#crimeintranslation

[fictionfromafar]

Deadly Autumn Harvest

By Tony Mott

Translated by Marina Sofia

Corylus Books

This is the long awaited English debut by Romanian crime fiction author Tony Mott. Set in her home city of Brașov is a city in the Transylvania region, ringed by the Carpathian mountains. I believe this may actually be the second book in a series featuring forensic pathologist Gigi Alexis, yet was presumably chosen as her English language debut as it was seen as a good introduction by the publisher, Corylus Books.

Accessible it certainly is. After a heart stopping and short opening sequence, the novel quickly introduces Alexis. Having just returned from holiday it takes no time to begin to discover elements of her personal life, her work environment and her dark sence of humour. Having established the basics, our new protagonist is quickly called to a crime scene where ominously the investigating officer warns Alexis that the murder victim shares a strong resemblance to her. This crime is perplexing as there is no obvious motive and due to the unique placing of the corpse. It isn't long before it becomes clear to the reader that this is a police division under the pressure of a new chief and secondly that the views and opinions of a female civilian are judged secondary to those of male police officers

As further events including subsequent mystifying murders unfold it appears that Brașov could be facing the almost unique predicament of having a serial killer at large where Alexa will require to channel all her wits and experience, as well as her powers of persuasion in order to attempt to make these crimes stop and find the perpetrator.

Readers will find that Deadly Autumn Harvest is an absorbing introduction to Romanian crime fiction, although it also complements well previous novels already available to English language readers from the same publisher. It offers a fascinating insight into murder investigations in the former communist country and also is a very revealing introduction to Brașov and it's surrounding area which will appeal to many existing readers of crime fiction. I strongly recommend it and look forward to reading more novels by Tony Mott in the future.

Deadly Autumn Harvest

A series of bizarre murders rocks the beautiful Carpathian town of Braşov. At first there’s nothing obvious that links what look like random killings.

With the police still smarting from the scandal of having failed to act in a previous case of a serial kidnapper and killer, they bring in forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa to figure out if several murderers are at work – or if they have another serial killer on their hands.

Ambitious, tough, and not one to suffer fools gladly, Gigi fights to be taken seriously in a society that maintains old-fashioned attitudes to the roles of women.

She and the police team struggle to establish a pattern, especially when resources are diverted to investigating a possible terrorist plot. With the clock ticking, Gigi stumbles across what looks to be a far-fetched theory – just as she realises that she could be on the murderer’s to-kill list.

Author bio:

Tony Mott was born and bred in Braşov, which often forms the backdrop for her novels. She has worked internationally as a coach and HR professional, but her real passion remains writing. In 2022 she received the Romanian Mystery&Thriller Award. Deadly Autumn Harvest is the first novel in the Gigi Alexa series to be translated into English.

Translator bio:

Marina Sofia is a translator, reviewer, writer and blogger, as well as a third culture kid who grew up trilingual in Romanian, German and English. Her previous translations for Corylus Books are Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu and Resilience by Bogdan Hrib. She has spent most of her winters in Braşov skiing, so is delighted to translate a book set in her favourite Romanian town.

ISBN 978-1-7392989-1-3

£9.99

Many thanks to Corylus Books for an advance copy of Deadly Autumn Harvest and to Ewa Sherman for inclusion on the blog tour. Please check out the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #crime fiction in translation #crimefiction

[marypicken]

End of Summer by Anders de la Motte translated by Neil Smith @AndersdelaMotte @ZaffreBooks @ClareJKelly

'A beautifully written slice of rural Nordic Noir that is tense and suspenseful and rich in atmosphere.' End of Summer by Anders de la Motte translated by Neil Smith @AndersdelaMotte @ZaffreBooks

Source: Review copyPublication: 19 August 2021 from ZaffrePP: 480ISBN-13: 978-1785768231 My thanks to Zaffre Books for the opportunity to review You can always go home. But you can never go back . . . Summer 1983: Four-year-old Billy chases a rabbit in the fields behind his house. But when his mother goes to call him in, Billy has disappeared. Never to be seen again. Today: Veronica is a…

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#bookreview #CrimeinTranslation #EndofSummer

[fictionfromafar]

You Can’t See Me

By Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Translated by Victoria Cribb

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 6 July 2023

Even by the high standards set by previous Icelandic crime fiction writers, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s debut, A Creak On The Stairs was very much a stand out novel. Focussing on police detective Elma who has returned to her hometown of Akranes, she and her colleagues investigate a murder with long hidden and mysterious historical connections. The book won the CWA New Blood Dagger and since then two further novels in the series have followed. While these were also strongly impressive, there could perhaps become a temptation that Ægisdóttir might decide to rest on her laurels and continue to produce stories in a similar vein, however with this novel, it’s is very clear that this is an author keen to develop further as a novelist and present a rather different type of story. Thankfully the results are very satisfying and it could be said that she has surpassed her own high watermark with You Can’t See Me.

When I first heard that this book would be a prequel to her Forbidden Dark Iceland series, I assumed that the book would be based upon Elma’s earlier life as a police officer in Reykjavik. I was happy to be proven wrong on both counts. In fact this is a story where the firm focus of the story is on other characters with only a peripheral role for the investigating officers. Instead this is the story of an Icelandic clan. The rich and powerful Snaebergs have taken over a remote hotel for a weekend family reunion. Rarely due the family members meet on mass and with grudges and jealousies that can be present in any large family, many of the guests arrive in trepidation, wary of conflict. Although unique to rural Iceland and its ever changing climate, a snow storm means that it is too treacherous for anyone to get to or leave the hotel, setting the scene for a locked door mystery where a murder could only have been committed by one of the hotel’s temporary residents.

Yet one aspect of Ægisdóttir’s writing that existing readers will be familiar with is that she steers very much away from formulaic retreads. There are some modern and very unique components to this story. Furthermore it is is told to us through multiple voices, some long established within the centre of the Snaeberg family, some who appear more as outsiders and even the perspective of a hotel staff member is given as the family attempt to reacquaint with each other, free from watching eyes (or so they think) and with copious amounts of alcohol available to them. Family secrets and suspicions are sure to emerge leading to fascinating subplots but when a member of the party mysteriously disappears, the autosphere begins to turn as chilling as the outside weather. Despite reading this book in the late June sunshine, there were aspects to the story that made me shiver. It is one of those books that you’re torn between wanting to rush through it and also savour the emotions and sensations of the characters that we are following.

Existing readers may have come to expect that Ægisdóttir’s books will be compulsive reading yet I firmly believe that this is her finest title so far. What’s more, with it being set in an earlier time period than her other novels, it also serves as a perfect introduction to those yet to read her work. One of the best books I’ve read this year.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for an advance copy of You Can’t See Me. Please look out for the other reviews of this novel on the blog tour, as shown below.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #icelandicnoir

[fictionfromafar]

The Murder Of Anton Livius by Hansjörg Schneider

The Murder Of Anton Livius 

By Hansjörg Schneider

Translated by Astrid Freuler

Bitter Lemon Press

Publication Date: 15 June 2023

It is far from a welcome start to the new year for Peter Hunkeler, Inspector of Basel City criminal investigations department. He is woken early in the morning and called to a gruesome crime scene. An elderly local man known as Anton Livius has been found shot and hung up in a garden allotment on the edge of the border city of Basel. While Livius lived in the city, the allotment is located on French territory adding an additional complication to Hunkeler is not allowed to investigate there. This means he has to form an uneasy cooperation with an Alsatian Inspector Bardet who appears keen to find a quick resolution to the murder case.

This is third instalment of the Inspector Peter Hunkeler series, and like the earlier novels, it immerses the reader in the complexities of the local cross-border community. Featuring a different translator, Astrid Freuler certainly does not alter the flow of the story which features some elements of humour, not least in Hunkeler's interactions with collegues on both sides of the border. Dogged and determined to get at the truth, Hunkeler tries to find out as much as he can about the victim, about whom little of his life is known. Over 80 and originally from Germany, what brought Anton Livius to Basel and who had reason to kill him? 

Focussed largely on dialogue, Hunkeler begins to build a picture of the man's personal life. While the neighbouring allotment holders are reluctant to reveal it, the detective discovers that the victim was smuggling meat across the border from Alsace into Switzerland. The one who found the body, Ettore Cattaneo, did not participate in this deal as he held a long term grudge against Livius which is of particular interest to the French police. 

Hunkeler however wishes to leave no stone unturned and is convinced that the roots of the story run far deeper. Gradually he learns more about the history of Alsace which has been incorporated into the Greater German Reich in 1940, In the years before its return to French control after the second world war, well over one hundred thousand young men from Alsace (and Lorraine) had been conscripted into the German armies against their will. The clues that Hunkeler encounters take him into a discovery of some almost forgotten secrets from this dark period. 

