Some Mini Scandi Reviews

Over the last few months I've read several Scandi books that I haven't had time to review. So to give myself a tabula rasa here are my brief thoughts on them:

Camilla Lackberg's last two books, THE LOST BOY and BURIED ANGELS (both tr.
Tiina Nunnally) have both revolved around an island. I always enjoy Lackberg's books to a certain extent, which varies on the amount of soap-opera activities of the main characters Erica (novelist) and Patrick (police officer) and their expanding family, and the antics of Patrick's fellow police officers. Whilst THE LOST BOY was an ok read, I did guess one of the twists; the better of the two books I think, is BURIED ANGELS with its cold case locked-island mystery involving the disappearance of all but one member of a family.

I hope Jorn Lier Horst will forgive me not doing his books justice will full reviews.
In my defence I am one of the team who put CLOSED FOR WINTER and THE HUNTING DOGS (both tr. Anne Bruce) on the Petrona Award shortlists for 2014 and 2015 respectively. The Petrona Award recognises the best Scandinavian crime fiction in translation. CLOSED FOR WINTER revolves around a murder in a holiday cottage and it takes its main character Chief Inspector Wisting to Lithuania, and THE HUNTING DOGS sees Wisting suspended and suspected of falsifying evidence. Wisting is a likeable, empathetic character who has an awkward relationship with his daughter Line a journalist. Line often ends up, though in a naturalistic way, running a parallel investigation into Wisting's cases from a “news” point of view.

Kati Hiekkapelto's striking debut, THE HUMMINGBIRD (tr. David Hackston), which introduces Anna Fekete, an immigrant to Finland from the Baltic states, catapulted its way on to this year's Petrona Award shortlist. Anna has to put up with extreme prejudice from her new police colleague as they try and catch a serial killer.

The gang's all here in Arne Dahl's TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN (tr. Alice
Menzies), well after a bit. The Intercrime group, having no serious crime to deal with have been disbanded and their leader retired off. Slowly however the team finds that the investigations they're involved in separately, have a connection. I enjoyed the previous two books in the series greatly but I struggled with this one and I lost interest in the second half. I wouldn't recommend starting the series with this one but I would recommend the series overall.

Having enjoyed Anne Holt's DEATH OF A DEMON I went straight on to THE LION'S MOUTH (both tr. Anne Bruce). Regular lead, Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen, is more of a bystander in this one as she's out of the country initially. However the murder of the Prime Minister in her office - a closed room mystery - brings Hanne home to provide unofficial support to her colleague Billy T. I love books set in the world of politics so I lapped this one up. My only reservation was the ending but I cannot expand on that!

Another 2015 Petrona Award shortlistee is REYKJAVIK NIGHTS by Arnaldur Indridason (tr. Victoria Cribb) which is a prequel to his established series and introduces the young Erlendur in his first few years at the police. He is on traffic duty and on the night shift. He investigates the death of a tramp and in addition we get to see how he meets his future wife. It should appeal to existing and new fans alike.

As with Jorn Lier Horst, I've been party to both of Yrsa Sigurdardottir's previous
two books being shortlisted for the Petrona Award: SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (tr. Philip Roughton) for 2014 and THE SILENCE OF THE SEA (tr. Victoria Cribb) for this year. In SOMEONE series character, lawyer Thora takes on the case of a young man with Down's syndrome who is accused of burning down a care home and killing five people and it is set against the backdrop of the financial crash. SILENCE has a slightly different structure  with Thora not being in the book as much as usual. A yacht returns to Reykjavik with no-one on board though a family and a crew were on it when it left Portugal. Thora is hired by the grand-parents of the surviving child who did not go on the ill-fated trip to prove that the parents are dead. The narrative is split between Thora's investigations and a recounting of what happened aboard the yacht and is an extremely tense and compulsive read.

Kristina Ohlsson's THE DISAPPEARED (tr. Marlaine Delargy) the latest book in the Alex Recht/Fredrika Bergman series continues to mix the personal with the professional in a similar way to Camilla Lackberg. All the main characters go through personal trauma whilst looking into the cold case of a missing student whose body has just been found. I enjoyed this very much.

