The Petrona Award 2026 - Longlist

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

 

Petrona Award 2026 - Longlist

OUTSTANDING CRIME FICTION FROM FINLAND, ICELAND, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 PETRONA AWARD

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

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)

Jo Nesbø - Wolf Hour tr. Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Norway)

Aslak Nore - The Heirs of the Arctic tr. Sean Kinsella (MacLehose Press, Norway)

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

Lilja Sigurðardóttir - Black as Death tr. Lorenza Garcia (Orenda Books, Iceland)

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - The Wake tr. Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton, Iceland)

Karin Smirnoff - The Girl with Ice in her Veins tr. Sarah Death (MacLehose Press, Sweden)

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

The longlist contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners Satu Rämö, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Antti Tuomainen.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Orenda Books having three entries and Corylus Books and MacLehose Press having two apiece. Both longlisted entries by Corylus Books have been translated by Quentin Bates.

The breakdown by country is Iceland (5), Norway (3), Finland (2) and Sweden (2).

The shortlist will be announced on 24 September 2026.

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 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.

The Petrona Award 2026 - Entries

I am pleased to announce that 29* titles have been entered by the publishers for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

The Longlist will be announced on 27 August 2026.

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 2025.
• 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 2025 Award was THE CLUES IN THE FJORD by Satu Rämö translated from the Finnish by Kristian London and published by Zaffre.

Entries 

[11 titles are by Female authors and 15 by Male plus 3 teams of Female and Male authors. There are 22 individual or pairs of translators (8 Female (11 titles), 12 Male (16 titles) and 2 pairs of male and female translators (2 titles)); 7 countries are represented (10 Iceland, 7 Sweden, 6 Norway, 3 Finland, 2 France and 1 Denmark.]

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - Home Before Dark tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)
Snæbjörn Arngrímsson - One True Word tr. Larissa Kyzer (M, Iceland, Pushkin Vertigo)

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

Thomas Enger & Johana Gustawsson - Son tr. Thomas Enger & Johana Gustawsson (B, Norway/France, Orenda Books)

Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir - A Lethal Legacy tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)
Johana Gustawsson - The Scars of Silence tr. David Warriner (F, France, Orenda Books)

Jørn Lier Horst - The Lake tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway, Michael Joseph)

Arnaldur Indriðason - The Quiet Mother tr. Philip Roughton (M, Iceland, Harvill Secker)

Jón Atli Jónasson - Broken tr. Quentin Bates (M, Iceland, Corylus Books)
Ragnar Jónasson - Fadeout tr. Larissa Kyzer (M, Iceland, Orenda Books)
Ragnar Jónasson - The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer tr. Victoria Cribb (M, Iceland, Michael Joseph)

Ørjan N Karlsson - Into Thin Air tr. Ian Giles (M, Norway, Orenda Books
Lars Kepler - The Sleepwalker tr. Alice Menzies (B, Sweden, Zaffre)
Karl Ove Knausgaard - The School of Night tr. Martin Aitken (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)

Camilla Läckberg & Henrik Fexeus - Mirage tr. Ian Giles (B, Sweden, Hemlock Press
David Lagercrantz - False Note (ebook/audio only) tr. Elizabeth DeNoma (M, Sweden, Amazon Original Stories)
John Ajvide Lindqvist - The Writing in the Water tr. Michael Meigs (M, Sweden, Amazon Crossing)

Jo Nesbø - Wolf Hour tr. Robert Ferguson (M, Norway, Harvill Secker
Aslak Nore - The Heirs of the Arctic tr. Sean Kinsella (M, Norway, MacLehose Press)
*Olivier Norek - The Winter Warriors tr. Nick Caistor (M, France, Open Borders Press)

Satu Rämö - The Grave in the Ice tr. Kristian London (F, Finland, Zaffre)
Satu Rämö - The Shadow of the Northern Lights tr. Kristian London (F, Finland, Zaffre)

Lilja Sigurðardóttir - Black as Death tr. Lorenza Garcia (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - The Wake tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)
Karin Smirnoff - The Girl with Ice in her Veins tr. Sarah Death (F, Sweden, MacLehose Press)
Viveca Sten - Hidden in Memories tr. Marlaine Delargy (F, Sweden, Amazon Crossing)

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

Christian Unge - Blood Will Tell tr. George Goulding & Sarah De Senarclens (M, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Inger Wolf - The Perfect Place to Die tr. Mark Kline (F, Denmark, Wolf Productions)

*Olivier Norek's The Winter Warriors tr. Nick Caistor was submitted and is included in the statistics above, however the judges felt after reading that this was a historical novel rather than a historical crime novel and so was not considered for the longlist. 

** Mariette Lindstein's Children of Fog Island (translator unknown) was eligible but was not submitted.

Book covers courtesy of Goodreads:

Petrona Award 2026 - Eligibles

Releases - February 2026

In the better late than never category (possibly) here is February 2026's releases (103 titles). I have now got July's on the database and am trying to fill in the Mar-June gap. I may just do one post for those. I have nearly 150 titles for July though. 

