The Petrona Award 2026 - Shortlist

 

Outstanding crime fiction from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2026 Petrona Award 

Seven impressive crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 24 September and is as follows:

Snæbjörn Arngrímsson - One True Word tr. Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)

Stella Blómkvist - Murder Tide tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

Jón Atli Jónasson - Broken tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

Ørjan N Karlsson - Into Thin Air tr. Ian Giles (Orenda Books, Norway)

John Ajvide Lindqvist - The Writing in the Water tr. Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)

Satu Rämö - The Grave in the Ice tr. Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)

Antti Tuomainen - The Winter Job tr. David Hackston (Orenda Books, Finland)

The winning title will be announced on 22 October 2026. 

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 judges’ comments on the shortlist:

There were 28 entries for the 2026 Petrona Award from six countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). This year’s shortlist sees Iceland represented with three novels, Finland with two, and Norway and Sweden with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a strong pool of candidates with the seven shortlisted authors including two previous Petrona Award winners: Satu Rämö and Antti Tuomainen. 

Independent publishers Corylus Books and Orenda Books both have two entries on the shortlist with Corylus’s both being translated by Quentin Bates. Amazon Crossing, Pushkin Vertigo and Zaffre have one entry apiece.

For Snæbjörn Arngrímsso, Jón Atli Jónasson and Ørjan N Karlsson, this is their first novel in English translation and for John Ajvide Lindqvist this is his first crime novel in translation.

The sub-genres of the shortlisted novels range from comedy to noir with the police procedural being particularly well represented this year.

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:

Snæbjörn Arngrímsson - ONE TRUE WORD translated by Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)

Following a day of simmering tension on a research trip to an uninhabited island, Júlia snaps and leaves her husband Gíó stranded in the middle of a freezing fjord in the depths of the Icelandic winter, with night drawing in. When she has an attack of conscience and returns he has disappeared without a trace, leaving the reader in suspense as to how complicit, or not, she is in his disappearance. 

The blend of psychological thriller and domestic drama is perfectly weighted and Júlia is a flawed and mercurial character. ONE TRUE WORD with its first person, possibly unreliable narration, and its increasing sense of unease, is an extremely clever and disquieting mystery, with a more than satisfying denouement.

Stella Blómkvist - MURDER TIDE translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

MURDER TIDE is the third English translation in the Stella series and the ninth of the original Icelandic. True to form, Stella has three separate inquiries vying for her attention: a kidnapping, a persistent medium foretelling a death, and a possible mole in the police force. 

One would think the inimitable, no-nonsense, whisky-drinking lawyer Stella Blómkvist would have lost her steam by this ninth book, but not a chance. MURDER TIDE is every bit as entertaining as its predecessors. Although parenthood and a new relationship have softened Stella slightly around the edges, the author still packs in plenty of twists, and her snarky inner dialogue remains a joy to read.

Jón Atli Jónasson - BROKEN translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

Dora struggles to cope with life after taking a bullet to the head. Rado is the child of refugees, his career shunted off the tracks due to his family connections to an organised crime gang. These two broken cops are the only ones available when a troubled teenager vanishes from a school trip, and the trail gets darker the further they pursue it. In a side of Reykjavik no visitor would ever want to see, the mismatched pair tread on all the wrong toes in the search for the missing youngster, but the personal danger to them both does not stop there.

The pace and intensity of the plotting is superb, as various strands in the characters’ lives both professional and personal converge and overlap. The combination of this mismatched duo and the increasing threat of violence and tension that gradually builds, makes BROKEN a dark and compulsive police procedural. 

Ørjan N Karlsson - INTO THIN AIR translated by Ian Giles (Orenda Books, Norway)

The stunning Arctic Circle’s Lofoten Islands become their own character in the first novel featuring Jakob Weber, Chief Investigator of Nordland Police. Their beauty both attracts people, and hides dark secrets. When a young woman vanishes during a run, and then an influencer disappears, while promoting the archipelago, Weber’s investigation leads to the earlier death of a Ukrainian refugee found in the ruins of a WWII bunker. Privately he is grieving the death of his wife and trying to deal with childhood trauma. Professionally, he has strong relationships with his colleagues including the newly arrived, detective Noora Yun Sande, who has fled Oslo after being subjected to an abuse of power. 

Karlsson writes with a deep understanding of how communities work and their influence on the policing. Recent history, and a sense of authenticity make INTO THIN AIR a powerful and gripping read. 

John Ajvide Lindqvist - THE WRITING IN THE WATER translated by Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)

During a Midsummer Eve party a millionaire, his family and their foreign guests are gunned down at their luxury home on a private island. His childhood friend, ex-cop and now successful writer, Julia Malmors, is at her summerhouse on a nearby island, where she is rewriting her sequel to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. Frustrated and scared she joins forces with her elusive friend and researcher Kim Ribbing, a white-hat hacker, to find the killers. 

With a reversed situation to Larsson’s Salander and Blomkvist, THE WRITING IN THE WATER takes on similar themes and relationships, and creates an original, highly suspenseful semi-homage to Larsson, with a sharp look at society and the impact of people with power, money and international connections. 

Satu Rämö - THE GRAVE IN THE ICE translated by Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)

The follow-up to the Petrona Award winning THE CLUES IN THE FJORD sees Icelandic detective Hildur Rúnarsdottir, and her Finnish sweater-knitting trainee Jakob Johanson, return to solve the murder of a politician and navigate their own complex lives. The disappearance of Hildur’s younger sisters twenty-five years earlier remains a mystery she is determined to solve, while Jakob has his hands full with his ex trying to prevent him from seeing his son.

In a genre typically dominated by male leads, characters like Hildur flip the traditional detective-and-victim dynamic on its head, subverting conventional gender roles and expectations. These well-developed characters, combined with a fresh storyline, ensure THE GRAVE IN THE ICE is a solid police procedural with genuine depth. 

Antti Tuomainen - THE WINTER JOB translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books, Finland)

lmari is an unassuming man, who embarks on this seemingly simple job to deliver a sofa to a distant destination to secure the money to buy a piano for his daughter for Christmas. Teaming up with an estranged school friend, and pursued by ne'er-do-wells with their own agenda for retrieving the sofa, this seemingly straightforward assignment turns into a perilous game of cat and mouse for our warm-hearted postal worker. The plot soon descends into a Coen-esque style road trip fraught with murderous intent, but with an ultimately life affirming message of comradeship and friendship.

With an impressively precise control, THE WINTER JOB combines humour in the narrative, with a harmonic balance between the dark, the absurd and the slightly slapstick, but never at the expense of the plot and characterisation. 

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 -  a 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: http://www.petronaaward.co.uk.

On social media, please use #PetronaAward26.