Hans Olav Lahlum's THE HUMAN FLIES (tr. Kari Dickson), also shortlisted for the 2015 Petrona Award, introduces the nice but dim Norwegian policeman K2 and his brilliant civilian sidekick Patricia who is confined to a wheelchair and rarely leaves her home. Set in Oslo in 1968, they have a locked room mystery to solve where the murderer must surely be one of the apartment block's residents, all of whom seem to have a connection to the legendary war hero victim... FLIES melds an intriguing mystery with a look into recent Norwegian history.

Finally, staying in Norway, ages ago I read COLD HEARTS by Gunnar Staalesen (tr. Don Bartlett). I do enjoy this series, set in Bergen, so I can't wait for the next three books in the series which are due from Orenda Press and will also be translated by Don Bartlett.

New Reviews: Anderson, Black, Blake, Bruce, Gerhardsen, Jardine, Lackberg, Peacock, Wood

Here are this week's 9 new reviews which have now been added to the Euro Crime website:

Lynn Harvey reviews Just Business by Geraint Anderson, who has written "a fully-fledged thriller around the Cityboy character of Steve Jones";

Mark Bailey reviews Tony Black's Murder Mile the second in the DI Rob Brennan series set in Edinburgh;

Terry Halligan reviews the first of Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways books, A Question of Proof which has been recently been republished by Vintage;

Michelle Peckham reviews Alison Bruce's The Calling the third in the DC Goodhew, Cambridge-based series which is now out in paperback;

I review Carin Gerhardsen's The Gingerbread House, tr. Paul Norlen the first in the Hammarby (police) series set in Stockholm;

Susan White reviews Quintin Jardine's Grievous Angel in which Bob Skinner looks back at his early career;

Maxine Clarke reviews Camilla Lackberg's The Drowning, tr. Tiina Nunnally which is now out in paperback;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Caro Peacock's fifth Liberty Lane mystery, Keeping Bad Company set in 1840

and Terry also reviews Tom Wood's The Enemy the second in the Victor hitman series.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

Harrogate - 50 Different Words For Murder

The first of two panels on the final day, the ones I'd been eagerly awaiting:

From the Programme:
With crime fiction from around the world as popular as ever, we ask four overseas authors what, if anything, is lost in translation. Writing originally in Swedish, Spanish and Afrikaans, Camilla Lackberg, Antonio Hill, Deon Meyer and Liza Marklund will tell Barry Forshaw just how much of their work is filtered or coloured by their translator. How much involvement do they have in the translations? And crucially…will we ever get tired of Scandinavian crime fiction?

My notes:

If LM is Godmother of Swedish crime fiction what does that make Maj Sjowall? LM's granny!

BF says that DM is the best crime writer in Afrikaans. DM said that it was a huge honour to be here, thank you Theaksons.

CL's latest book is The Drowning.

AH - poetic title (The Summer of Dead Toys) but kind of creepy, only book so no problem with being translated out of order, set in a very hot Barcelona.

CL is a celebrity for her private life eg being on the Swedish version of Strictly; her personal life was a gossip item 4 years ago complaining about media, got revenge by attacking reality tv in The Stonecutter/The Stranger.

BF asked LM - do we get right image of Scandinavia from her books? Scandinavians like to think were the best and that the problem with the rest of the world was that they are not Scandinavian. LM wanted to covered issues like abused women/children so wrote crime novels about these issues.

BF says Afrikaans has 87 years left. That's enough for DM! DM's English not as impeccable as his Afrikaans mother tongue, which is a beautiful and varied language.

BF: Translators so grateful to be included in Death in a Cold Climate. CL's books are shared between husband and wife team Steven T Murray and Tiina Nunnally. She's never got into how they do that! They are good at emailing her. She rarely hears from translators.

AH has been a translator so knows process.

LM works closely with (translator) Neil Smith, rework US edition quite a lot.

Translators object to editors changing US to British English (or vice-versa) as it's a whole way of thinking not just the language. DM: British people know more about South Africa than Americans as they only know America. DM's US editions have extra paragraphs or chapters to explain.

AH Read English translation (by Laura McGoughlin) and dialogue was very good, she got the rhythm.

CL & LM are huge in Germany, pictures everywhere. CL wearing angel wings! It's really easy to persuade her to get into angel wings! Been a ghost, dead floating body - crazy campaigns for her books.

LM read everything - raised close to Arctic circle (so not much to do) read Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Maj Sjowall.