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 *** 

 

Allingham, Merryn - Murder at the Homecoming #13 Flora Steele, Sussex, 1955
Amphlett, Rachel - What Evil Hides #15 Detective Kay Hunter
Atkinson, Heather - The House of Lies #5 The Alardyce Series
Baker, Ruth - The Mystery of the Forgotten Forgery #5 Lady Mildred Ramsay, 1920s
Beaton, M C - Death of a Groom (with R W Green) #37 PC Hamish Macbeth, Lochdubh, Scotland
Bonner, Sarah - A Killer Guest List
Brinkworth, J D - The Pie & Mash Detective Agency
Brolly, Matt - The Replacement #2 DS Liam Kilshaw
Browne, Sheryl - The Wife Before
Buchholz, Simone - Sharks tr. Rachel Ward #3 Chastity Riley reloaded
Burnett, R S - Deception Island
Carlyle, Christy - A Deadly Invitation #2 Electra Poole, London, 1870s
Carson, John - Second Chance #1 DCI Ewan McCall
Carter, A J - Welcome to the Family
Castle, Alice - A Country Manor Murder #5 Sarah Vane
Chase, Clare - The Antique Store Detective and the Riverside Murders #4 Bella Winter
Coffey, Edel - In Glass Houses
Coles, Catherine - Murder on the Cricket Green #4 Martha Miller
Connelly, Lucy - The Curious Case of the Poisoned Professor #1 Welsh Village Mystery
Craig, Fergus - I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home
Crawford, Frances - A Bad, Bad Place
Darlington, Leodora - The Exes ***
Dawson, Mark - Heatwave (ebook only) #11 Charlie Cooper
Dean, Will - Adrift
Dixon, Helena - Murder at Sea #23 Miss Underhay
Dylan, Michael - Drop Down Dead #5 DI Simon Wise
Ellis, Emmy - No3 #2 Crawshaw Street
Finnerty, Caroline - Other People's Marriages
Ford, P F - The Copycat (ebook only) #5 Burnham Files
French, Nicci - What Happened that Night #3 Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor
Gallagher, Charlie - Six Hours to Live #1 Police Constable Abigail Morton
Gatward, David J - Left for Dead #23 DCI Harry Grimm
Giles, Stewart - Hakuna Matata #1 Jan Norge and Hilda Baker
Giuliani, C P - Death at Home #8 Tom Walsingham
Godfrey, Jennie The Barbecue at No.9
Golden, Helen - A Dowager is Done-in #3 Duchess of Stortford, 1890s
Grace, Fiona - Treasure and Treachery (ebook only) #15 Lacey Doyle
Griffiths, Elly - The Killing Time #2 Ali Dawson
Halsall, Rona - The Gossip
Hoda, John A - The Foundling House #2 Doctor Henry Jekyll and Francine Murphy, London, 1889
Huntley, Jessica - Our Dream Home
Hurst, Daniel - I Want Your Family #1 The Hunt Family
James, Ed - The Broken Line (ebook only) #15 Cullen and Bain
Johnson, E L - Winter's Rose #4 Winter Murders, Lincoln, 12C
Jones, Rob - The Vatican Conspiracy #6 Hunter Files
Jordan, Adele - The King's Stolen Jewels #4 Shadow Cutpurses Tudor Thrillers
Jordan, G R - Seoras, Save the Kid! #2 Seoras Macleod
Keane, Jessie - Dead To Me
Kendal, Claire - Make You Mine
Kidd, Michelle - The Silent Boy #8 DI Jack MacIntosh
Leather, Stephen - Underdogs
Lee, M J - The Dead of Deva (ebook only) #4 DI Emma Christie
Lewis, N C - Moonlight Bones #9 DI Fenella Sallow
Logan, TM - The Weekend
MacBride, Stuart - And the Corpse Wore Tartan
Mackenzie, M R - The Cracks Beneath #7 Anna Scavolini
McCluskey, Laura - The Cursed Road #2 DI Georgina Lennox and DI Richard Stewart, Scotland
McDonough, Patrice - Murder by Moonrise #3 Dr Julia Lewis, Victorian Era
McGowan, Claire - The Other Couple
McLean, Rachel - The Marsh (with Joel Hames) #8 Cumbria Crime
Masson, Deborah - I'll Be Watching You
Matheson, Nadine - The Shadow Carver #4 DI Henley, London ***
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Belmont Affair (with Nicki Mason) #2 Alexander Wolfe, 1925
Miller, C L - The Antique Hunter's Murder at the Castle #3 Antique Hunters
Moggach, Lottie - Mrs Pearcey
Morrison Lynn What's A Little Blackmail Between Friends #1 Etty and Tris, Victorian Era
Musson, Hester - The Night Hag
Nadal, Jay - The Price of Silence (ebook only) #17 DI Karen Heath
Noel, Sarah F - A Burdened Woman #15 Tabitha & Wolf
O'Connor, Carlene - Murder at an Irish Session #12 Siobhan O'Sullivan, Kilbane, County Cork
O'Keeffe, Bernard - The Carousel of Time #5 DI Garibaldi, Barnes, London
Oliver, Kelly - The Case of the Christie Curse #3 Detection Club
Oliver, M K - A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage
Organ, Emily - A Death at Raven's Roost #4 Emma Langley, Victorian Era
Pannu, Suk - Mrs Sidhu's Just Desserts #2 Mrs Sidhu ***
Perez-Reverte, Arturo - The Final Problem tr. Frances Riddle
Pine, Amelia - Secrets of the Maison Fournier #1 A Belle Époque Bookshop Mystery
Preston, Alex - A Stranger in Corfu
Rawlins, CM - Death on the Airwaves #11 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Rees-Price, Cheryl - Where Darkness Dwells #11 DI Winter Meadows, Wales
Rhodes, Tyler - Brutality on the Beach #4 Max's Campsite Mystery
Richards, JJ - The Wetlands #6 DCI Walker, Lancashire
Richmond, Sadie Gordon - Close to Home #11 London
Riley, Mary-Jane - Beattie Cavendish and the Highland Hideaway #2 Beattie Cavendish, 1940s
Rose, Alex - The Game
Ross, L J - Berwick #24 DCI Ryan
Russell, Leigh - Silent Ties #24 DI Geraldine Steel
Salisbury, Emma - Small Acts of Mercy
Saxon, Diane - A Stranger in the Family
Scase, Leslie - Pagan Rite #5 Inspector Chard
Shaw, Alex - Target Echo #3 Wolf Six
Smith, Anna - The Widows
Stringer, Jay - Once Upon a Time in Glasgow
Taylor, Stephen - Whatever It Takes #13 Danny Pearson
Tremayne, S K - The Wrecker's Girl
Tyce, Harriet - Witch Trial
Weaver, Tim - The Lost Women #14 David Raker, Missing Persons Investigator
Westerbone, M J - Death of the Executioner #6 Draychester Chronicles
Whitelaw, Jonathan - All at Sea
Whitwell, Tracy - The Witch Finder #5 Accidental Medium
Williams, T A - Murder at the Duomo #14 Armstrong and Oscar
Wills, A J - The Couple in the Lodge
Wolff, James - Spies and Other Gods