The Murder Of Anton Livius can be enjoyed as an introduction to Schneider's work and would appeal to those readers who like a story where clues emerge gradually as dead ends are steadily ruled out. The stronger historical element to this story provides a contrast to the previously published novels by Schneider, The Basel Killings and Silver Pebbles which had greater focus on wider geopolitical issues. While much of the book features conversations between Hunkeler, his follow police officers, French counterparties and those he encounters during the investigation, it is the deductions and follow up work obtained from these that I enjoyed most and would hope to see expanded in subsequent stories.

Many thanks to Bitter Lemon Press for an advance copy of The Murder Of Anton Livius and to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour. Look out for other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below: 

Inspector Hunkeler is summoned back to Basel from his New Year holiday to unravel a gruesome killing in an allotment garden on the city’s outskirts. An old man has been shot in the head and found in his garden shed hanging from a butcher’s hook. Hunkeler must deal not only with the quarrelsome tenants of the garden but with the challenges of investigating a murder that has taken place outside his jurisdiction, across the French border in Alsace.  The clues lead to the Emmental in Berne, and then events from the last weeks of the Second World War in Alsace come to light, the wounds of which have never healed in the region.

Hansjörg Schneider lives in Basel and began his professional career as a journalist and essayist. He is the author of a number of highly acclaimed plays and of the bestselling Hunkeler crime series, now with ten titles published. 

Astrid Freuler lives in Lidney, Gloucestershire. She is a young translator from German and has published translations of non-fiction and fiction, including the crime thriller A Shadow Falls by Andreas Pflüger.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #crime fiction in translation

[fictionfromafar]

Thirty Days Of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

Thirty Days Of Darkness

By Jenny Lund Madsen

Translated by Megan Turney

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 25 May 2023

One of the UK’s most renowned publishers of translated crime fiction is Orenda books who have been regularly publishing novels by established Nordic Noir writers such as Gunnar Staalesen and Kjell Ola Dahl as well as more relative newcomers such as Eva Björg Ægisdóttir and Agnes Ravatn. Denmark’s Jenny Lund Madsen is an exciting new addition to that list as the publisher bring out her first novel in the English language. A very well-established script writer in her home country, her creativity has emanated in Danish television shows such as Follow The Money which was a three series drama series which followed the illegal activities of corporate crime circles, fraudsters and opportunists, which was shown on the BBC and also the comedy drama Rita which is available on Netflix.

While both indicate the author’s high standards of writing, it’s fair to say that neither resembles Thirty Days Of Darkness, other than perhaps their worldly viewpoint. Jenny Lund Madsen’s main character in the novel doesn’t stray too far away from her own occupation as our narrator Hannah is an author. Yet Hannah’s success as an author is measured, while her novels have reached critical acclaim, unfortunately they do not sell well to the general public. When she reluctantly attends a book fair in an attempt to sell her latest book, at the request of her agent, she finds herself infuriated by a discussion led by a high-profile crime writer. Unable to resist, she publicly scathes him for what she feels is his formulaic writing style and as a result he challenges her to write her own crime fiction novel. Her agent, pleased by the coverage of the interaction decides this is a great idea and arranges for Hannah to stay with someone he knows in a remote part of Iceland where he hopes she would feel inspired to write her novel. Feeling she has no choice but to agree, Hannah travels to Iceland but struggles to adjust to the very different environment to her home city of Copenhagen and wishes to return immediately, however when the nephew of the lady she is lodging with is found dead in potentially suspicious circumstances she agrees to remain, in part as this may inspire her own novel but also as she is intrigued to try to solve the mystery. The story is told from Hannah’s perspective alone as she tried to uncover what has happened to the boy while also trying to write a story loosely based on what she is learning along the way.

In recent years the foreboding Icelandic landscape has provided a rich and varied setting for crime fiction novels by both authors from that country and increasingly from other locations. Despite the title, Thirty Days Of Darkness is not wholly of dark subject nature, there are some amusing situations that occur during the novel as well as some particular revealing insights to the book publishing business. The main character Hannah is an introspective character, a loner who doesn’t always behave in an orthodox manner. While looking to say as little as possible about the storyline, I believe that Thirty Days Of Darkness is a novel that will have real appeal for readers of crime fiction and I am very keen to read more from Jenny Lund Madsen in the future.

The blurb:

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears… Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong. When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjörður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration. But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.

About the author

Jenny Lund Madsen is one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour and Orenda Books for providing me with an advance copy of Thirty Days Of Darkness. Please look out for the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation

[fictionfromafar]

The Lazarus Solution by Kjell Ola Dahl

The Lazarus Solution

By Kjell Ola Dahl

Translated by Don Bartlett

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 27 April 2023

#RandomTTours

There is a richness and a depth to each of Kjell Ola Dahl’s novels that is present irrespective of whether they form part of his contemporary eight volume Oslo Detectives series or his standalone novels such as The Courier and The Assistant which feature a greater historical slant. His writing is truly immersive, and in The Lazarus Solution, the setting is summer 1973, largely in Stockholm. While Sweden’s status was officially neutral during the second world war, with Norway and Denmark both occupied by the Germans and Finland fighting on the same side, against Russia, the authorities permitted German soldiers to travel on Swedish trains while their presence was felt in the capital. The city is seen through the eyes of demobbed Norwegian sailor Kai Fredly. The son of a communist, Kai was compelled to travel to Spain to serve on the side of the Republican Government, yet when he returns to his home country, he discovers that his brother has been killed, after apparently working as a Nazi conspirator. It soon becomes clear that he has been spared imprisonment or worse as those connected to his brother wish him to avenge his death. In Stockholm Kai realises that it’s hard to find friends, even among his compatriot exiles when he doesn’t know which side they are on or on whose behalf he’s working.

The other key character in the story is a writer by the name of Jomar Kraby who is hired by the exiled Norwegian Government to discover what happened to one of their couriers who died on the border with Sweden. As it evident that the path of the two men will cross at some stage as the novel weaves towards a climax, yet on what terms and whether hostilities will endure is unclear. At times, the story has the feel of a classic black and white espionage film as secret rendezvous take place with charming, mysterious, or beautiful femme fatales, potentially luring Kai into dangerous or compromising situations as well as suspects being tailed on foot in broad daylight through city streets. At times it is captivating, at times a little convoluted as Dahl’s storytelling tends to straddle multiple time periods rather than featuring both in the same timeframe. I didn’t foresee the big reveal and liked a little ambiguity at the tail end of the story.

The Lazarus Solution has the feel of a classic which excites and educates. Much as I enjoy the author’s series, I feel I do prefer his historical standalones as it releases any restraints around time period and character. While each of these novels has been very distinctive, I perhaps feel that I would wish for in his future publications is a story with a female lead character which would provide a welcome contrast.

The Book:

Summer, 1943. Daniel Berkåk, who works as a courier for the Press and Military Office in Sweden, is killed on his last cross-border mission to Norway.

Demobbed sailor Kai Fredly escapes from occupied Norway into Sweden, but finds that the murder of his Nazi-sympathiser brother is drawing the attention of the authorities on both sides of the border.

The Norwegian government, currently exiled in London, wants to know what happened to their courier, and the job goes to writer Jomar Kraby, whose first suspect is a Norwegian refugee living in Sweden … a refugee with a past as horrifying as the events still to come … a refugee named Kai Fredly…

Both classic crime and a stunning exposé of Norwegian agents in Stockholm during the Second World War, The Lazarus Solution is a compulsive, complex and dazzling historical thriller from one of the genre's finest writers.

For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Lars Mytting, Mick Herron and Robert Harris.

The author:

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published fourteen novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in 14 countries, and he lives in Oslo.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour and Orenda Books for providing me with an advance copy of The Lazarus by Kjell Ola Dahl. Please check out the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #crime fiction in translation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir

[fictionfromafar]

There Are No Happy Loves by Sergio Olguín

There Are No Happy Loves

Verónica Rosenthal #3

By Sergio Olguín

Translated by Miranda France

Bitter Lemon Press

Publication Date: 25 August 2022

#RandomTTours

While publishers Bitter Lemon Press already had a prestigious catalogue of Argentine authors, including Ernesto Mallo and Claudia Piñeiro, the publication of the Verónica Rosenthal series by Sergio Olguín really seem to have particularly struck a chord with English language readers. 2019’s The Fragility Of Bodies was selected as one of the three best new thrillers by The Financial Times and was shortlisted in the CWA Crime Fiction In Translation category while last year’s The Foreign Girls The Times described Verónica Rosenthal as “a contemporary heroine to cherish.”

One of the successes of the series is that Olguín, through his superb translator Miranda France, makes the unfamiliar settings and environment appear familiar to the reader. This is in part due to the quality of the story-telling which succeeds in combining exciting character driven plots together with informative details that also enable the reader to gain an understanding of contemporary Argentine society. Olguin is unafraid to focus on issues such as child exploitation, corruption by the powerful, femicide and illegal adoptions, yet never at the expense of the overall plot. There Are No Happy Loves, like the earlier volumes, grabs your attention from the start and flows in such a fluid way that it challenges the reader to attempt to read it in one sitting.

