The best crime writers from Scandinavia?

It is difficult to decide which I like the most. I'm inclined to think that each country has some very good authors:
- Sweden: Henning Mankell and Kerstin Ekman
- Norway: Karin Fossum and Unni Lindell
- Finland: Leena Lehtolainen
- Iceland: Arnaldur Indridason and Ævar Örn Jósepsson
- Denmark: Peter Høeg
What do you think?

Unfortunately, I can't argue with you! Mankell and Ekman are splendid.

I've just been on a Scandinavian reading spree - haven't stopped yet, in fact - but not any of the authors mentioned unfortunately (except Peter Høeg, and I never considered him much of a crime writer).
Arne Dahl's Misterioso is good, but not overwhelmingly so.
Liza Marklund's Primetime has an absorbing plot once it get going, but the tone is grating.
Åsa Larsson's Solstorm is the one I liked best from a Swedish author. The language was understated, and the portrayed characters and their complex relationships were very cleanly presented, without any telling needed.
Right now I am reading the 3. book in the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbø. Probably the first crime novel I've read by a Norwegian writer. I'm only halfway through, but Rødhals seems like a very good book so far. Apart from a bit of disconnectedness in the beginning due to the very short chapters, and lots of time and character jumps.

If anyone had any recommendations to Finnish crime writers I'd be much obliged. As part of my 888 challenge I would like to read one - se http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=30546

I'haven't read the next author yet, but she seems to be a good Finnish crime writer: Leena Lehtolainen wrote Tappava säde (1999).Look also at her website: http://www.leena-lehtolainen.de/ (in German).

>3 amberwitch: Re: Finnish crime writers

What languages can you read in?

>5 christiguc: Very relevant question:-)
I can only read in Danish and English I'm afraid. A lot more in English than Danish, due to my genre preferences (science fiction and fantasy)
In general, if the original language of a book isn't English, I read in Danish.
I expect most Scandinavian crime writers are translated to Danish, but I may be wrong.

>6 amberwitch: I'd like to second theLeena Lehtolainen recommendation. Sorry, it seems like we're teasing you, since there are no English or Danish translations available. Some of her books have been published in Swedish, though. Is that any use to you?

Another possibility: Matti Yrjänä Joensuu. He's a former policeman who writes police procedurals. Books in English: Harjunpaa and the Stone Murders and The Priest of Evil. Here's the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matti_Joensuu.

What about Karin Alvertegen? I think she is
Swedish. There are three mysteries in english, the
one I read and loved was Betrayal.

Another excellent Swedish choice is the writing team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo ... their "Martin Beck" mysteries are quite good ... and the Uncertainty by the Danish author Michael Larsen was another winner.

Hi KromesTomes,
which book do you like most of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo? My favourite is 'The Locked Room'. And how do you find the more recent books of Maj Sjowall?

My paper's crime reporter mentions a new book by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian writer. And Asa Larsson of
Sweden has a new title coming out in the fall called
The Black Path .

I also like Kjell Eriksson. His novels are being translated into English. Try The Princess of Burundi to start.

At the moment I'm reading Linda - is that a reference to Linda Wallander, I wonder - of Leif Persson. Has anyone read anything of him? I like it so far. He is an admirer of Sjöwall and Wahlö.

I'll put in the good word for Jo Nesbo as well. I've read, in English (because that's all I can read besides a smattering of Spanish), The Redbreast, Nemesis, and The Devil's Star.

I've also read the late Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I really enjoyed, and I just finished his second book in the Millenium trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and I thought it was even better. I'm chomping at the bit to read the final novel, but it won't be released in English until the autumn of 2009.

Edited to try to get the touchstones to work for Larsson's books, but they're not loading correctly.

Has anyone read Unseenby Mari Jungstedt? I plan to start it soon. It looks really good.

Hi bookstothesy I just finished number 2 of Millenium trilogy, The Girl who played with fire, myself and I had some difficulties to get into a reading mood. In number 1 I was hooked from the start. But somehow somewhere after a certain page it happened again and now I'm also ready to read nr. 3. Did you finished it, yet?