DM sees self as ambassador for SA and try to rectify misconceptions about SA. "Once a time you couldn't have a sympathetic white cop" changed after apartheid.

LM - you never find crime novels in dictatorships.

CL likes contrast between everyday life (everyday dramas) and dead bodies, hideous murders.

Legacy of Franco hangs heavy. AH not so young (he says0 lived under it for 9 years.

The panel hoped they were translated due to quality of book not ease with which name can be pronounced in English.

AH was asked to change his name in Germany as not Spanish enough - add an extra letter - but he refused.

Translators clean up LM in German editions. make Annika more polite. Usually you spend several hours for your author portrait - look nice and then German publisher says we need ugly pictures - want author to look like girl next door, roots showing. DM doesn't have this problem and wife think he looks like Brad Pitt anyway!

Annika is an incarnation of LM that makes every mistake but gets away with it. Women are human beings even if not treated like that. LM likes to be a bit Annika if pushed around. We should all be a bit Annika.

CL: didn't want Erica to be her but writes better about her when she writes about her own experiences. Over time Erica is 50% her. Patrik is based on her ex-husband who was a tax economist but she is now married to policeman.

AH's main character is a melancholic, normal guy unless he gets angry! He beats 1 man up but he deserved it and he is the big brother he would like to have.

BF asked DM which of your characters do you like best? He tries to make them different - question is like being asked to choose your favourite child!. He misses them, as characters become like  friends/family and worries about them and make stories up about what they're doing.

LM wrote about union leaders going to strip club as don't have many scandals in Sweden so have to treasure them.

The Ice Princess started with that image of woman in frozen bath. Got title and story built from that image.

AH had an image of girl in swimming pool surrounded by broken toys - made up whole story to explain this image.

DM - press us very free in SA. Took a while to get used to. Dangerous to write a crime novel trying to make a political point as you may lose readers.

LM writes political novels.

CL doesn't think highly of British press - glad that Swedish press isn't as curious. Tabloids are generally nicer than the UK ones.

DM - some of UK press is the best in the world, some is worst.

AH - journalist write scandals about each other in Spain.

BF asked about sex scenes...

LM tries to write them from a male pov.

CL can't make herself write sex scenes as picture of mum & mother-in-law in her head.

DM - Afrikaans of Cape Flats very specific way of speaking but cannot translate (very musical).

CL - get many questions on Scandinavian crime - analyse the success and why they're so good at it; why do people like reading about Scandinavian countries?

Assassinations (Palme & Lind) were a wake up call pulled them into rest of world. Sweden has problems like any other country, not all tall and blonde. A Kennedy moment when Olaf Palme killed. LM said Sweden was 50 years ahead in 1950s as weren't in wars.

Why are Latin countries not as popular. Climate? AH - show we can kill, don't need snow. Not a long tradition of crime fiction in Spain most papers won't review crime fiction.

Corruption endemic theme in all books. No worse in SA than UK, UK politicians "cook the books" (DM). CL said Swedish politicians aren't as colourful or don't hear about it. Now economic scandals as sexual scandals are not scandals any more!

Literary reviewers think CLs books are written in too everyday language and so put their success abroad down to really good translators. LM said Scandi books not better but have a spotlight on a whiter society and spots are darker;the contrast is bigger in Scandi society.

CL - people are curious about Sweden.

LM in Germany always gets question - why did you start with 4th book - only gets that in Germany!! (could be out of order translation or down to the fact that her first book The Bomber is a later one chronologically)

CL in Italy - got so many questions abut Patrik staying at home looking after baby. Convinced a large audience of women that it was a good idea.

DM - email feedback is about the books but when on tour is asked abut country.

AH get different questions about woman character, depending on country - too sexually liberated for some.

DM - 85% of crime is domestic and drug/alcohol related.

LZ - theme is power, in all novels, and stories around that.

DM - vast majority of crime is in disadvantaged communities.

Question from audience about British authors writing about their countries eg Spain (Quintin Jardine) and Alexander McCall Smith (Africa):

AH says why not, have a different view.

CL says "stay away!" (re Brit writers writing about Scandinavia)

DM says that AMS gets Botswana people exactly right, No crime fiction novel can be a panoramic view of all society. Thinks AMS absolutely brilliant and does it very very well.