The Cat Who - Japanese style?

I was a big fan of Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series, especially the earlier volumes, so I am intrigued by this new (in English) series which is being published in the UK from September. 

Japanese author Jiro Akagawa has, according to Wikipedia, written 35 novels and 13 short story collections featuring "Mikeneko Holmes", a calico cat. 

The first of these to reach an English speaking audience is A Game of Cat and Killer, in September, followed by two more in 2027, all translated by Haydn Trowell and published by MacLehose Press.

A Game of Cat and Killer is the first book in the series and was originally published in Japanese in 1978 as Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri.

Here is the delightful cover, and blurb (courtesy of amazon):

Detective Yoshitaro Katayama is afraid of many things: heights, dark spaces, blood and . . . women.

When a young female student is found murdered, he's given two choices - review the harrowing crime-scene photographs or head to Hagoromo Women's College to investigate - and reluctantly opts for the latter.

But the murders don't stop, and soon Katayama has a different surprise on his hands: a calico cat named Holmes, orphaned her owner falls victim.

Surely that's the last thing Katayama needs. Until Holmes begins to display some uncanny investigative instincts of her own . . .

Introducing one the most iconic investigative duos in crime fiction - a hapless detective and his capable cat - The Deductions of Mikeneko Holmes is a must for all readers of Japanese cat fiction and classic crime.

Also, this is a display from May of some other Japanese crime fiction at my library, including titles by the now late Keigo Higashino.

New Releases posts?

A couple of questions. Before I stopped posting back in February I actually had assembled February's new releases on my database. Is there are point in me posting them now or shall I just try and get a bit more up to date. I'm thinking of July as I've made a start...

Having said that I'm also wondering whether to just focus on books in translation as there are so many new releases each month now and it's quite time consuming and maybe I could do more and different posts instead?

Please leave a comment or drop me a message with your thoughts.

The Petrona Award 2026 - update

Hello and thank you for sticking around - I have some Petrona Award 2026 updates:

The details of the titles entered for the Petrona Award 2026 will be revealed shortly and that will in due course be followed by the announcement of the longlist which is currently being debated by the judges - more on them soon as well.

New Releases - January 2026

I am getting more up to date - here is what I've got on my database for January 2026. I am currently working on February 2026.  

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 *** 

 