‘No Hay Amores Felices’ as it was published in Spanish in 2016 see Verónica Rosenthal back in Buenos Aires. Following her ordeals covered in the previous novel, she faces regular nightmares and has lost her passion and drive for journalism. To her editor Patricia’s concern, she has barely submitted a credible news article since her series on femicide in north east Argentina. Since her on/off boyfriend Federico Córdova has left her she has found herself in most common company of Mr Jim Bean as she ruminates about what should have been. While her sisters try to involve her in routine family activities, she demonstrates herself to be a willing yet sadly inept baby sitter.

In a welcome return to the narrative style of The Fragility Of Bodies, There Are No Happy Loves features two other separate initially unrelated storylines in addition to Veronica's daily life, which will eventually and separately converge with hers. Darío Valrossa is a driver in a fatal road traffic accident and when he later wakes up from his convalescence, he is informed that his wife and his daughter Jazmin have died. Since the authorities have never found their bodies, Darío believes that both are alive. Meanwhile Federico, who has truly estranged from Verónica Rosenthal, is under the belief he is moving his life forward; while dating another girl called Verónica! As prosecutor he is involved in a police operation that starts as a raid for drug trafficking yet this results in the discovery of a truck full of mutilated bodies.

Dario, feeling he has explored all possible avenues to discover what has happened to Jazmin recalls how Verónica Rosenthal once helped his cousin in a previous exposure. When he approaches her there are hidden sentimental reasons as well as her inquisitive mind that stimulates her interest. When Dario tells her more about Jazmin’s upbringing there is some crucial information which compel her to try to leave her self-pity behind.

Despite this intrigue it is two female characters who push Verónica to recover her passion for her job. The first of these is her editor Patricia at ‘Nuestro Tiempo’ who is having to deal with the demands to restructure the magazine’s workforce amid a falling circulation. If these sections feel very realistic it is owed to Olguín’s own journalist background. Later she reconnects with her very first editor María Magdalena, a former nun who shares a similar taste in liquor. María’s background is particularly helpful to her when the clues lead Verónica Rosenthal to a sect of the Catholic Church. Coming from a Jewish background this is not an area of knowledge for her and the novel makes societal observations with Rosenthal facing some prejudice from devout Christians suggesting her religion is a motivation for her investigations.

The mystery of Dario’s daughter is uncovered however by then the head strong journalist has also discovered a widespread and practice which she is keen to expose. Meanwhile Federico is still on the trail of the mutilated bodies. Their narratives move in parallel and intersect yet with no more connection than the memories of one or another main protagonist about the other. This allows the narrator to toy with the reader about how the two will converge and whether it will be deliberate or come to chance. This positioning between his protagonists really allows their personalities to be revealed.

Verónica remains a fascinating character, still to find her place in the word. Wonderfully articulated in this English language version by Miranda France; she appears conflicted in a dilemma between what is expected of her and what she expects of her life. Her relationships with her family and Federico are in constant flux and tension. Resisting their attempts to push her into a stable and predictable life she impulsively rejects these for drinking benders and or erotic encounters in the suburbs. Yet her intense jealousy is revealed when she spoils a cocktail night or maliciously hacks an email account. As an unpredictable lead character there is constant doubt behind her behaviours even when her intentions are good. Most elusive of course are those moments of genuine happiness. When the possibilities of love appear to fade she suffers. As her experiences through the series take their toll on her which she does appear increasingly human. Meanwhile Federico has developed from a secondary character to almost joint lead role. As he reveals, he pays a psychoanalyst a monthly wage, a significant sign of his own mental fragility.

The quality of the novel is also shown in the high visual quality to Olguín’s prose. This provides a cinematic feel which perhaps demonstrates the author’s abilities as a scriptwriter. I would certainly feel there could be scope to develop this novel into two feature length parts. Buenos Aires is another character in the Verónica Rosenthal series which often gives the appearance of being as sophisticated as any European city. There are times I feel attracted to take a drink in Dada del Bajo yet the stories do make me wonder if my fellow patrons would be similarly scarred.

As is often the case in Latin America, behind many crimes and misdemeanours committed there are ultimately corrupt members of an institution. In an environment where such institutions are under suspicion there is greater faith held in journalists than police authorities. There Are No Happy Loves sees as Verónica gradually unravels a plot of complicity between some sinister described politicians, doctors and ultra-Catholic priests. While featuring a very different plot and setting, there is a resemblance to The Foreign Girls with a quest for justice against criminal elements within institutions. Reaching the climax, the excitement intensifies as plans are quickly pulled together to infiltrate the perpetrators placing our heroine in danger. It is an essential strength of Olguín to portray the bad intentions of the powerful and the horrors that can be committed against the vulnerable and impoverished. However, unlike a gang of local scoundrels, it seems a full resolution can never be possible as institutional villains never be wholly overcome by one individual. Perhaps this realisation as much as personalities of the individuals is also a reason behind the lack of happiness of the novel’s title. One can only hope for a non-institutional based opponent that Verónica Rosenthal can overcome in the future.

There Are No Happy Loves is a wholly engrossing, gripping and thought-provoking instalment in an established series which can certainly be enjoyed as a standalone novel. I sincerely believe there are very few contemporary crime fiction authors who write such compelling and rounded stories as Olguín and I would highly recommend each of the Verónica Rosenthal novels. While the series was originally described as a trilogy, Sergio Olguín has stated that his ambition is to make ten novels in the series, following in the traditions of authors such as Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. It is my hope that he manages to do so, that they continue to be translated by Miranda France and published by Bitter Lemon Press. Reading a synopsis of the fourth novel “The Best Enemy” is almost enough to convince me to start Spanish lessons!

I do feel that my paperback copy of There Are No Happy Loves is missing a biography of the translator Miranda France below that of Sergio Olguín on the opening page. Not only would it give better recognition of her previous work but it also seems a missed opportunity to help other readers discover the excellent Claudia Piñeiro novels she has also translated for the same publisher.

Incidentally I should also mention to accompany this novel, There Are No Happy Loves has a playlist created by Olguín on Spotify.

There Are No Happy Loves is published today. Many thanks to Bitter Lemon Press for an advance copy of There Are No Happy Loves and to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour. Please check the above image for details of other reviews on this tour.

Here are my reviews of the earlier novels in the series:

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #crime fiction in translation

[fictionfromafar]

Crime Fiction In Translation 2023

This list will be added to throughout 2023

5 Jan

Black Ice by Carin Gerhardsen, translated by Ian Giles, Head Of Zeus SWEDEN

A deadly secret haunts a group of strangers who cross paths in the snow of a Swedish midwinter. The days are short, the air is cold, and all the roads are covered in snow. On a deserted, icy backroad, these wintry conditions bring together a group of strangers with a force devastating enough to change their lives forever

Empathy by Antoine Renand, translated by Frank Wynne, Welbeck FRANCE

Prix Maison de la Presse Award Finalist 2019 Marion Mesny and Anthony Rauch, otherwise known as 'The Pear', work at the heart of the Sexual Assault Unit in Paris.

Renowned for their bravery and intelligence, the pair are not unfamiliar with violent crimes. Yet they are horrified when they discover a criminal who goes by the name of Alpha - a man filled with red-hot hatred, whose meaning of life lies in assaulting and torturing others.

18 Jan

Trouble by Katja Ivar, Bitter Lemon Press FINLAND

Helsinki, early summer 1953. Hella Mauzer, once a member of the city’s murder squad, now a reluctant private investigator, is doing a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. She accepted the job because she was promised information about the 1942 death of her father. An accident, file closed they say. But not for Hella. Her investigation leads to people who want her stopped dead in her tracks.

The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin, Fitzcarraldo Editions FRANCE

While Patrice plans a surprise for his wife's fortieth birthday, inexplicable events start to disrupt the hamlet's quiet existence: anonymous, menacing letters, an unfamiliar car rolling up the driveway. And as night falls, strangers stalk the houses, unleashing a nightmarish chain of events. Told in rhythmic, propulsive prose that weaves seamlessly from one consciousness to the next over the course of a day, Laurent Mauvignier's The Birthday Party is a deft unravelling of the stories we hide from others and from ourselves, a gripping tale of the violent irruptions of the past into the present, written by a major contemporary French writer.

25 Jan

Winter Swallows by Maurizio de Giovanni, translated by Antony Shugaar, Europa Editions ITALY (USA)

Christmas has just passed and the city is preparing to celebrate New Year when, on the stage of a variety show, famous actor Michelangelo Gelmi fires a gun at his wife, Fedora Marra. The shooting itself would be nothing strange: it is repeated every evening as part of their performance. But this time, someone replaced one of the blanks with a real bullet. Gelmi swears his innocence, but few believe him.

The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo, translated by Yewon Jung, Point Blank KOREA

Criminal psychologist Seonkyeong has two new people in her life. A serial killer whose gruesome murders shook the world but who has steadfastly remained silent. A young, innocent looking stepdaughter from her husband's previous marriage, who unexpectedly turns up at the door after the sudden death of her grandparents. Both are unsettling. Both are deeply troubled. And both seem to want something from her. Can she work out just who is the victim in all of this?