Comment from German member of the audience post-war Germany very stable, crime fiction very pop since 50s. Patricia Highsmith not seen as crime writer in Germany or Spain.

Ruth Rendell often mentioned as being read by Scandinavians. CL a crime nerd since little. 80% of her reading is crime.

BF ended the session by saying the Germans are coming...

New Reviews: Bolton, Bruen, Faletti, Graham, Haynes, Hill, Lackberg, Wahloo, Winspear

Competition: During May (closes 31st) you can win a copy of Tessa Harris's The Anatomist's Apprentice. The competition is open to UK residents. Answer the question and fill in the form here.

Here are this week's 9 new reviews:

Michelle Peckham is a bit disappointed in S J Bolton's fifth book, and second in the DC Lacey Flint series, Dead Scared, which is set in Cambridge;

Lynn Harvey is bowled over by Ken Bruen's Headstone the ninth in the Jack Taylor series set in Galway;

Laura Root reviews Giorgio Faletti's I am God, tr. Howard Curtis a standalone thriller set in New York City;

Terry Halligan reviews Eliza Graham's literary thriller, The History Room;

Amanda Gillies reviews Elizabeth Haynes' Revenge of the Tide (author of the highly praised Into the Darkest Corner);

Terry also reviews Suzette A Hill's A Load of Old Bones the first of five in the Francis Oughterard (plus his pets Maurice and Bouncer) series which now has a much overdue paperback release;

I review Camilla Lackberg's The Drowning, tr. Tiina Nunnally on audio book, the sixth in the Hedstrom-Falck series set in the coastal Swedish town of Fjallbacka;

Maxine Clarke reviews Per Wahloo's Murder on the Thirty-First Floor which has had a fresh translation by Sarah Death

and Susan White reviews Jacqueline Winspear's The Mapping of Love and Death, the seventh in the Maisie Dobbs series which has found a new UK home at Allison & Busby.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year.

Review: The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg (audio book)

The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg tr. Tiina Nunnally, read by Eamonn Riley, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, March 2012, 12 CDs, ISBN: 978-0-00-744374-1)

The Drowning is the sixth in the Erica Falck-Patrik Hedstrom series set in Fjallbacka and takes place a few months after the events in The Hidden Child.

Christian Thydell, one of Fjallbacka's librarians has finally had his novel The Mermaid (which he was working on in the previous book) published to great critical acclaim however all is not well with Christian as he's been receiving threatening letters which have put him in a dreadful mental state. Erica, a true-crime writer, has been mentoring Christian and when she discovers the existence of the letters steals one to show her police detective husband Patrik and inadvertently advertises their existence to the hungry press, increasing the pressure on Christian.

Meanwhile, back at the station Patrik is dealing with weekly visits by Cia Kjellner whose husband Magnus has been missing for three months. They all presume he is dead but no body has appeared.

As the story progresses it's discovered that Christian and Magnus knew each other. Is there a connection between the anonymous letters and Magnus's disappearance. And what about Magnus's two other friends from childhood, Kenneth and Erik, are they in danger too?

Alongside Patrik's official investigations and Erica's unofficial ones into Christian's background there are chapters told from the point of view of an unnamed boy who has been adopted and who tells of his terrible upbringing at the hands of a cruel mother and indifferent father.

The Drowning is not heavy on plot but there are plenty of characters to meet as well as much local intrigue. As well as the usual Falck family matters (romance, children, pregnancy, general domestic life), the listener gets to know amongst others: Sanna, Christian’s unloved wife; Lizbet, Kenneth's dying wife; Louise, Erik's cheated-on wife and Cecilia, Erik's current girlfriend. Lackberg's novels are a mix of domestic drama and detective novel and in The Drowning it sways perilously close to too much of the former at the expense of the latter. Nonetheless if you have followed the series from The Ice Princess then you will probably enjoy catching up with old friends, however if you are new to the series then this probably isn't the best place to start. The never very bright police team are stymied this time by the refusal of the three friends, Christian, Kenneth and Erik, to reveal what they know about who is behind the letters, which is rather frustrating and it takes an age for the police to do the background check on Christian.

The most interesting books, for me, have been the ones where Erica has had a personal connection: her friend in The Ice Princess and her mother in The Hidden Child.