Ahndoril, Alex - A Play to Kill tr. ??? #2 Private investigator Julia Stark
Alexander, Magda - A Murder on the Thames #3 Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Areklew, Lina - In the Dark tr. ??? #2 Detective Sofia Hjortén
Baker, Matt - A Taste For Murder
Beckett, Simon - The Bone Garden #7 Dr David Hunter
Bellamy, G J - The Toymaker's Case #1 Starling Hall Mystery
Blake, Sam - Your Every Move
Boland, Shalini - The Ex
Boyd, Damien - Blast from the Past #2 DI Bob Willis
Brooke, Amanda - A Good Liar
Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman Far From Home #11 The Lord Julian Mysteries
Carlsson, Christoffer - The Living and the Dead tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles
Cartwright, Jack - When Blood Runs Dry #6 Deadly Wolds Murder Mystery
Carver, C J - Never Say a Word
Cole, M G - The White Horse #10 DCI Garrick
Connolly, Rebecca - Mayhem on the Marzipan Express #2 Claire Walker
Doherty, Paul - The Meadows of Murder #24 Brother Athelstan
Durrant, Helen H - Two Wives
Dylan, Rhys - Cross Cut #19 DCI Evan Warlow
Eldridge, Jim - Murder at the Pyramids #12 Former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson
Elliott, Anna & Veley, Charles - The Valentine Cipher #8 The Homefront Sleuths
Ellis, Emmy - No5 #1 Crawshaw Street
Ellis, Joy - The House of Mystery #3 Ellie McEwan
Ellis, Kate - Killing in the Shadows #6 Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet, Eborby
Feeney, Alice - My Husband's Wife
Finch, Paul - The Lodge
Ford, P F - The Conspiracy (ebook only) #4 Burnham Files
Goodwin, Sarah - The Alpine Retreat
Hall, Lisa - The Wife Swap
Hannah, Darci - A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle #2 Food & Spirits Mystery
Hannah, Sophie - The Opposite of Murder
Hausmann, Romy - Darling Mine tr. Jamie Bulloch
Henry, Steven - Night Flower #1 Coventry Adams, Victorian Era
Hepburn, Holly - The Locked Room #3 The Baker Street Mysteries
Higgs, Steve - Island Life #11 Patricia Fisher: Ship's Detective
Hindle, Tom - A Killer in Paradise
Hood, D K - His Next Wife
Hulse, C E - Vivian Dies Again
Hurst, Daniel - The Doctor #5 The Doctor's Wife
Idov, Michael - The Cormorant Hunt #2 The Cormorant Trilogy
James, Evelyn - A Rose by Any Other Name #38 Clara Fitzgerald
Kara, Lesley - Troublemaker
Karlsson, Ørjan - Into The Dark tr. Ian Giles #2 Jakob Weber, Chief Investigator of Nordland Police
Khan, Vaseem - The Edge of Darkness #6 Inspector Persis Wadia ***
Kuhns, Eleanor - A Murder of Furies #3 Ancient Crete Mystery
Lancaster, Mary - Petteril's Party (ebook only) #9 Lord Petteril
Linskey, Howard - Muse of Fire #2 William Shakespeare
Lynch, Rachel - First Act #1 DI Kelly Porter Prequel
Lynott, R K - Last Take #2 DI Ryan Hale, Chesterfield, Derbys
Macrae, Eva - A Death in Glasgow
Maloney, Anna - The 10:12
Manning, Nina - The Ski Lodge
Markin, Wes - Forgotten Depths #6 Detective Chief Inspector Frank Black, Whitby
Markin, Wes - The York Minster Killings #7 DCI Emma Gardner, Yorkshire
Marrs, John - Dead in the Water
Martin, Faith - A Dangerous Train of Thought #3 Val & Arbie
Mitchell, Caroline - The Ice Angels #1 Detective Elea Baker
Montclair, Allison - Fire Must Burn #8 Sparks and Bainbridge, London, Post WW2
Mosse, Greg - The Chateau Murder #2 French Village Mystery
New, J - On the Wrong Track (ebook only) #6 The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries
North, Ely - Whale Cemetery #12 DCI Finnegan, Yorkshire
O'Sullivan, Darren - Our Daughter is Missing
Parker, Rob - Forbidden Waters #2 Cam Killick, Norfolk
Phifer, Helen - Silenced Sisters #17 Detective Morgan Brookes
Plant, Nigel - The Aztec Pursuit #4 Reed Hascombe
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Green Room #10 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Robb, Candace - A Lion's Ransom #16 Owen Archer
Seymour, Gerald - The Irregular #6 Jonas Merrick
Smith, Alex - Tin Soldiers #19 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
Smith, Fiona Veitch - The Berlin Murders #5 Miss Clara Vale, 1929
Stacey, L H - The One Night Stand
Thorogood, Robert - The Mysterious Affair Of Judith Potts #5 The Marlow Murder Club
Tope, Rebecca - The Eskdale Episode #16 Persimmon Brown, Florist, Lake District
Warner, Paul - A Spy in the Blood #1 Mark Wolfe
Watkin, Sean - Better Off Dead #2 DCI de Silva
Welsh, Louise - The Cut Up #3 Rilke
Wilkinson, Kerry - Tag You're It
Woods, Karen - The Hustle

New Releases - December 2025

I'm still a bit behind but here is what I've got on my database for December 2025. January 2026 will follow soon. I am currently working on February 2026.  

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 *** 

 