29 Jan

Nothing Is Lost by Cloé Mehdi, translated by Howard Curtis, Europa Editions

In a small town just like any other, a police identity check goes wrong. The victim, Saïd, was fifteen years old. And now he is dead. Mattia is just eleven years old, and witnesses the hatred and sadness felt by those around him. While he didn’t know Saïd, his face can be seen all over the neighbourhood, graffitied on walls in red paint, demanding “Justice”. Mattia decides to pull together the pieces of the puzzle, to try to understand what happened. Because even the dead don’t stay buried forever, and nothing is lost, ever.

2 Feb

You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal, translated by Alice Menzies, Faber & Faber SWEDEN

A body has been found locked in the basement of an abandoned house in the woods. Aside from the victim's name - which he carved into the wall before he died - the police have nothing to go On. Eira is still struggling with the aftermath of her last big case. But no one knows Ådalen like Eira, and she soon begins to immerse herself in this eerie new case.

Nothing Can Hurt You Now by Simone Campos, translated by Rahul Bery, Pushkin Press BRAZIL

Lucinda has lived her whole life in the shadow of her glamorous and outgoing high-end model sister Viviana. But when Viviana suddenly disappears on a trip to Sao Paulo, Lucinda drops everything to track her down. Met with indifference from the police, Lucinda joins forces with Viviana's girlfriend Graziane to launch her own investigation.

Mirror of our Sorrows by Pierre Lemaitre, translated by Frank Wynne, MacLehose Press FRANCE

Louise Belmont runs, naked, down the boulevard du Montparnasse.

To understand the tragic scene she has just experienced, she will have to plunge into the madness of the 'Phoney War', when the whole of France, seized by the panic of a new World War, descends into chaos.

7 Feb

The Island by Katrine Engberg, translated by Tara Chase, Hodder & Staunton, DENMARK

Jeppe Kørner, on leave from the police force and nursing a broken heart, has taken refuge on the island of Bornholm for the winter. Back in Copenhagen, Anette Werner is tasked with leading the investigation into a severed corpse discovered on a downtown playground. As she follows the strange trail of clues, they all seem to lead back to Bornholm. With an innocent offer to check out a lead, Jeppe unwittingly finds himself in the crosshairs of a sinister mystery rooted in the past, forcing him to team up with Anette and Esther to unravel the island’s secrets before it’s too late.

16 Feb

The Last Grudge by Max Seeck, translated by Kristian London, Welbeck FINLAND

While her colleagues investigate the brutal murder of a prominent businessman, Jessica Niemi must battle demons from her past. Powerful executive Eliel Zetterborg has been found murdered in his upscale Helsinki home. What at first seems like a straightforward case soon proves to be anything but when it becomes clear the murderer has other targets. The only clue the police have is a photo of Zetterborg with three men whose faces have all been scratched off.

The Hitchhiker by Gerwin van der Werf, translated by David Colmer, Text Publishing (USA) NETHERLANDS

Tiddo plans a holiday to Iceland, travelling the tourist circuit in a rented campervan. On their trip, they pick up a hitchhiker named Svein, who is tall, handsome and covered in tattoos of ancient runes. When Svein offers to guide them off the beaten track, Tiddo is conflicted. Does Svein pose a threat or offer salvation? Is there wisdom in his stories? What power do his tattoos hold?

23 Feb

The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Pushkin Press JAPAN

Every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote, castle-like Water Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident.

This year, however, the visit is disrupted by an impossible disappearance, the theft of a painting and a series of baffling murders. The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada arrives to investigate. But will he uncover the truth?

7 Mar

Tina, Mafia Soldier by Maria Rosa Cutrufelli, translated by Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Soho Crime ITALY

Sicily, 1980s: When she was just eight years old, Tina watched as her father, a member of Cosa Nostra, was murdered in cold blood. Now a teenager, she terrorizes her hometown of Gela, having made it her mission to join the mafia, an organization traditionally forbidden to women as made members. Nicknamed ’a masculidda, or “the tomboy,” Tina has taken charge of her own gang, and is notorious for her cruelty and reckless disregard for societal expectations 

16 March

Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado, translated by Nicholas Caistor, Macmillan, SPAIN

Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes. But it's been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside. She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs. Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.

The Hand That Feeds You by Mercedes Rosende, translated by Tim Gutteridge, Bitter Lemon Press URAGUAY

The attempted robbery of the armoured truck in the back streets of Montevideo was a miserable failure. A lucky break for the intrepid Ursula who manages to snatch all the loot, more hindered than helped by her faint-hearted and reluctant companion Diego. Only now, the wannabe robbers are hot on her heels. As is the police. And a private detective. And Ursula's sister. But Ursula turns out to be enormously talented when it comes to criminal undertakings, and given the hilarious ineptitude of those in pursuit, she might just pull it off. She is an irresistible heroine. A murderess with a sense of humor, a lovable criminal with an edge and she is practically invisible to the men who dominate the deeply macho society of Uruguay.

The Spider by Lars Kepler, translated by Alice Menzies,  Zaffre SWEDEN

Three years ago, Saga Bauer received a postcard with a threatening text about a gun with nine white bullets - one of which is waiting for Detective Joona Linna. But time passed and the threat faded. Until now. A sack with a decomposed body is found tied to a tree in the forest. A milky white bullet casing is found at the murder scene. And soon the police are sent complicated riddles from the killer - a chance to stop further murders.

23 Mar

Mothers' Instinct by Barbara Abel, Translated by Susan Pickford, Harper Collins

David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot are inseparable friends and next-door neighbors in a pretty, tranquil suburb. Their sons Milo and Maxime, born in the same year, grow up together as close as brothers. But when Maxime is killed in an accident, their idyllic world shatters. Maxime's parents, Sylvain and Tiphaine, are consumed by grief and bitterness, while David and Laetitia are wracked with guilt for their role in the tragedy. Then a mysterious series of “accidents” begins to happen to Milo, raising Laetitia’s suspicions.

The Girl By The Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason, translated by Victoria Cribb, Vintage Publishing ICELAND

An elderly couple are worried about their granddaughter. They know she's been smuggling drugs, and now she's gone missing. Looking for help, they turn to Konrad, a former policeman whose reputation precedes him. Always absent-minded, he constantly ruminates on the fate of his father, who was stabbed to death decades ago. But digging into the past reveals much more than anyone set out to discover, and a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond unexpectedly captures everyone's attention.

30 March

The Sins Of Our Fathers by Asa Larsson, translated by Frank Perry, MacLehose Press SWEDEN

Forensic pathologist Lars Pohjanen has only a few weeks to live when he asks Rebecka Martinsson to investigate a murder that has long since passed the statute of limitations. A body found in a freezer at the home of the deceased alcoholic, Henry Pekkari, has been identified as a man who disappeared without a trace in 1962: the father of Swedish Olympic boxing champion Börje Ström. Rebecka wants nothing to do with a fifty-year-old case - she has enough to worry about. But how can she ignore a dying man's wish?

The Shadow Lily by Johanna Mo, translated by Alice Menzies,  Penguin Books SWEDEN

Small-town police detective Hanna Duncker has a past. Her deceased father was convicted of murder and arson long ago, and she has taken up residence and resumed her police career in her hometown after his death. She and her partner Erik Lindgren are called to investigate the disappearance of a father and his infant son from their home while his pregnant wife was away on a weekend trip.

Lady Joker Vol 2 by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press JAPAN

This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I. Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines the circumstances of this watershed episode in modern Japanese history and brings into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains.

Tomas Nevinson by Javier Marias, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, Hamish Hamilton Ltd SPAIN

Tomas Nevinson has left the secret service and returned to his old job working in the British Embassy in Madrid.

Assumed dead by his wife Berta, Tomas attempts to resume his previous life and heal from his psychological wounds. But when he is contacted by his old boss, Bertram Tupra, Nevinson reluctantly becomes involved in a plan to locate and eliminate a woman believed to have helped orchestrate the 1987 Hipercor bombing.

3 April

The Consultant by Im Seong-sun, translated by An Seon Jae, Raven Books KOREA

The Consultant is very good at his job. He creates elegant, effective solutions for … restructuring. Nothing obvious or messy. Certainly, nothing anyone would suspect as murder. The ‘natural deaths’ he plans have always gone well: a medicine replaced here; a mechanism jammed there. His performance reviews are excellent. And it’s not as though he knows these people. Until his next ‘customer’ turns out to be someone he not only knows but cares about, and for the first time, he begins to question the role he plays in the vast, anonymous Company. As he slowly begins to understand the real scope of their work, he realises just how easy it would be for the Company to arrange one more perfect murder.