The beautiful coastal town of Fjallbacka continues to throw up nasty people and nasty crimes which are in stark contrast to the domestic bliss (mostly) enjoyed by the two leads. The trademark cliff-hanger (two in this case) at the end of the book will have fans on the edge of their seats until The Lost Boy/The Lighthouse (title seems to vary) is published...

As usual, Eamonn Riley gives a superb interpretation and should win any audio-book sceptics over.

Read another review of The Drowning.

More reviews of Camilla Lackberg's books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

New Reviews: Bonnot, Brody, Camilleri, Clements, Dunne, Ferris, Heller, Lackberg, Toyne

During April (closes 30th) you can enter a competition to win a copy of Julia Crouch's Every Vow You Break. There are no geographical restrictions. Answer the question and fill in the form here.

Here are this week's reviews of which there are 9 again. There are also more updates to the new releases pages (see below):

Laura Root reviews Xavier-Marie Bonnot's The Voice of the Spirits, tr. Justin Phipps, the third book to feature Marseilles inspector De Palma;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Frances Brody's third Kate Shackleton mystery Murder in the Afternoon now out in trade paperback;

Maxine Clarke reviews Andrea Camilleri's The Potter's Field, tr. Stephen Sartarelli - "an excellent book";

Susan White reviews Prince by Rory Clements, the third in the Tudor John Shakespeare series which is now out in paperback;

Geoff Jones reviews Steven Dunne's Deity, the third in his Derby based DI Brook series;

Terry Halligan reviews Gordon Ferris's second Douglas Brodie outing, Bitter Water set in Glasgow;

Lynn Harvey reviews Mandasue Heller's Manchester based Lost Angel which should appeal to Martina Cole fans;

Rich Westwood reviews the paperback release of Camilla Lackberg's The Gallows Bird, now titled The Stranger, tr. Steven T Murray

and Amanda Gillies reviews Simon Toyne's sequel to Sanctus, The Key.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here along with releases by year. Titles by Simon Brett, Frances Brody, Anders de la Motte, Anna Dean, Barry Fantoni, Casey Hill, Juris Jurjevics, Pia Juul, Lars Kepler, Adrian Magson, Pat McIntosh, Russel D McLean, Theresa Murphy, J A O'Brien, Jean-Francois Parot, Stella Rimington, Sara Sheridan, Martin Walker, Evonne Wareham and Carlos Zanon have been added to these pages this week.

Stranger Beware: Title Change Alert

It seems that the mass market paperback release of Camilla Lackberg's The Gallows Bird on 15 March 2012 will be titled The Stranger. NB This title precedes The Hidden Child in the series (listed and reviewed here). Published on the same day will be The Drowning.

New Reviews: Dawson, Duns, Ferris, Gakas, Grindle, Janes, Knight, Lackberg

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews Sequence by Adrian Dawson, writing that it was "the best that I've read this year";

Geoff Jones reviews Jeremy Duns's Song of Treason (formerly known as Free Country) which is out in paperback;

Lizzie Hayes recommends post-war thriller, The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris which has done well on Kindle;

I review Ashes by Sergios Gakas, tr. Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife which I enjoyed very much despite it being darker than my usual reads;

Lynn Harvey reviews Lucretia Grindle's The Lost Daughter which is the second in her Italian police series, and covers more than just a crime;

Susan White reviews the paperback release of Diane Janes's Why Don't You Come For Me? which she found unsettling;

Amanda Gillies goes back to the 12C to review the paperback edition of Bernard Knight's A Plague of Heretics

and Maxine Clarke reviews the latest (in English) from Camilla Lackberg, translated this time by Tiina Nunnally: The Hidden Child.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

New Reviews: Alec, Black, Brett, Corbin, Edwards, Lackberg, La Plante, Miller, Robinson

Here are this week's reviews:

Amanda Gillies reviews W Alec's Son of Perdition, which she highly recommends;

Equally recommended, this time by Terry Halligan, is Deadlock by Sean Black which is out in paperback;

I review the audio book of the second in this laugh out loud series written and read by Simon Brett: Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess - think Wodehouse meets Christie;

Sarah Hilary was less enthralled with Julie Corbin's Where the Truth Lies but says it may appeal to "those who like their crime a shade lighter than dark";

Maxine Clarke reviews Martin Edwards's new book in the Lake District series The Hanging Wood which reaches the high standard of the earlier books;

