Matti Joensuu RIP

I'm sorry to say this a bit after the event but I've only just discovered that Finnish crime writer Matti Joensuu died in December 2011.

From Helsingin Sanomat

Matti Yrjänä Joensuu (October 31st 1948 - December 4th 2011), who died suddenly at his home in Valkeakoski on Sunday, was one of Finland’s most respected and widely-read writers of crime fiction.

In addition to his literary career, Joensuu worked as a police officer and a detective in Helsinki. He retired from the Helsinki Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division in 2006, despite having been a successful novelist for some twenty years before this.

The best known of Joensuu’s works are his 12 Harjunpää novels, most of which were published between 1976 and 1993. They depict the life and work of Detective Sergeant Timo Juhani Harjunpää of the Helsinki Police Department’s CID unit.

Joensuu’s last novel was Harjunpää ja rautahuone (”Harjunpää and the Iron Room”), published in 2010, after a break of seven years. A new novel was in the works at the time of his death.

Joensuu was awarded the State’s Literature Prize in 1982, and the Vuoden johtolanka (”The Clue of the Year”) prize for the best Finnish crime novel in 1985, 1994, and 2004, granted by the Finnish Whodunnit Society, the Finnish crime fiction society. In 1987, Joensuu received the Martin Beck Award.

Some Publishing Deals News from LBF

Here are a few publishing deals announced at the London Book Fair. From The Bookseller:

Hodder has acquired world English rights to a standalone horror novel by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Editorial director Suzie Doore bought the rights to Blessed are the Children through Petur Mar Olafsson at Bjartur & Verold, with plans to publish in trade paperback for Halloween 2012. The title tells of three friends, terrorised by the ghost of a drowned child while they renovate a derelict house.

World rights for two crime novels were also bought for Arcadia's Eurocrime series. Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staalesen will be published in autumn 2012. The thriller is about a series of murders in the Norwegian city of Bergen. The other crime book is The Iron Chamber by Matti Joensuu, bought from Hanna Kjellberg from the Otava Agency. The book is about a series of mysterious set of murders in Finland. It will be published in autumn 2012.

Bloomsbury has acquired world rights in a series of six crime novels by Bath Literature Festival director James Runcie. Group editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle scooped the series through David Godwin. The books will feature character Sidney Chambers, honorary canon of Ely Cathedral, as he works with friend Inspector Horatio Keating to unravel case after case. The first title, Grantchester Murders, will be published in May 2012.

New Reviews: Genelin, Guthrie, Joensuu, Le Fanu, O'Byrne, Rimington

Three competitions are currently running:

i)Win a copy of Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz (US only, closes 9 Nov)
ii)Win a copy of Beautiful Dead: Arizona by Eden Maguire (UK only)
iii)Win a copy of Sheer Folly by Carola Dunn (UK/Europe only)

Details on how to enter can be found on the Competition page

Here are the new reviews that have been added to the website today:

Norman Price reviews Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin the first of a series featuring Slovakian detective Jana Matinova;

Amanda Gillies enjoys Allan Guthrie's Killing Mum a novella in the Crime Express range;

Maxine Clarke reviews Finnish author Matti Joensuu's To Steal Her Love;

Laura Root reviews the Gothic sounding classic Wylder's Hand by J Sheridan Le Fanu;

Michelle Peckham reviews The Crime Writer's Guide to Police Practice and Procedure by Michael O'Byrne and says it's of interest to non-writers as well

and Terry Halligan reviews the latest from former MI5 head Stella Rimington - Present Danger.

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