13 Apr

Stigma by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Megan E. Turney. Orenda Books, NORWAY

Incarcerated in a Norwegian high-security prison, a broken Alexander Blix joins forces with Emma Ramm to find a ruthless killer who has escaped from a German jail. Pulse-pounding Nordic Noir. Alexander Blix is a broken man. Convicted for avenging his daughter’s death, he is now being held in one of Norway’s high-security prisons. Inside, the other prisoners take every opportunity to challenge and humiliate the former police investigator .On the outside, Blix’s former colleagues have begun the hunt for a terrifying killer. Walter Kroos has escaped from prison in Germany and is making his way north.

Skin Deep by Antonia Lassa, translated by Jacky Collins, Corylus Books SPAIN

In the glamorous resort of Biarritz, the corpse of an elderly millionaire is discovered brutally scarred with acid burns in a downmarket rental apartment. Her young lover is the chief suspect but the authorities admit they are not entirely convinced about his guilt. It will take the intervention of private detective Albert Larten to explore all the complexities of desire, and ultimately reveal the truth.

4 May

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses, Pushkin Press ARGENTINA

On hearing her neighbour's body plummet on to her patio, a woman's comfortable life seems to split open.

A cab driver's perfectly manicured nails may be concealing grisly secrets. In these tense, macabre stories, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica strikes to the dark heart of our desires, fears and fantasies.

11 May

Blood Ties by Veronica E Llaca, translated by Mark Fried, Mountain Leopard MEXICO

When the writer Ignacio Suarez is sent photos of two murdered women, mirroring a passage of his detective novel, he rushes to uncover who is responsible. What no one suspects is that the key to solving these crimes lies in the forgotten story of Felicitas Sanchez, the midwife turned child-killer who became known in the 1940s as 'The Ogress of Colonia Roma'.

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen, translated by Megan E. Turney, Orenda Books DENMARK

Copenhagen author Hannah is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colorful local characters – for inspiration. But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.

Coffee and Cigarettes by Ferdinand Von Schrirach, translated by Kat Hall, Baskerville GERMANY

Von Schirach returns with gripping character portraits and short stories, as well as autobiographical vignettes and astute observations drawn from his life and career. From conversations with imprisoned clients, great writers and supreme court judges, and vignettes on art, film and smoking, to observations on Germany's heavy history - as well as his own family's. The result is a revealing, revelatory collection

25 May

Killing Moon by Jo Nesbø, translated by Robert Ferguson, Vintage Publishing NORWAY

Harry has gone to Los Angeles to drink himself to death, in the wake of his life back in Oslo falling to pieces. He’s nearly managed to, but Harry has been helping an older film actress, Lucille, to get away from the grips of a drug cartel to which she owes one million dollars, and in return she’s given him shelter, company and a tailored suit. In Oslo, two girls have disappeared and been found murdered and one of the suspects is a well-known real estate magnate. Katrine Bratt wants to bring in the country’s foremost serial killings expert, but the idea of collaborating with Harry Hole is out of the question for the chiefs of police.

The Invisible Web by Oliver Bottini, translated by Jamie Bulloch, Maclehose Press GERMANY

Berlin: A man is beaten up, the attacker escapes undetected. As a trail leads to Freiburg, Chief Inspector Louise Bonì is sent to investigate. It's a complex case: the attacker appears to be a professional, the victim a secret service informer, the only witness knows more than she's saying, and the domestic intelligence service is hovering in the background but refusing to cooperate. Industrial espionage appears to be at play, focused on the burgeoning solar energy sector.

Lazarus by Kjell Ola Dahl, translated by Don Bartlett, Orenda Books, NORWAY

Summer, 1943. When a courier for Sweden's Press and Military Office is killed on his final mission, the Norwegian government-in-exile appoints a writer to find the missing documents ... breathtaking WW2 thriller. Daniel Berkak works as a courier for the Press and Military Office in Stockholm. On his last cross-border mission to Norway, he carries a rucksack full of coded documents and newspapers, but before he has a chance to deliver anything he is shot and killed and the contents of his rucksack are missing.

Cult by Henrik Fexeus and Camilla Läckberg, translated by Ian Giles, Harper Collins, SWEDEN

A young child is snatched in broad daylight outside his nursery. Nobody in charge sees a thing, but the other children say a woman is the culprit… Detective Mina Dabiri calls on her close friend Vincent to untangle the puzzle that surrounds the kidnapped boy. As he finds a link between the boy and other others who have gone missing, it becomes clear that time is running out for everyone involved… Meanwhile, Mina’s estranged daughter gets caught up in the secretive world of Epicura, a shadowy organisation that claims to be a centre for leadership development. Can Mina protect her child—a child who doesn’t even know she exists?

1 Jun

The Collector by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chase, Swift Press, DENMARK

When 10-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia—a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone posted just hours before his disappearance shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn—but from where?

8 Jun

Inmate by Sebastian Fitzek, translator TBC, Head Of Zeus GERMANY

A desperate father. A terrible secret. Serial killer Guido T has already confessed to two horrific child murders and led the Berlin police to the horribly disfigured bodies. The police are sure he is also the kidnapper and murderer of six-year-old Max, who disappeared without trace a year ago. But now Guido T, who is being held in the high-security ward of a psychiatric prison hospital, is staying silent.

15 Jun

The Murder of Anton Livius by Hansjörg Schneider, translated by Mike Mitchell, Bitter Lemon Press SWITZERLAND

For Inspector Hunkeler the New Year begins with a most unwelcome phone call. He is summoned back to Basel from his holiday to unravel a gruesome killing in a gardening allotment on the city's outskirts. An old man known as Anton Fluckiger has been shot in the head and found hanging from a butcher's hook from the roof of his garden shed - like butchers hang the carcasses of dead animals.

The Woman Inside by M. T. Edvardsson, translator TBC, MacMillan SWEDEN

A wealthy couple ends up murdered in the nicest part of town in this compulsively readable, page-turning thriller from M. T. Edvardsson, The Woman Inside. Bill Olsson, recently widowed, is desperate to provide for his daughter, Sally. Struggling to pay rent, he welcomes a lodger into their home: Karla, a law student and aspiring judge, who works as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Her clients are the Rytters, an incredibly wealthy couple who hide behind closed doors. The wife is ill and hasn’t left the house in months. The husband is controlling and obsessive. Is he just a worried husband, concerned for his wife’s health? Or is there something more sinister at play?

29 June

The Devil's Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Jim Rion, Pushkin Press JAPAN

The scruffy sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates a series of gruesome murders within the feuding family of a brooding, troubled composer, whose most famous work chills the blood of all who hear it. The Devil's Flute Murders is an ingenious and highly atmospheric classic whodunit from Japan's master of crime.

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott, translated by Marina Sofia, Corylus Books

When what seems to be a series of random murders start troubling the beautiful Carpathian town of Brașov, forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa is asked to collaborate with the police to handle one of the rare instances of a serial killer in Romania. Encountering prejudice as an ambitious woman in a misogynistic world, she soon discovers that the killer may be on her trail as well.

6 Jul

Death of the Red Rider by Yulia Yakovleva, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai, Pushkin Press RUSSIA

As the Red Terror gathers pace, a horseman and horse mysteriously collapse in the middle of a race in Leningrad. Weary Detective Zaitsev, still raw from his last brush with the Party, is dispatched to the Soviet state cavalry school in Novocherkassk, southern Russia, to investigate.

11 Jul

A Little Luck by Claudia Pinero, translated by Frances Riddle, Charco Press ARGENTINA

After twenty years, a woman returns to the suburban Argentina she had fled to escape a dreadful accident, a sense of guilt, and social condemnation, leaving her son behind.

But the woman who returns is not the same: she doesn't look the same, her voice is different, she doesn't even have the same name. After two decades spent in the United States, this damaged woman has rebuilt her life. Will those who knew her even recognise her? Will _he _recognise her? Not fully understanding her own reasons for going back to the place where she once lived and raised a family, and that she had been determined to forget forever, both anticipated encounters and unanticipated revelations show her that sometimes life is neither fate nor chance: perhaps her return is nothing more than a little luck.

The Stranger in the Seine by Guillaume Musso, translated by Rosie Eyre, Weidenfeld & Nicholson FRANCE

Paris, a misty night a few days before Christmas: a young woman is saved from the waters of the Seine. She is naked, doesn't remember her name or how she ended up in the river, but is still alive. The mysterious woman is taken to the hospital - and then disappears in thin air. DNA testing reveals her to be celebrated concert pianist.

Anatomy of a Killer by Romy Hausmann, translated by Jamie Bulloch, Quercus Publishing GERMANY

Berlin, 2017: several young girls have been disappearing for the past fourteen years. Red ribbons show the police the way to their bodies, but there's no trace of the killer. One evening, internationally renowned philosophy professor and anthropologist Walter Lesniak is arrested on the suspicion of the murders in the presence of his daughter, Ann. 'Professor Death' becomes the headline of the tabloid press and Lesniak himself refuses to cooperate with the police.