Lynn Harvey reviews the US edition of Camilla Lackberg's The Preacher, tr. Steven T Murray;

Geoff Jones review the new "Anna Travis" from Lynda La Plante: Blood Line which he enjoyed but cautions readers to read the previous one, Blind Fury, first;

Laura Root reviews the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger short-listed Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller

and Susan White reviews the paperback release of Bad Boy by Peter Robinson.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

New Reviews: Enger, Fossum, Holt, Indridason, Kepler, Lackberg, Ridpath, Wagner

Here are this week's reviews - can you spot the theme?:

I review the debut novel from Norwegian author Thomas Enger, Burned, tr. Charlotte Barslund, which introduces an intriguing new lead in the shape of damaged reporter Henning Juul;

Michelle Peckham reviews one of Karin Fossum's earlier Sejer books, The Water's Edge, tr. Charlotte Barslund which she thoroughly recommends;

Maxine Clarke reviews Anne Holt's latest Vik/Stubo which she says is the best so far: Fear Not, tr. Marlaine Delargy;

New reviewer Rich Westwood opens his account with a review of the paperback edition of Arnaldur Indridason's Operation Napoleon, tr. Victoria Cribb which, unfortunately, isn't a patch on his Erlendur series;

A second opinion on Lars Kepler's The Hypnotist, tr. Ann Long is provided by Maxine Clarke;

I reviewed on the blog last week, the audio book version of Camilla Lackberg's The Gallows Bird, tr. Steven T Murray;

Lizzie Hayes recommends Michael Ridpath's 66 Degrees North, the second in his Iceland series

and Mark Bailey reviews Jan Costin Wagner's follow-up to Ice Moon, Silence, tr. Anthea Bell which is now out in paperback.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

Review: The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg (audio book)

The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg tr. Steven T Murray, read by Eamonn Riley (Oakhill Publishing, March 2011, 11 CDs, ISBN: 978-0-85735-180-7)

Over the course of the three previous books, childhood friends Patrik (police officer) and Erica (novelist) have reconnected, had a baby and are now preparing for their wedding.

Patrik is distracted from this happy event by first the death of a local shopkeeper in a car accident. She was apparently stonkingly drunk and yet she was a known teetotaller. The team, including new member, Hanna Kruse, make some enquiries but are diverted when a definite murder occurs: a member of a reality show being filmed in town is found dead in a rubbish bin. This high profile case takes precedence for a while until a nudge from the dead woman's partner puts them back on track.

As more information is unearthed the crime aspects of the story covers an increasingly wide temporal and geographical area. Patrik almost feels out of his depth but he is reluctant to call in the National Crime Police. Threaded amongst the investigation are scenes from the reality show of the cast bickering and working; Erica and her sister's Anna attempts to organise the wedding (including a hilarious scene with Patrik's mum); Patrik's boss Mellberg's new romance and some odd snippets from the point of view of two children isolated in a cottage in a forest.

There's so much going on you cannot get bored. As I was listening to this, I realised why I prefer to listen than read this series - though the advantage of hearing correct pronunciations is a plus point as well - but to me these books are like a soap opera especially as the author finishes the books on cliff-hangers leaving you eager to find out more. I like my crime, and if I had to read about all the non-crime related domestic stuff that's in these books I probably wouldn't find it that interesting and would find it a bit frustrating, and yet it's quite enjoyable to be told it when you're travelling or washing-up.

The crime set-up in The Gallows Bird is interesting and puzzling but the way the solution was discovered was rather disappointing. The Gallows Bird was first published in 2006 and though that's a few years ago, were small police stations not on the Internet (due to security reasons apparently) and was data transferred between pcs on a disk? No filing system for pre-computer days crimes either, just the memories of long-serving staff? A few quick Googles and the case would have been solved pretty promptly. It's apparent that the police team are not the brightest but the coup-de-grace is when Patrik goes to a library and asks the librarian to put some pages of a story in order for him, which the librarian does, and helpfully points out that a page is missing as the page numbers don't follow on!

Nonetheless, despite the holes in the plot and the quantity of non-crime related minutes, I was engrossed, as I have been with the earlier two audio books. They are entertaining, and I do so enjoy Eamonn Riley's narration. I'm looking forward to the library acquiring the next one, The Hidden Child.