Ace, Cathy - The Case of the Devious Daughter #12 A Wise Enquiries Agency Mystery
Adams, Jane - Murder at the Folly #11 Rina Martin, Actress
Ashkanani, Tariq - The Night Watcher #1 Callie Munro ***
Atkinson, Heather - The Wolf (ebook only) #5 Raven
Baker, Ruth - The Mystery of the Christmas Mince Pies #4 Lady Mildred Ramsay, 1920s
Bassett, Isabella - A Cup Full of Poison #10 Lady Caroline, 1920s
Beckham, Bruce - Murder on the Menu #26 Detective Inspector Skelgill
Berry, Connie - A Grave Deception #6 Kate Hamilton, American antiques dealer
Blake, David - Blackfleet Broad #14 DCI Tanner, Norfolk
Briggs, J C - The Prisoner of Raven's Gaze Hall #4 Gothic House Mystery
Bright, Verity - Murder on a Frosty Night #24 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Brookes, Dawn - Cruise Fountain Finale #15 Rachel Prince
Brown, Benedict - The Yacht Party
Burke, Darcy - A Whisper of Secrecy #5 Raven & Wren
Carson, John - When Devils Dance With Saints #8 DCI James Craig
Carter, A J - Make Him Leave
Clarke, Georgina - A Kiss from the Devil #4 Lizzie Hardwicke, 1759
Conroy, Vivian - Trouble in the Alps #6 Miss Ashford
Dams, Jeanne M - Terror on the Train #27 Dorothy Martin
Dawson, Mark - Clearwater #26 John Milton
Ellis, Emmy - Random #47 Cardigan Estate
Enright, Robert - A Rush Of Blood #4 DS Jack Townsend
Field, David - The Footlights Murder #12 Esther and Jack Enright
Fitzek, Sebastian - Mimik tr. Jamie Bulloch
Ford, P F - Another Victim (ebook only) #2 Burnham Files
Ford, P F - The Letter (ebook only) #3 Burnham Files
Fowler, Deborah - Missing in St Ives #3 St Ives Mysteries
Galloway, K T - The Final Course #14 O'Malley & Swift
Gatland, Jack - Silver and the Christmas Caper #2 Sebastian Silver
Gatland Jack - His Dead Man's Hand #24 DI Declan Walsh
Giles, Stewart - The Spider #36 DS Jason Smith
Godden, Gillian - The Don #6 The Lambrianus
Golden, Helen - Nobbled at Christmas #14 A Right Royal Cozy Investigation Mystery
Golding, Julia - The Austen Intrigue #4 Regency Secrets
Handley, P L - Death on Barmouth Bridge #5 Nesta Griffiths
Harper, Izzie - Murder at the Christmas Panto #2 Canterbury Mystery
Hathaway, L B - Murder at the Silver Shoes Jazz Club #17 Posie Parker, 1920s
Hicks, Andrea - The Locket Code (ebook only) #2 Ottilie Divine
Higgs, Steve - Old Score to Settle #5 Albert Smith
Hood, D K - Watch Over Me #28 Detectives Kane and Alton
Hurst, Daniel - If He Finds Us (ebook only) #1 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Hurst, Daniel - The Body (ebook only) #2 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Hurst Daniel - He's My Man (ebook only) #3 Shocking Standalone Short Story Series
Jacobs,  Alina - Peppermint and Poison #4 Christmas in Harrogate
James, Ed - Cuts Both Ways #9 DI Rob Marshall
Kirk, JD - First Among the Dead - Constable Tyler Neish Novella
Kovach, Carla - Their Deadly Truth #18 Detective Gina Harte
Leather, Stephen - Recall: The Man Who Forgot Who He Was
Lynott, R K - Bury the Truth #1 DI Ryan Hale, Chesterfield, Derbys
Mark, David - After the Weeping #14 Detective Sergeant McAvoy of Humberside CID
Mason, Kelly - Poisoned in the Pavilion #7 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Masters, S R - The Drop
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Mystery of the Missing Man #16 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Mitchell, Dreda - Say Guilt and Innocence #4 Love and Hate ***
Organ, Emily - The Hyde Park Murder #11 Augusta Peel, 1920s
Penny, David - A Surfeit of Grief #5 Thomas Berrington, Ludlow, Tudor Era
Probyn, Jack - Noughts & Crosses #4 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Pugh,  Hilary - Trouble at Sunny Dell #2 Proudfoot and Handy
Queen, Emily - A Case of Luck & Death #13 Mrs. Lillywhite, 1920s
Randle, V J - Seven Bodies
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Treehouse #9 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Reeves, S A - A Woman in the Weir #5 The Bookshop Mysteries
Rosenberg, Kenneth - Budapest is Burning #6 Nathan Grant
Saywack, Shiv - Death on the Thames #2 Alexandra Raven, 1950
Shapiro, Irina - The Invite
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Revenge #15 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Sinclair, Rob - Burning State #14 James Ryker
Skinner, P J - Poison Politics #11 Seacastle Mystery
Smith, Philip Anthony - The Silent Daughter
Speechley, Ruby - The Daughter You Left
Stratmann, Linda - Sherlock Holmes and the Widow's Key #10 Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Strauss, Lee - Murder at the Maharaja's Courts #28 Ginger Gold, 1920s
Strike, Ella - The Twelve Lies of Christmas #4 Kitty Goring, 1920s
Sullivan, Tim - The Basket Case (ebook only) #3 DS Cross short story
Sutton, Ann - Murder Crashes the Christmas Wedding #14 Dodo Dorchester
Tallon, Emma - The Wife's Revenge #2 Capello Family
Unge, Christian - Blood Will Tell tr. George Goulding & Sarah De Senarclens #3 Dr Tekla Berg
Yarwood, Mark - And Then They Were Gone - DCI Peter Moone Novella
Yarwood-Lovett, Sarah - An Ambush of Tigers #7 Nell Ward
Zander-Howell, Peter - The Hospital Murders #5 David Adair,

New Releases - October and November 2025

I'm still behind but here is what I've got on my database for October - November 2025. It's a bit patchy, but I have gathered a more complete set of data for December 2025, which will follow shortly. 

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 *** 

 