20 Jul

Blizzard by Marie Vingtras, translated by Stephanie Smee, Mountain Leopard Press, FRANCE

In a harsh, Alaskan landscape, four solitary characters are brought together by a desperate hunt to find a missing child. Blizzard is a gripping thriller. Quiet and unnerving, but building to a breath-taking dramatic climax. A blizzard rages in Alaska. In the storm, a woman stops for a moment to tie her shoelaces. Seconds later, the child under her protection has vanished. She searches for him, soon joined by the very few other inhabitants who live in this cold, desolate place. As the hunt intensifies - a race against the clock in these excruciating conditions to bring back the child alive - the inner demons and torments of each individual are revealed, and their uncanny connection to one another is finally unveiled.

You Can't See Me by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb, Orenda Books, ICELAND

A wealthy family is investigated and dark secrets exposed when a body is found on the lava fields outside the hotel where they’ve gathered for a reunion. This is a Forbidden Iceland prequel.

The Great Snake by Pierre Lemaitre, translated by Frank Wynne, Mountain Leopard Press FRANCE

Mathilde has always been a headstrong woman. A member of the French resistance when she was just eighteen years old, she both impressed and horrified everyone with her cool capacity for violence. Now it is 1985 and Mathilde is in her sixties. She is not as glamorous as she once was, but she continues to take great pride in all that she does. Recently, however, the sixty-three-year-old has been affected by loss of memory and erratic changes in mood that even her exasperated dog Ludo has noticed. This is a potentially dangerous situation, since Mathilde now makes her living as a contract killer...

27 Aug

Reykjavik by Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson, translated by Victoria Cribb, Michael Joseph ICELAND

Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lára spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. The mystery becomes Iceland's greatest unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

31 Aug

The Girl In The Eagle’s Talons: Millennium 7 by Karin Smirnoff, translated by Sarah Death, MacLehose Press SWEDEN

Karin Smirnoff’s take on the Millennium series.  The story that follows hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, moves from Stockholm to Northern Sweden, an area vast and beautiful, but also dealing with economic and social problems and the effects of climate change and environmental exploitation.

Feral by Gabrielle Filteau-Chiba, translated by David Homel, Mountain Leopard Press, CANADA

Set in the Canadian forest, Feral is a feminist eco-thriller, a passionate love story and an ode to nature's ferocious beauty. Raphaelle, a forty-year-old forest warden, has been estranged from her family for many years. She lives with her beloved dog, Coyote, in a caravan deep in the Canadian woods.Fiercely independent and cut off from civilisation, she is always armed, protecting herself from bears, coyotes and lynxes who she in turn defends from sadistic, overzealous poachers. Soon after Raphaelle discovers animal footprints outside her cabin, her dog vanishes and is eventually found severely injured. And then it is not long before Raphaelle herself becomes the prey of the forest's ultimate predator, which is not animal, but man.

14 Sep

The Eye Collector by Sebastian Fitzek, Head of Zeus GERMANY

The first in a powerfully unsettling new trilogy by the master of the psychothriller, Sebastian Fitzek. First he kills the mother, then he kidnaps the child. The grieving father is given 45 hours to search for them. If the child isn't found, they die, never leaving the place they have been imprisoned. That's his method: the man they call the Eye Collector. Because the horror doesn't end there. All the bodies found are missing their left eye

To Be Confirmed...

The Prey by Yrsa Sigurdsdottir

The Beaver Theory by Antti Tuomainen

2024

20 Jun

The Children of the Cult by Mariette Lindstein, HQ

Previous lists here:

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation

[fictionfromafar]

The Kitchen By Simone Buchholz

The Kitchen

By Simone Buchholz

Translated by Rachel Ward

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 11 April 2024 

Rarely does a series of books capture the setting of a city as strongly as Simone Buchholz does of Hamburg. While it's a city I've not yet been to, I have a strong images in my head as to what the Elbe river looks like, what the protagonist Chastity Riley and her police colleagues look like, and some of the seedier places that they frequent. After last year's back to the beginning with The Acapulco, The Kitchen is the second novel of the "reloaded series" of original stories of the State Prosecutor Riley. 

As is often the case, Riley has to attempt to balance her criminal investigations with whatever turbulence she is facing in her private life.  While often the latter can often be quite self inflicted, in The Kitchen her primary concern is for the welfare of a friend of her's who has faced a horrific ordeal.  By comparison to this, when sets of body parts begin to appear in the river Elbe, this doesn't rate highly in terms of her attention at that particular moment. This is a distinctive change of outlook as normally personal matters come second for Chastity Riley. Missing the presence of veteran police detective Faller, following his recent retirement is also a disorienting experience while Riley is also worried about her attachment to a friendly neighbour. 

In parallel we are being teased by Buchholz with some mystery scenes, or perhaps more specifically thoughts processes and motivations to carry out unsavoury activities. Something is going on that is not visible to Riley but the neatness of the evidence before her, does leave her with a slight suspicion. While her focus may be somewhat clouded, her sense of justice is never in doubt and continuing to witness the distress that her friend has faced does provide eventually provide a driver to her motivations. 

When a witness finally comes forward, the results seem far to vague yet they do form a starting point for the whole case to unravel. Buchholz effectively describes some of the underlying real issues that many face on a day to day basis. These have acted as the spark for the crimes under investigation while also revealing the key moral challenges that Riley has to consider when she realises what is before her.  Sometimes the "why" becomes more important than the "who."

Simone Buchholz has never disappointed me yet and while knowledge of some of Riley's personal connections would be enhanced by reading The Acapulco,  The Kitchen can certainly be appreciated whether you have read any of her previous stories or not.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion in the blog tour and to Orenda Books for an advance copy of The Kitchen. Please check out the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

When neatly packed male body parts wash up by the River Elbe, Hamburg State Prosecutor Chastity Riley and her colleagues begin a perplexing investigation.

As the murdered men are identified, it becomes clear that they all had a history of abuse towards women, leading Riley to wonder if it would actually be in society’s best interests to catch the killers.

But when her best friend Carla is attacked, and the police show little interest in tracking down the offender, Chastity takes matters into her own hands and as a link between the two cases emerges, horrifying revelations threaten Chastity’s own moral compass … and put everything at risk.

The award-winning, critically acclaimed Chastity Riley series returns with a slick, hard-boiled, darkly funny thriller that tackles issues of violence and the difference between law and justice with devastating insight, and an ending you will never see coming…

About the author

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award as well as runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months. The critically acclaimed Beton Rouge, Mexico Street, Hotel Cartagena and River Clyde all followed in the Chastity Riley series. Hotel Cartagena won the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger in 2022. The Acapulco (2023) marked the beginning of the Chastity Reloaded series, with The Kitchen out in 2024. She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #crime fiction in translation

[fictionfromafar]

Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case by Elsa Drucaroff

Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case

By Elsa Drucaroff

Translated by Slava Faybysh

Corylus Books

Publication Date: 5 March 2024

Other than through crime fiction novels written by authors in the country, I really know very little about the oppressive Argentinian military dictatorship that ruthlessly suppressed all opposition, or "subversives" as they are referred to in this story. As the book begins two Montoneros, members of the Argentine left-wing Peronist group are on a mission. In perhaps a contrast to expectations their act is theft on behalf of the citizens rather than terrorism, yet it isn't long before more brutal developments are brought to the reader's attention. A shoot out has taken place at a suspected hide out for the Montoneros. Broadcast via Montevideo as the Argentine radio is censored, the news is unclear - either four men and a woman have been killed, or the men are dead and the woman has been captured by the security forces. This is devastating news for Rodolfo Walsh, a journalist and writer who is also head of intelligence for the Montoneros. His 26th year old daughter is the missing woman.

Rodolfo Walsh was a real historical figure and his novel "A Letter to My Friends" was the basis for this novel by Elsa Drucaroff who while researching the history of the time, imagined the circumstances that followed the disappearance of Victoria Walsh. With little reliable information available from his own sources, Walsh has to cross the divide in order to contact Colonel König from the Argentine army in order to attempt to establish the truth.

While conflict is the key theme of this novel, it is far more than simply that between the military junta and the rebels. Walsh has to inform his daughter's mother that Victoria is missing and this brings ahead the reasons for their separation. While a good deal of Argentines may feel sympathetic to the aims of the Montoneros, this does not mean that they personally feel the need to be personally involved as Walsh and his daughter have been. Ideal life or ideology? Elsewhere, another agent has previously had to choose between the cause and love and only when it is nearly too late does he realise what he has missed out on.

The dividing lines are never simplistic. Within the Montoneros there is great debate as to whether they should continue their militant actions, try to negotiate a political settlement or a combination of both, while Colonel König is far less extreme than his leader General Oddone. Yet just sometimes within each human, there is something that polar opposites can recognise within the other. Perhap something recognisable in us all...

Naturally the story does have a predetermined outcome based within history while also giving further lasting legacy to Rodolfo and Victoria Welsh. Perhaps it's importantly it's also a very thought-provoking story which has an enduring relevance and resonance.

Many thanks to Corylus Books for an advance copy of this book and to Ewa Sherman for inclusion on the blog tour. Please check out the other reviews as shown below.

