, she moderates author panels and provides support at crime fiction festivals, and Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE. The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

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 (https://www.petronaaward.co.uk/).

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his generous support of the 2023 Petrona Award.

Award News: Petrona Award Entries 2023

I am pleased to announce that the 43 titles that were eligible for the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year have been entered by the publishers.

The winner of the Award will be announced online later this year.

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 2022.
• 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 2022 Award was Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson, translated from the Swedish by Agnes Broomé and published by Zaffre.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries 

[21 titles are by Female authors and 20 by Male plus 2 teams of Male and Female authors. There are 23 translators (15 Female (29 titles), 6 Male (13 titles) and 1 Female/Male collaboration (1 title)) and 6 countries are represented (24 Sweden, 6 Iceland, 7 Norway, 2 Finland, 3 Denmark and 1 Switzerland).]

Jussi Adler-Olsen - The Shadow Murders tr. William Frost (Denmark, M, Quercus) 

Maria Adolfsson - Wild Shores tr. Agnes Broomé (Sweden, F, Zaffre) 

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  - Night Shadows tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, F, Orenda Books)

Stefan Ahnhem - The Final Nail  tr. Agnes Broomé (Sweden, M, Head of Zeus)

Tove Alsterdal - We Know You Remember tr. Alice Menzies (Sweden, F, Faber & Faber)

Lina Areklew - Death in Summer tr. Tara F Chace (Sweden, F, Canelo) 

Lina Bengtsdotter - For the Lost tr. Agnes Broomé (Sweden, F, Orion) 

Kjell Ola Dahl - Little Drummer tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, M, Orenda Books)

Arne Dahl - You Are Next tr. Ian Giles (Sweden, M, Harvill Secker)

Anders de la Motte - Deeds of Autumn tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, M ,Zaffre)

Anders de la Motte - Dead of Winter tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, M ,Zaffre) 

Katrine Engberg - The Harbour tr. Tara Chace (Denmark, F, Hodder & Stoughton)

Pascal Engman - Femicide tr. Michael Gallagher (Sweden, M, Legend Press)

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

Anne Mette Hancock - The Corpse Flower tr. Tara Chace (Denmark, F, Swift Press)

Jorn Lier Horst - The Night Man tr. Anne Bruce (Norway, M, Michael Joseph)

Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger - Unhinged tr. Megan Turney (Norway, M&M, Orenda Books)

Susanne Jansson - Winter Water tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, F, Hodder & Stoughton)

Ragnar Jonasson - Outside tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, M, Michael Joseph)

Anna Karolina - The Guilty One tr. Lisa Reinhardt (Sweden, F, Thomas & Mercer)

Anna Karolina - The Missing Man tr. Lisa Reinhardt (Sweden, F, Thomas & Mercer)

Lars Kepler - The Mirror Man tr. Alice Menzies (Sweden, F&M, Zaffre)

Camilla Lackberg & Henrik Fexeus - Trapped tr. Ian Giles (Sweden, F&M, HarperCollins)

David Lagercrantz - Dark Music tr. Ian Giles (Sweden, M, MacLehose Press)

Jónína Leósdóttir - Deceit tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, F, Corylus Books)

Ruth Lillegraven - Blood Ties tr. Diane Oatley (Norway, F, AmazonCrossing)

Niklas Natt och Dag - 1794: The City Between the Bridges tr. Ebba Segerberg (Sweden, M, Baskerville)

Hakan Nesser - The Axe Woman tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, M, Mantle) 

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

Petra Rautianen - Land of Snow and Ashes tr. David Hackston (Finland, F, Pushkin Press)

Hans Rosenfeldt - Cry Wolf tr. Elizabeth Clark Wessel (Sweden, M, HarperCollins)

Anders Roslund - Sweet Dreams tr. Elizabeth Clark Wessel (Sweden, M, Harvill Secker)

Joachim B Schmidt - Kalmann tr. Jamie Lee Searle (Switzerland, M, Bitter Lemon Press)

Lilja Sigurdardottir - Red as Blood tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, F, Orenda Books)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir  - The Fallout tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, F, Hodder & Stoughton)

Gustaf Skördeman - Codename Faust tr. Ian Giles (Sweden, M, Zaffre)

Gunnar Staalesen - Bitter Flowers tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, M, Orenda Books)

Malin Stehn - Happy New Year tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, F, Penguin)

Viveca Sten - Buried in Secret tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, F, AmazonCrossing)

Viveca Sten - Hidden in Snow tr. Marlaine Delargy (Sweden, F, AmazonCrossing)

Antti Tuomainen - The Moose Paradox tr. David Hackston (Finland, M, Orenda Books)

Silje O Ulstein - Reptile Memoirs tr. Alison McCullough (Norway, F, Grove Press UK)

Christian Unge - A Grain of Truth tr. George Goulding & Sarah De Senarclens (Sweden, M, MacLehose Press)