Alderson, Jennifer S - Murder in the British Museum #2 Traveler's Tale of Murder
Alexander, Magda - A Murder in Trinity Lane #2 Lady Rosalynd and Wynterbourne
Alexander, Magda - The Case of the Stolen Christmas Angel (ebook only) #5 Kitty Worthington Cozy Capers
Alexander, Tasha - The Sisterhood #19 Lady Emily
Allan, Claire - People Don't Just Disappear
Atkinson, Heather - Fury
Baldwin, Ben - Code Dead #3 Sam Taylor
Beaton M C (with R W Green) - Sugar and Spite #36 Agatha Raisin, Retired PR person, Cotswolds
Bennett, S J - The Queen Who Came in from the Cold #5 The Queen
Binks, Millicent - Murder at the Scottish Ball #3 Opal Laplume
Brook, Lee - The Snow Globe Murders #24 West Yorkshire Crime
Brown, Benedict - Death on the Night Train to Verona #2 Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad
Brown, Benedict - The Alpine Christmas Mystery #3 Lord Edgington Investigates Abroad
Brown, Benedict - The Holly Village Murders #6 Marius Quin, 1920s
Cambridge, Colleen - Two Truths and a Murder #5 Phyllida Bright, housekeeper to Agatha Christie.
Cameron, Will - Murder at the Partick Bunhouse Café (ebook only) #4 DCI Mike Patterson
Chase, Clare - Mystery at Mistletoe Place #15 Eve Mallow, Saxford St Peter
Child, Lee and Andrew - Exit Strategy #30 Jack Reacher, ex MP, USA
Cleeves, Ann - The Killing Stones #9 Detective Jimmy Perez, Shetlands
Dawson, Mark - Exposure (ebook only) #10 Charlie Cooper
Dixon, Helena - Murder at Midwinter Farm #22 Miss Underhay
Ellis, Emmy - Recycle #45 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Emmy - Rapine #46 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Hannah - Artful Deceit #6 Lily Larkin
Enright, Robert - Night One - Sam Pope Novella
Ford, P F - The Scarecrow #1 The Nolan Cormac Files
Ford, P F - In the Beginning (ebook only) #1 Burnham Files
Ford, P F - A Body in the Forest #7 The West Wales Murder Mysteries
Forsyth, Frederick and Tony Kent - The Revenge of Odessa #2 Odessa
Gatward, David J - How Grimm Saved Christmas - DCI Harry Grimm Novella
Gatward, David J - Grave Omens #4 DI Gordy Haig
Giuliani, C P - The Man From Morocco #7 Tom Walsingham
Golden, Helen - A Husband is Hushed Up #2 Duchess of Stortford, 1890s
Greene, Morgan - The Carrier #4 Solomon Church
Greene, Morgan - The Widow #5 Solomon Church
Gustawsson, Johana - The Scars of Silence tr. David Warriner #2 Lidingö Mysteries
Hannah, Sophie - The Last Death of the Year: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery #6 Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard
Harper, Izzie - Murder at Bramhurst Chapel #1 Canterbury Mystery
Higgs, Steve - The Truth Will Out #3 DS Tony Heaton
Holland, Jane - The Spiritualist's Daughter #1 Savage and Cook, Victorian Era
Horst, Jorn Lier - The Lake tr. Anne Bruce #18 Chief Inspector William Wisting, Larvik
Hunter, Evie - Dirty Secrets #3 Frenchurch Falls
James, Ed - Our Debts to the Past #8 DI Rob Marshall
James, Peter - The Hawk Is Dead #22 Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, Brighton
Johnston, Anthony - The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail #4 Gwinny Tuffel, Dog sitter
Jonasson, Ragnar - Fadeout tr. Larissa Kyzer- Ari Thor prequel (novella)
Kelly, Vanessa - Murder at Donwell Abbey #2 Emma Knightley
Khan, Vaseem - Quantum of Menace ***
Kirk, JD - The Woman Downstairs
Lindqvist, John Ajvide - The Writing in the Water tr. Michael Meigs #1 Bloodstorm
Maslen, Andy - Goodbye Aziz (ebook only) - Novella
McDermid, Val - Silent Bones #8 Karen Pirie
McEwan, Lynne - The Winter Dead #6 DI Shona Oliver, Dumfries
McKenna, Clara - Murder at Cottonwood Creek #7 Stella and Lyndy, 1905
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Murder of Viscount Montcrief #15 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Middleton, Jo - Not Another Bloody Christmas #2 Anna
Mitchell, Dreda Say - Secrets and Lies #3 Love and Hate ***
Morris M S - The Raven's Call #10 DCI Tom Raven
Mukherjee, Abir - The Burning Grounds #6 Captain Sam Wyndham, Calcutta, 1919 ***
Pine, Alex - Cold Blooded Killer #6 DI James Walker, Cumbria
Pugh, Hilary - Buried in the Brambles #1 Proudfoot and Handy
Rämö, Satu - The Shadow of the Northern Lights tr. Kristian London #3 Detective Hildur Rúnarsdottir, West Coast of Iceland
Rawlins, CM - Death in a Red Suit #8 Maeve Morgan, Scotland, 1920s
Richards, J J - The Castle #5 DCI Walker, Lancashire
Richards, S J - Behind the Ivy #10 Ex-DCI Luke Sackville
Rose, Alex - The Threat
Russell, Alan - The Dead Detective
Sandler, Rosie - Murder Bears Fruit #4 The Gardener Mysteries
Scarr, Louisa - Broken House #3 PC Lucy Halliday
Sigurdardottir, Lilja - Black as Death tr. Lorenza Garcia #5 Arora
Sigurdardottir, Yrsa - The Wake tr. Victoria Cribb #2 Policeman Týr and forensic pathologist Iðunn
Speechley, Ruby - Stolen
Sten, Viveca - Hidden in Memories tr. Marlaine Delargy #3 The Åre Murders
Stone, Alex - The Missing Boyfriend
Tuomainen, Antti - The Winter Job tr. David Hackston
Ward, Sarah - The Death Lesson #4 Mallory Dawson, Wales
Watson, Sue - Wanting Daisy Dead
Wilder, L G - Operation Mantis #2 Max Voronin
Williams, Lana - The Cursed Divination #5 Field & Greystone
Wood, Michael - Worse Than Murder #13 DCI Matilda Darke

The Petrona Award 2026 - Submissions welcome

The Petrona Award 2026 has now opened for submissions. If you have an eligible title and have not yet heard from me then please leave a comment below and I'll be in touch.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the 2026 Petrona Award the following rules apply to all submissions: 

The Award is for adult fiction only. 

The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2025. 

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.

Publishers must send a copy of the submission to each of the judges and the administrator. 

More than one submission per author can be made. 

There is no fee for entering a submission for the Petrona. 

All submissions must be received by 6 March 2026. 