Hello Anne,

Yes, I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest a couple of weeks ago and, unfortunately, I was mildly disappointed by the whole thing. Probably a slight case of 'familiarity breeds contempt' with regard to Salander's character and abilities. I actually found Salander to be kind of bratty toward the end of the book, which I think was a character regression from book 2.

One of the things I really dislike in a book is when characters show selective levels of intelligence (i.e., the story won't work unless character X is dumb as a rock for a certain period of time) and that happened with virtually all the bad guys in this novel. I'll leave it at that, as I don't want to go into specifics and spoil things for you and others. The book was still pretty good but it's my least favorite of the three.

Now I can't wait for the next Nesbo book :)

I'll put in a strong plug for the Sjowall/Wahloo books. All 10 that this husband and wife wrote together are excellent. Nearly all were made into films and TV movies, but none that I've been able to find are available to Americans. I was lucky enough to see a film fest of them all in Washington DC with subtitles many years ago, but I've never been able to obtain copies of any. "Roseanna", the first, is excellent.

I, too, loved The Locked Room. It has the funniest scene in a book I've ever read. Thanks to you all for more suggestions for Scan. mysteries. I've read all the Sjowall/Wahloo books except The Terroists. I've read all English translations available for Indridason, Mankell, Fossum, Tursten, both Larssons, Edwardson, Erikson, Nesbo, Sigurdardottir, Wagner, Theorin, Dahl, Alvtegen, Nesser, van de Wetering. I'm eagerly awaiting the delivery of 2 more Nesbos. I'm ready for more authors to discover. Bring 'em on. My favorites are Alvtegen, Mankell, Indridason, Fossum, Erikson, Nesbo, and Dahl. K.O. Dahl has a Facebook page and writes back to fans!

For those of you looking for a Finnish mystery in English, I can mildly recommend ICE MOON by a German, Jan Costin Wagner. It was short-listed for the Mystery division of the LA Times Book Awards in 08.

>20 fickleflan:, eileenf Thanks for the recommendation!

I recommend SNOW ANGELS by James Thompson. He is an American but has been living in Finland for a number of years. The book is set in Finland.

I am also a Mankell fan. Karin Alvtegen is another Swedish writer I like although her books are a bit on the dark side. I think BETRAYAL is the first book of hers I read. I just finished THE ICE PRINCESS by Camilla Lackberg and enjoyed it very much.

I am most interested in Norwegian writers since my husband's father was born in Norway and we have many ties there. Have you found any of Unni Lindell's books available in English?

Hi - have just found your group. I loved Hakan Nesser's Borkmann's Point and read a further 2 or 3 of his & had the feeling that I was reading the same story over again in some odd way. Has anyone else found this with his works? It reminded me a little of Agatha Christie's 'batches' of storylines - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Endless Night. Love Asa Larsson, Inridason, Mari Jungstedt and Edwardson. Looking forward to working my way through the recommendations from this group. Stumbling my way through learning Danish.

I know I read Ice Moon in translation so I'm curious whether or not anyone else was reminded of Hemingway's style while reading the book. Some where in the back of my mind, I kept was reminded of The Old Man and the Sea, which I haven't read since high school.

Read my first Karin Fossum on the weekend.Black Seconds will probably end up being one of my favourite reads of the past year. I have taken out more Fossumfrom the library and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Jarkko Sipila won Best Finnish Crime Novel for 2009 with his Helsinki Homicide: Against the Wall. That's actually up now for the Glass Key Award for best Scandinavian crime fiction with the winner to be announced around the end of June. There's a second book in the series, Helsinki Homicide: Vengeance that I just finished reading and it's quite good. They've both been translated into English.

I join bookstothesky in recommending Jo Nesbo's books. I read The Redbreast, Nemesis, and The Devil's Star and thought I would have to wait for ages for the next Nesbo book. Two more have recently been released: The Redeemer, and The Snowman and I have ordered both of them.

I'd like to add What is Mine by Anne Holt.

Just finished writing my review of The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg:

http://www.librarything.com/work/1351293

It was with great anticipation that I started reading Karin Alvtegen's newest book Shadow. But unlike an earlier one buy her, I thought this one was a total stinker. I didn't care for most of the characters throughout the book.And this
book was nominated for one of the top Scandinavian book prizes. It was
a major let-down and now I don't feel like reading any other of her work.I think the one I did like was called Betrayal. That was great fun.