About the author

Elsa Drucaroff was born and raised in Buenos Aires. She is the author of four novels and two short story collections, in addition to being a prolific essayist. She has published numerous articles on Argentine literature, literary criticism and feminism. Her work has been widely translated, but Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case is Elsa Drucaroff’s first novel to be translated into English.

About the translator

Slava Faybysh lives in Chicago and is an up-and-coming translator from two languages: Spanish and Russian into English. His translations have been published in the New England Review, History Magazine, Asymptote Journal, Latin American Literature Today, and Another Chicago Magazine, among others. His translation of Leopoldo Bonafulla’s anarchist memoir The July Revolution: Barcelona 1909 was published by AK Press in 2021.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #novels in translation #crime fiction in translation #latinamericancrimefiction #historical fiction

[fictionfromafar]

The Guests By Agnes Ravatn

The Guests

By Agnes Ravatn

Translated by Rosie Hedger

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 18 January 2024

A new novel by Agnes Ravatn is always an event to celebrate, even in a cold and windy January. I remember coming across her English language debut, The Bird Tribunal some years back and discovered it was such a memorably atmospheric and beautifully written novel which really was a standout. While Nordic Noir can often be unfairly categorised between the police procedural and the more violent thriller, authors such as Ravatn show there is so much more to the subgenre. Undoubtedly both Nordic and Noir, her books could simplistically be described as psychological suspense novels, although even than definition does not really capture the quality of her work.

The Guests is Ravatn's third novel translated by Rosie Hedger and like her debut and The Seven Doors, it is a standalone novel which focuses on married mother of two Karin and her husband Kai. The couple have taken the opportunity of a week's holiday together in the fjords. As the story develops, the reasons behind this opportunity become clear as do the conflicts within Karin's own mind towards this trip.

Karin, our narrator, is quite a self absorbed individual and to be honest a bit of an inverted snob. While she completed a law degree, her career since has not taken the direction that she wanted it to do making her frequently envious of others. While she reveals that she holds particular values for example in the raising of her children, whom it must be said don't often appear in her thoughts, her reluctance for them to spend time online (for example) is not matched by her own actions. Staying in the holiday home of a rich associate on a remote peninsula, there is little to occupy Karen's thoughts other than make comparisons between the life that she normally leads, and to the owners of the luxurious abode.

Karin does rise from her own introspection for a while and takes a walk along the shoreside from their temporary home. Those other residents of the peninsula have lives far removed from that of her own. When a chance encounter leads to a short exchange with a neighbour whom she believes she would never see again, Karin makes a comment which will later land her in trouble - or at least make her have to save face (God forbid).

Before long Karin and a reluctant Kai find themselves performing a role to others, but can they do it convincingly and how would this actions eventually play out?

The Guests is a smooth, clear and absorbing read. Indeed while reading it, I did wonder if my compulsion to keep reading suggested a similarity to Karin and her obsessive thoughts. I found the story has a lot to say about human perceptions as our narrator encounters challenges to her preconceptions and contradictions to her opinions yet it is never clearly apparent if these could ever change her viewpoints. Like a case study of people from different backgrounds, Kai and some of the area's other residents also gradually reveal there are secrets, knowledge and acquaintances which had not been anticipated. There is a large degree of humour to the novel, at the expense of the characters and also an undercurrent of high stakes being raised as the story develops. It is one that I found very absorbing and comes highly recommended.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour and Orenda Books for an advance copy of The Guests. Please check out the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

It started with a lie… Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords. Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less-than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie… Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin’s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…

ABOUT AGNES RAVATN

Agnes Ravatn is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 in 2007. Since then she has written a number of critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections, including Standing, Popular Reading and Operation Self-discipline, in which she recounts her experience with social-media addiction. Her debut thriller, The Bird Tribunal, won the cultural radio P2’s listener’s prize in addition to The Youth’s Critic’s Prize, and was made into a successful play in Oslo in 2015. The English translation, published by Orenda Books in 2016, was a WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick, winner of a PEN Translation Award, a BBC Radio Four ‘Book at Bedtime’ and shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the 2017 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. Critically acclaimed The Seven Doors was published in 2020. Agnes lives with her family in the Norwegian countryside.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #crimefiction #psychological suspense

[fictionfromafar]

The Dancer by Óskar Guðmundsson

The Dancer

By Óskar Guðmundsson

Translated by Quentin Bates

Corylus Books

In recent years there has been a flurry of English translations of crime fiction novels from Icelandic authors which in part has been due to the endeavours of prolific translator from Icelandic Quentin Bates. One particular stand out novel was his translation of 2022's The Commandments. Set in the north of Iceland, the story featured a former detective driven to investigate a set of ritualist murders. This was the first English translation from Óskar Guðmundsson and like many other Nordic Noir enthusiasts. I've since been curious to see if more of his novels would appear for an English language market. 

Well the wait is almost over as The Dancer will be published in paperback on 1st February 2024 (already available on Kindle). Intriguingly this is the first in a brand new series of novels. Approaching retirement after nearly 50 years on the police force Valdimar, and his new colleague Ylfa who is at the opposite end of the age spectrum. Together they examine the body of an apparent murder victim at post-mortem where there is perhaps one clue as towards the fate of the deceased.  While we revisit these characters periodically through the story and delve into their personal lives, they are not our key focus in this story. 

Tony is an oddball character. A loner, he was raised by his alcoholic, disabled mother in Reykjavik. Having experienced hardship in her life, she has given her son a troubled upbringing. The one skill that she has transferred to her son is ballet dancing. Without any real friends we begin to follow Tony as he befriends a group of similar aged youths at a local dance theatre. Little does he know that these encounters will eventually bring him in contact with a very dark period in his own family history. 

There is very compulsive story precisely as it focuses on this unstable narrator and his scenes take the story far beyond the realms of a routine crime novel. While there is no supranatural element to the story, at times I did feel there were some similarities with Tony and Steven King's Carrie as he can often be a character of ridicule but also one who seeks vengeance on those who do him wrong. A key upcoming event also looks to provide the opportunity for the protagonist to reveal his motivations. Can Valdima and Ylfa identify and stop him in time? 

While this is a very different story to The Commandments, I feel that some themes of of the earlier book are present in The Dancer. Most notable is the darkness of the human psyche, but also the elaborative planning by the perpetrator. 

While there is no particular mystery in respect of who is committing the crimes within the story, there is huge intrigue as to how the story will unfold and I can assure you that The Dancer will keep you on tenterhooks until it's explosive conclusion. This is a highly memorable story and it leaves me more keen than ever to read more of Guðmundsson's work. 

Many thanks to Corylus Books for an advance copy of The Dancer and to Ewa Sherman for inclusion on the blog tour. Please check the other tour dates on the below poster.

About the author:

With a unique voice and a style that doesn’t shy away from a sometime graphic take on shocking subject matter, Óskar Guðmundsson is one of the rising stars of the Icelandic crime fiction scene. His debut Hilma was awarded the Icelandic Crime Syndicate’s Drop of Blood award for the best crime novel of 2015, and the TV rights have been acquired by Sagafilm. This was followed by a sequel Blood Angels in 2018. The first of his books published in an English translation, The Commandments, was a standalone novel which appeared in Iceland in 2019. All of Óskar’s books have been bestsellers and rewarded with outstanding reviews.

The first in a new series of novels The Dancer was published in Icelandic simultaneously as an eBook, audiobook, and paperback - accompanied by an original song in which Óskar’s words have been put to music featuring some of Iceland’s leading musicians - and was an immediate bestseller. Óskar’s talents don’t end there, as he is also an artist and has held a number of exhibitions of his work.

About the translator: 

Quentin Bates has personal and professional roots in Iceland that go very deep. He is an author of series of nine crime novels and novellas featuring the Reykjavik detective Gunnhildur(Gunna) Gísladóttir. In addition to his own fiction, he has translated many works of Iceland’s coolest writers into English, including books by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Guðlaugur Arason, Einar Kárason, Óskar Guðmundsson, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Jónína Leosdottir, Katrín Júlíusdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson. Quentin was instrumental in launching Iceland Noir in 2013, the crime fiction festival in Reykjavik.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #icelandicnoir #crimefiction

[fictionfromafar]

Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson

Yule Island

By Johana Gustawsson

Translated by David Warriner

Orenda Books

This is the fifth novel by Johana Gustawsson that has been published in English and the third translation by David Warriner. Following the Roy Castello trilogy and last year's The Bleeding, shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction In Translation Dagger. Yule Island is focused on Gustawsson's adopted homeland of Sweden - French Noir or Nordic Noir - you make your choice.  Either way, it won Cultura's Best Fiction Book of 2023 in her native France.

A trademark of Gustawsson's work to date has been the ambitious setting of her novels which often straddle several different timeframes and settings. To a large extend she has diverged from this with Yule Island which is firmly the central location, also known as Storholmen in this atmospheric story. It is not just the setting that is firmly Swedish, it is also clear that Gustawsson has immersed herself in Viking folklore and Scandinavian traditions, as well as an emphasis on rural Island communities. Overlayed with intrigue, mystery and menace, the scene is set for a compelling read, perfect for reading during these dark months. 