The publisher agrees to receive the trophy on behalf of the winning author and to arrange for subsequent delivery to the winning author.  (new for 2026)

Favourites of 2025

A belated welcome to the blog in 2026. As you can see from my Goodreads montage below I did not have a great reading year in 2025, in terms of quantity. As I've alluded to, circumstances at home have not been conducive to reading, and so I turned to children's books in the main to keep me going. I'm hoping this year will see a return to form!

What I have been enjoying enormously are the British Library Crime Classics. Three of my top reads were their reissues of Cat and Mouse by Christianna Brand, The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson and very recently Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth (I hope we see more of hers reprinted).

Another top read (listen) was A Death in Damonds by S J Bennett read by Samantha Bond. I'm only a couple of weeks away from getting the next book on the series via the library's Borrowbox app.

It's a long way off but I'm really looking forward to the new Marple story by Lucy Foley: Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.

Also, please note, the Petrona 2026 will be opening for business shortly. 

Euro Crime's read-in-2025 

Eurocrime's favorite books »

New Releases - August and September 2025

I've got behind again so in an effort to [begin the] catch-up here is what I've got on my database for August to September. 

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 *** 

 

Anthology - Birds, Strangers and Psychos (ed. Maxim Jakubowski)
Anthology - CrimeFest: Leaving the Scene (ed. Adrian Muller)
Anthology - A Right Cozy Historical Crime (ed. Wendy H Jones)
Addison, Margaret - A Death in Kingsley Square #13 Rose Simpson
Archer, Jeffrey - End Game #8 Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick
Armitage, Richard - The Cut
Atkinson, Heather - Twisted (ebook only) #7 Blagger's Code
Austin, Stephanie - How to Get Murdered in Devon #9 Juno Browne
Banville, John - Venetian Vespers
Barnett, Tam - How to Read a Killer's Mind
Barrettt, Andrew - The Colour of Fury #4 DS Regan Carter
Baskerville, B - Dark Rock #1 Spencer Bly
Braithwaite, Oyinkan - Cursed Daughters ***
Bright, Verity - Murder at the Royal Palace #23 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
Britton, Anna - Left in the Ashes #3 Detectives Martin & Stern
Clements, Rory - Evil in High Places
Craven, M W - The Final Vow #7 Washington Poe
Critchlow, Heather - Unknown #4 Cal Lovett Files
Dalgliesh, J M - Death at Neist Point #6 DI Duncan McAdam, Isle of Skye
Day, Becca - The Secret at Number 7
Day, Elizabeth - One of Us
Dean, John - Murder in the Pennines #12 Detective Chief Inspector Jack Harris
Delvey, Robyn - The Bait #2 Eve Wren
D’Silva, Renita - Two Perfect Couples ***
Dunn, Matt - The Armchair Detectives #1 The Armchair Detective Mysteries
Dunnett, Gregg - Deep Blue Lies
Edwards, Martin - Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife
Ellis, Emmy - Resent #43 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Emmy - Rioted #44 Cardigan Estate
Ellis, Hannah - The Sunken Truth #5 Lily Larkin
Ellis, Joy - Black Notice #11 DI Rowan Jackman & DS Maria Evans, Lincolnshire
Ellis, Kate - Deadly Remains #29 Wesley Peterson (policeman) and Neil Watson (archaeologist), Tradmouth, Devon
Evans, Matthew J - One Dark Thought #4 Chichester Crime
Falco, Michael - Murder in an Italian Piazza #3 Bria Bartolucci, Positano, Italy
Fields, Helen - Watching You #3 Dr Connie Woolwine
Finch, Paul - The Island
Francis, Felix - Dark Horse
Frankland, Maria - The Wife I Was
Galbraith, Robert - The Hallmarked Man #8 Cormoran Strike
Gatland, Jack - Silver and the Sunday Cypher #1 Sebastian Silver
Gatward, David J - Bad Deeds #21 DCI Harry Grimm
Gayle, Katie - Murder in the Winter Woods #8 Julia Bird, Cotswolds
George, Elizabeth - A Slowly Dying Cause #22 Inspector Thomas Lynley & Sergeant Barbara Havers
Giles, Stewart - The Optician #35 DS Jason Smith
Gleason, Colleen - Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer #1 Lady Darling, Victorian Era
Greig, Andrew James - Murder of Crows #3 DI James Corstophine
Guðlaugsdóttir, Guðrún - A Lethal Legacy tr. Quentin Bates #5 Alma Jónsdóttir, Journalist
> Gunnis, Emily - A Child in the Storm Hawkswood, Sarah - Feast for the Ravens #13 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12
Herron, Mick - Clown Town #9 Slough House
Hodges, David - Deceiver on the Levels #15 DC Kate Hamblin
Hurst, Daniel - The Ex Who Came Back
Indridason, Arnaldur - The Quiet Mother tr. Philip Roughton #3 Detective Konrad
Jakeman, Jo - The Vanishing Act
Jenkins, Victoria - It's Me or Her
Johnson, Maureen and Jay Cooper - You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder
Jonasson, Ragnar - The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer tr. Victoria Cribb #2 Helgi
Kay, Adam - A Particularly Nasty Case
Lancaster, Julie - Remember Where You've Buried the Bodies
Leadbeater, David - The Diamond Hunters 37 Matt Drake
Lloyd, Catherine - Miss Morton and the Missing Heir #4 Miss Morton, Regency England
McCleave, Simon - The Abersoch Killings #21 DI Ruth Hunter
MacDonald, Dee - A Very Bookish Murder #3 Ally McKinley
McLean, Rachel and Joel Hames - The Port #7 Cumbria Crime
Mahadevan, Rupa - Nine Dolls ***
Marsons, Angela - Little Children #22 DI Kim Stone
Marston, Edward - Murder on the Great Northern Railway #24 Det. Insp Colbeck, Scotland Yard, mid 19th Century
Mason, Kelly - The Reckless Reporter #6 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Mead, Tom - The House at Devil's Neck #4 Joseph Spector
Michallon, Clémence - Our Last Resort
Middleton, Lia - What the Wife Knew
Mitchell, Caroline - The Family at No. 1
Morton, Mandy - Six Tails at Midnight #15 The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency
Mosse, Greg - The French Bookshop Murder #1 French Village Mystery
Nesbo, Jo - Wolf Hour tr. Robert Ferguson
Norek, Olivier - The Winter Warriors tr. Nick Caistor
Osman, Richard - The Impossible Fortune #5 The Thursday Murder Club
Parks, Adele - Our Beautiful Mess
Penrose, Andrea - Murder at Somerset House #9 Wrexford & Sloane
Perry, Tasmina - Return to Paradise (ebook only)
Phifer, Helen - Gone in the Night #16 Detective Morgan Brookes
Probyn, Jack - The Bogeyman #2 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Probyn, Jack - The Burning Man #3 DI Stephanie Broadbent
Ramunno, Oriana - Smoke in Berlin tr. Antony Shugaar #2 Hugo Fischer
Rhodes, Kate - Deadman's Pool #8 DI Ben Kitto
Rhodes, Tyler - The Campsite Cadaver #1 Max's Campsite Mystery
Rubin, Gareth - The Waterfall
Ryan, OMJ - The Therapy Room
Salter, Michelle - Murder in Trafalgar Square #1 Fairbanks and Flynn
Seddon, Holly - 59 Minutes
Simpson, Carla - Deadly Murder #14 Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe, Victorian London
Smirnoff, Karin - The Girl with Ice in her Veins (Millennium VIII) tr. Sarah Death
Smith, Alexander McCall - In the Time of Five Pumpkins #26 Mma Ramotswe, PI, Botswana
Smith, Wilbur and Mark Chadbourn - House of Two Pharaohs #10 Ancient Egypt
Torrance, Gaynor - Death of the Eleven-Toed Man #2 Wye Valley Widows
Upson, Nicola - The Christmas Clue
Wallace, Freya - Dark Tides #2 DI Knox, Devon
Walter, B P - The Winter Visitor
Yokomizo, Seishi - Murder at the Black Cat Cafe tr. Bryan Karetnyk #7 Kosuke Kindaichi, PI
Young, Glenda - Deadly Dancing at the Seaview Hotel #4 Helen Dexter, Scarborough