More reviews of Camilla Lackberg's books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

The Ice Princess on Radio 4 Extra

Camilla Lackberg's The Ice Princess is being serialised on Radio 4 Extra and is read by Alex Tregear. The first of 5 parts was aired on Saturday but you can listen again on BBC iPlayer for the next 3 days. The second part will be broadcast on Saturday at 11.30pm.

The Ice Princess translated by Steven T Murray, is the first in the Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck series by Camilla Lackberg.

New Reviews: Adler-Olsen, Kepler, Krajewski, Lackberg, Lewis, Marks

New competition for May:
Win a copy of Stagestruck by Peter Lovesey UK & Europe only

I've added a few more reviews of those titles eligible for the 2011 CWA International Dagger, a topic which I'll be revisiting on the blog before the announcement of the shortlist on Friday, so do check back.

(I'll be at CrimeFest next weekend so there won't be any new reviews next Sunday.)

Here are this week's reviews:

Maxine Clarke reviews Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen, tr. Lisa Hartford, the first in the Department Q series;

Lizzie Hayes reviews Lars Kepler's debut The Hypnotist, tr. Ann Long;

I review Marek Krajewski's somewhat seedy but compulsive Phantoms of Breslau, tr. Danusia Stok which though it is the third in the series is set before the previous two;

Maxine also reviews the fourth in the Erica Falck/Patrik Hedstrom series, The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg, tr. Steven T Murray;

Susan White reviews Jonathan Lewis's debut, Into the Darkness

and Geoff Jones reviews Howard Marks's Sympathy for the Devil.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

Camilla Lackberg Podcast

Recently I downloaded the Authors on Tour podcast featuring Camilla Lackberg. It's thirty minutes long and includes the author reading from The Ice Princess and answering questions from the audience. I've just finished listening to it and:

snippets include the fact that she's recently submitted her eighth book in the Erica & Patrik Fjallbacka series and that due to increasing demands on promoting and writing other books (including two cook-books and a children's book) she'll be dropping the pace to one crime book every other year. Patrik was based on her husband at the time and she made Erika very different to herself. She also gives an explanation as to the appeal of her novels around the world.

Listen to the podcast on the website or download it via iTunes (Authors on Tour - Live!).

The Ice Princess has recently been released in paperback in the US and The Preacher was published last week in hardback in the US. In the UK we are up to the fourth book, The Gallows Bird. The fifth and sixth (The Hidden Child and The Mermaid) should be out in the next twelve months.

The first four books have been translated by Steven T Murray but the later ones will be translated by his wife Tiina Nunnally. Steven has translated Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell and Tiina translated Smilla's Sense of Snow/Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg which was one of the instrumental titles in getting translated crime fiction to a wider audience. Tiina's work will also be familiar to readers of Karin Fossum (translating as Felicity David) and most recently Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen.

The Preacher - Cover Opinions

This week's selection for "cover opinions" is the US and UK (original and reissue) covers for Camilla Lackberg's The Preacher.

So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS - hardback & original paperback cover on top, paperback reissue below) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with the books of Camilla Lackberg?

If you have read it, how well do the covers match the story?

The Preacher will published in the US on 27 April.

Read the Euro Crime review by Sunny Gill of The Preacher

The covers of the previous book, The Ice Princess, were discussed here.

Camilla Lackberg is on twitter @camillalackberg.

New Reviews: Dawson, Griffiths, Lackberg, MacBride, Pastor, Sigurdardottir & a New Competition

One new competition (so far) for January and it is open to UK residents. It closes on 31st January:
Win Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger

Here are this week's reviews:

Terry Halligan reviews Adrian Dawson's Codex which took him a bit of getting into it, but worth it;

Maxine Clarke reviews the third in this increasingly popular series by Elly Griffiths, set in North Norfolk: The House at Sea's End;

I recently reviewed the audio book of Camilla Lackberg's The Stonecutter, tr. Steven T Murray;

Pat Austin reviews the new Stuart MacBride DS Logan McRae outing - Shatter the Bones writing that it's "definitely not for the faint-hearted, this one";

Norman Price reviews Lumen by Ben Pastor and writes that is is an example of "how the crime fiction novel can be used to address historical, religious, and moral questions" (and it's published by Bitter Lemon Press - say no more...)

and also over the Christmas break I reviewed Yrsa Sigurdardottir's My Soul to Take, tr. Bernard Scudder and Anna Yates also on the blog.