>#30 I think your touchstone is for a different book with same title.

I have made a new list in Google Docs today. Feel free to add your suggestions of best crime writers and novels:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1qp0Ev93f0NVPn2IaPdiXadgtPu-LPk_486kjJSA...

Has anyone read The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler? I haven't but am wondering how you think it compares with Larsson's Millenium Trilogy?

Edited to add that Touchstones is giving the wrong author.

I wasn't impressed by The Hypnotist at all. Under all the 'fat' there was a halfway decent plot, but it never emerges from under the cliches and superfluous descriptions. But then I also thought that book two and book three of Stieg Larssons Millenium trilogy was highly overrated - especially the third book was twice as long as it should have been.

I would highly recommend Asa Larsson's series, which starts with Sun Storm. I agree with the earlier statement that the Millenium trilogy is overrated. I find Asa Larsson's series to be much more substantive and introspective, along similar lines to Mankell's stuff, than the Millenium trilogy. I find the series highly rewarding.

A couple of weeks ago, I finished an eARC of Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen's book Mercy (UK title, came out in March, I think) and The Keeper of Lost Causes over here in America (coming in August, I believe). At first I rather disliked the story and the main character--a police officer recovering from a gunshot wound and essentially shuffled off to try and solve cold cases of murder involving high profile victims--but by the end of the book I found I'd quite enjoyed the whole thing. The main character (Carl, last name escapes me) becomes a more sympathetic protagonist, his "assistant" is clever and intriguing, and the villain is quite on par with anything my current favorite crime author Jo Nesbo has come up with. A minor drawback is the translation, which is just a little off when it comes to natural dialogue. Still, I will eagerly read the next in the series when it gets translated.

>35 amberwitch:,36 I'm not a Millenium Trilogy fan either, but was curious to hear about The Hypnotist as I've been waiting to see how long it would be before Millenium copy-cat works appeared. The first one of Steig Larsson's was quite enough for me. I do enjoy Nesbo's and also Asa Larsson's books, and shall have a look at Adler-Olsen's book soon (thanks for the tip bookstothesky).

>38 Thrin:

You're welcome, Thrin.

Recently I also read Kvinden i buret - Mercy or Erbarmet in English and German - of Jussi Adler-Olsen and I quite liked it. I agree with you, bookstothesky, the main character isn't a very nice person, but he was growing on me. I find this author quite good and I'm glad there is now besides Peter Høeg, who is more a novelist, a very good Danish crime writer.

Thanks everybody I found your comments really helpful. I was a big fan of the Steig Larsson trilogy and enjoyed number 3 most. I also love Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books but have been disappointed with 'Headhunters' which I thought was a Hole novel but it isn't.
Having liked the above and having watched 'The Killing 2' and the start of 'Brogen' on TV I am keen to read more. I have downloaded samples from many of your suggestions on my kindle to try some new names - so thanks again
Pat MT

Sweden: plus Johan Theorin, Asa Larsson, Karin Altvegen (& many others) - Sjowall and Wahloo, of course.
Norway: agree on Fossum. Don't think Lindell is translated into English. Also Gunnar Staalesen, Anne Holt and K O Dahl.
Finland: Lehtolainen isn't translated. Purge by Sofi Oksanen is very good (set in Estonia, mainly).
Iceland: Josepsson not translated. Agree on Indridason. Also Sigurdardottir, Ingolfsson.
Denmark: Jussi Adler-Olssen

To post 13, Behind_the_Lines
No, no relation at all to Linda Wallander. I am currently listening to "Linda" by Leif GW Persson. Linda is a common name in Sweden. ;)

IMO of the authors I've read;

1. Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo -- Martin Beck series
2. Leif GW Persson -- Evert Bäckström series
3. Henning Mankell -- Kurs Wallander series
4. Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom -- Ewert Grens series
5. Stieg Larsson -- Millennium triology
6. Ann Rosman -- Karin Adler series
7. Camilla Lackberg -- The Fjällbacka series
8. Jens Lapidus -- Stockholm noir