The Petrona Award 2025 - Winner

 

Winner of the Petrona Award 2025 announced

The winner of the Petrona Award 2025 for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is: 

THE CLUES IN THE FJORD by Satu Rämö translated from the Finnish by Kristian London and published by Zaffre.

Satu Rämö will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize.

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

The judges’ statement on THE CLUES IN THE FJORD:

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. 

Providing the local detective with a Finnish side-kick allows the author to contrast Icelandic and Finnish traits, adding authenticity to an original story. The intriguing back-stories of both characters leave the reader anticipating the next instalments.

In the ever increasing Icelandic crime fiction scene, Satu Rämö has carved out a unique position between traditional mysteries and the darker end of crime fiction.

Statements from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Satu Rämö:

I am deeply honoured to receive this award, and I want to thank the jury and the organizers of the Petrona Award. I also want to acknowledge the incredible writers nominated alongside me. To be included among such talented writers is a reward in itself. Your words have inspired me a lot!

This award reminds me of a conversation I had with a reader, a ninety-five-year-old woman, who shared how the book, the first part in the Hildur crime book series, THE CLUES IN THE FJORD, made her feel. She told me that she knows she is getting very old but after reading this book, she hoped she would live long enough to read the sequel, to know what happened to the two little girls who got lost on their way from school. When the sequel came out, I sent it to her and called her after a few weeks. She was still as happy and joyful as last time, waiting for the next book in the series to come out...

It is the readers who keep stories alive. Thank you for reading. I want to thank you also, my British publisher Zaffre and my translator Kristian London. Great teamwork! Thank you jury from the bottom of my heart, this award means so much to me.

Kristian London:

When I first took on translating Satu Rämö’s THE CLUES IN THE FJORD, the book’s incredible success in Finland suggested it had a high chance of connecting with audiences abroad as well. I’m gratified to see this is the case. It has been a privilege to act as an intermediary between Rämö’s imagination and those of her English-speaking readers as they enter Hildur’s world of human quirks and foibles, familial traumas and inheritances. For me, the work’s slow power springs from its true protagonist: that isolated land in the North Atlantic that serves as the setting, and the terrain and culture and people we’re introduced to through an outsider’s keen eyes. Many thanks to the Petrona Award jury for this honor.

Kasim Mohammed (editor at Zaffre):

Being Satu's English-language publisher is a real honour. She has such an eye for crafting stories about real people, and a real heart to her writing that is hard to find these days. Bringing authors' dreams to life is a privilege and moments like this are wonderful to experience. To know Satu's work is resonating with so many readers, worldwide, brings the team here at Bonnier so much pride. Thank you to the Petrona Award jury for this honour - we will treasure this as we continue to publish Satu!  

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.

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.