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found by author or date, here.

Review: The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg (audiobook)

The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg tr. Steven T Murray, read by Eamonn Riley (Oakhill Publishing, March 2010, 13 CDs, ISBN: 978-1-84648-884-9)

The Stonecutter is the third in the Patrik and Erica series set in the real-life summer getaway of Fjallbacka. As with The Preacher, The Stonecutter has Patrik investigating a crime with Erica more to the background, having not long given birth to their daughter and suffering from post-natal depression.

The body of a young girl is found in the sea by a fisherman. When Patrik is called to the scene, he recognises the girl as the daughter of Erica's new friend Charlotte. Initially the death is thought to have been an accident but it's soon clear that it was murder. Such a motiveless crime has Patrick and his team making slow progress. Charlotte and her husband Niclas are living with her mum, Lilian and her sick husband Stig. Lilian has been feuding with her neighbour and soon points the finger of blame at him and also his son who has Asperger's Syndrome. In addition Niklas is estranged from his parents who live in the same town. All the investigating and interrogating opens a huge can of worms and all the families involved will never be the same again.

Interspersed in the current day activities is the historical tale of a local stonecutter and his wife, told in short segments which eventually ties up with the present day.

The Stonecutter is a lengthy listen - 16 hours - but I enjoyed it very much. It's my favourite of the three so far. However it has to be said that Patrik's team, including himself, are not the most efficient set of police officers you'll come across. I think their slightly bumbling nature and their humorous banter adds to the cosy feel of these books - at least to me - even though the crimes are horrific. It feels removed from reality. I'd worked out quite a lot of what was going on before Patrik, who needed a US crime tv-show to point him in the right direction. I am especially looking forward to The Gallows Bird as there's a humdinger of a penultimate sentence in The Stonecutter.

Eamonn Riley's narration was very pleasant to listen to and it's very useful to hear the correct pronunciations for the Swedish names and places.

More reviews of Camilla Lackberg's books can be found on the Euro Crime website.

Publishing Deal - Camilla Lackberg

Good news for US readers of Camilla Lackberg's series, translated by Steven T Murray, as the paperback deal has been agree. From Publishers Weekly:

Pegasus Books has sold paperback rights to Swedish international bestseller Camilla Lackberg’s first three books to Simon & Schuster. S&S’s Free Press and Pocket Books imprints acquired trade paperback and mass market rights to The Ice Princess and Lackberg’s next two books, The Preacher and The Stonecutter. Pegasus released Princess, a bestseller across Europe, in June (and Lackberg was featured in the June 28 PW). The two paperback editions will be released simultaneously by S&S next April.

The UK paperback edition of The Stonecutter will be released in March 2011 along with the hardback release of The Gallows Bird.

The Ice Princess - Cover Opinions

The US edition of Swedish author Camilla Lackberg's The Ice Princess is being published on the 15th. In addition her website has just been relaunched at www.camillalackberg.com.

So which one of these covers would entice you to pick the book up if you'd not heard of Camilla Lackberg before? US is on the left, UK on the right.

The Euro Crime review of The Ice Princess is here.

New Reviews: Burdett, Hayder, Lackberg, Leather, Maclean, Schlink & New Competition

Making up for the lack of competitions in February, I'm pleased to announce a second competition for March (and a third is imminent) and this one is open worldwide:

Win a copy of Tell-Tale by Sam Hayes (worldwide)
Win a copy of The Preacher & The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg (UK only)

Here are this week's new reviews:

Laura Root reviews The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett, the fourth in this Thailand based series;

Michelle Peckham reviews Mo Hayder's Gone, the newest in the Jack Caffery series, now set in Bristol;

Maxine Clarke reviews one of this month's competition prizes, The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg, tr. Steven T Murray;

Terry Halligan reviews Nightfall by Stephen Leather the first in a new paranormal-sounding series;

Pat Austin reviews Shona Maclean's second book in her historical series: A Game of Sorrows

and Craig Sisterson reviews Self's Murder by Bernhard Schlink, tr. Peter Constantine

Previous reviews can be found in the review archive and forthcoming titles can be found here.