Central to the story is Emma Lindahl, an expert in fine art, who has arrived on Yule Island to examine the extensive collection of antiques held by the Gussman family. The most prominent residents upon the island, they have given permission for her to visit their large mansion; although the restrictions on her visits and movements do not wholly suggest that she is fully welcome. In addition to the prestige of examining their artefacts, Emma has another purpose for visiting this location. Before long she unearths a clue which she believes links the two together. 

Yet more shocking is the discovery of a dead young woman in the icy waters which surround the island. Too small to have its own police station, detective Karl Rosen is brought to the island to investigate. He is one of the two other narrators of this story and while we have a good indication of Emma's secrets from early within the novel, there is far more to emerge from Karl as well as some of the local residents that he and Emma encounter. 

In many ways Yule Island appears to be a deceptively simply novel by the author's own standards, which perhaps appears to be one of her intentions, yet rest assured, there is real depth to the story where the pace and suspense gradually builds as it approaches it's climax. It would be less a case of saying that Johana Gustawsson has done it again, rather a realisation that the author can enthuse and captivate her readers through using very different methods but with a very similar satisfying outcome. 

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things for inclusion on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for an advance copy of Yule Island. Please check trhe other reviews of this novel, as shown on the below tour poster. 

ABOUT JOHANA GUSTAWSSON

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson

has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song,has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently under way in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France and received immense critical acclaim across the globe. Johana lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #crimefiction #french noir

[fictionfromafar]

Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir

Dead Sweet

By Katrín Júlíusdóttir

Translated by Quentin Bates

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 7 December 2023

What is it about Iceland that creates so many readers and indeed so many authors? The country boasts one of the highest rates of books per capita (3.5 books for every 1,000 inhabitants!) and studies in the past have shown that at least 50% of Icelanders read at least 8 books per year, while an impressive 93% of them read at least one. Katrín Júlíusdóttir is the latest translated crime fiction author from Iceland, yet she was far from a new name in her home country.

A former politician, she served several roles including Finance Minister for a period. There are definite references both to politics and finance within this story and also a tangible worldliness which is to the novel's enhancement. Dead Sweet is the start of a new series which offers a lot of promise and a intriguing main protagonist in enthusiastic young policewoman SigurdÍs.

Keen to develop her career in the force as a detective, she is fortunate enough to be drawn into the initial investigation when prominent one time business man and now civil servant Óttar Karlsson is found dead on a beach shortly after failing to turn up at a planned party to mark his fiftieth birthday. Once his relatives have been informed and news of his death becomes more widespread, it sends shockwaves through Icelandic political, and indeed, wider society, Not only was Karlsson respected and admired for his business acumen, it was also felt by many that he would be the type of leader that the country needed following the recent troubled financial climate. Yet as SigurdÍs and her colleagues delve into his business affairs, which included selling off government buildings, their perceptions of the man begins to change quite dramatically. It soon becomes clear that Karsson had been siphoning off profits that were due to the state. When evidence of his underhand dealing is leaked to the public a whole reevaluation of his character is almost instantaneous. Júlíusdóttir shows this most vividly in her descriptions of his funeral where the largest church in the country contains only a handful of people appear willing to pay their respects.

As part of the investigative matters, the novel introduces us to those who were closest to Karsson, his partner, his mother and his sister. Yet it soon becomes apparent to the police that maybe they didn't know him that well at all. In parallel to this, we also begin to learn about SigurdÍs and the troubled times within own family background. It doesn't take long for the reader to identify that our lead character carries a few unresolved issues of her own; yet these are drivers for her to establish the truth in her quest for justice. Her work relationship with her boss, Garðar, is supportive yet complex and a notable feature of his novel. Their dynamics are key as SigurdÍs feels she needs him to help her in her personal life while Garðar feels a great deal of responsibility towards her. The difficulty with this is that SigurdÍs' own approach increasingly diverges with his own as far as the investigation is concerned. While Karsson's actions have effectively destroyed the livelihoods of many, SigurdÍs begins to doubt if this could have been the real motivation for murder.

I found Dead Sweet to be a distinctive read with engaging characters. While the novel shines a light on shady financial affairs and features recollections on incidents that occurred in the past, I found it a very accessible book which took me 3 days to read. I think this must be in part due to the translation by Quentin Bates. It makes for a very promising debut with a tantalising indication as to the direction that the second novel in the series will take.

ABOUT KATRÍN JÚLÍUSDÓTTIR

Katrín Júlíusdóttir has a political background and was a member of the Icelandic parliament from 2003 until 2016. Before she was elected to parliament, Katrín was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector. She worked from a young age in the fishing industry, was a store clerk and also worked the night shift at a pizza restaurant. She studied anthropology and has an MBA from Reykjavík University. Katrín’s debut novel Dead Sweet received the Blackbird Award and was an Icelandic bestseller upon publication. She is married to critically acclaimed author Bjarni M. Bjarnason, who encouraged her to start writing. They have four boys and live in Garðabær.

When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn’t until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging. As Óttar’s shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when Sigurdís finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in Sigurdís’s own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home… Atmospheric, deeply unsettling and full of breakneck twists and turns, Dead Sweet is a startling debut thriller that uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives, and kicks off a mind-blowing new series.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion in the blog tour and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for an advance copy of Dead Sweet. Please look out for the other reviews on the blog tour.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #icelandicnoir #crimefiction

[fictionfromafar]

Murder At The Residence

By Stella Blómkvist

Translated by Quentin Bates

Corylus Books

Icelandic crime mysteries have become increasingly popular in recent years yet one of the longest lasting literary mysteries is the identity of the author of the Stella Blómkvist series. Despite there being 25 years since the first novel featuring the character of Blómkvist, nothing is known about who writes the stories. As a result the author shares the same name as the lead character, Stella Blómkvist.

In contrast to many Icelandic authors who use the inhospitable climate and remote surrondings of rural locations or the country's rugged coastline, Murder At The Residence has a primarily urban setting in the captal Reykjavík. Yet this far from limits the scope of the book as our narrator quickly immerces the reader into the seedy and sleazy world side of the city where sex workers are trafficked into the country from Eastern Europe. During a social visit she discovers that a Lithuanian stripper has vanished without a trace. Discovering a personal connection, she becomes compelled to try to find the missing girl.

Set in the financial crash of the early naughties which deeply impacted the Icelandic socioeconomic climate at the time, public hostility has developed toward both the bankers deemed responsible and the politicians who allowed the situation to develop. When a leading financier is found brutally murdered following a reception at the presidential residence, Stella Blómkvist is engaged to represent the police's leading suspect.

In a story with multiple threads, she has to also represent a drugs mule who cannot speak the language while she is also driven to discover the daughter of an old man who makes a plea to her from his death bed. Despite the considerable pile of work that Stella Blómkvist has created for herself, she is single driven to discover the truth behind these mysteries. What follows is a really engaging story with many twists and turns with the stakes far higher than Blómkvist could ever imagine, and with dangers growing increasingly prevalent.

Against the backdrop of an unstable political environment, dubious characters on both sides of the law and a naturally suspicious lead protagonist, Murder At The Residence makes for an exciting and indeed very current read. It's translation by Quentin Bates is sharp and incisive. With a feisty female lead and some dark humour, Stella Blómkvist offers quite a different and original slant on Icelandic Noir. I look forward to further novels from the mysterious author in the future

Please look out for the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown above.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #icelandicnoir #crimefiction

[fictionfromafar]

Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen

Mirror Image

By Gunnar Staalesen

Translated by Don Bartlett

Orenda Books

Publication Date: 31 August 2023

As in many industries, there can be a real focus on the next new name as this can often mean that some existing authors can slip under the radar. However consistency and longevity are qualities that cannot and shouldn't be ignored. A case in point should certainly be Gunnar Staalesen. He has been writing novels of Bergen based private detective Varg Veum for many years with in excess of 20 now in print in his native Norway. By my calculation, this is his thirteenth English language translation and while I can't claim to have read them all, I individually appreciate the quality of each of those that I have read so far.  Fortunately Staalesen doesn't oblige you to read his novels in order, although his age and relationship status may change, each can be fully enjoyed as a standalone novel. Likewise each not only confronts relevant social issues but also seem to tell us a lot about human nature. 

If there is a theme to Mirror Image, then perhaps it would be exploitation. It can be seen in some of the dysfunctional relationships presented in the story but also has a wider transcontinental significance. While this story has not been written in the last few years, there is a strong relevance to its considerations and a timeless quality. Veum may not have a computer and he certainly doesn't have any hacking skills so his investigations have to be done via traditional methods, his favourite being to question those individuals suspected of holding information in their personal homes. 

When Veum meets a lawyer by chance it transpires that she has been looking to contact him. She wants him to privately investigate the disappearance of her sister and her husband without alerting the authorities. He also finds himself occupied with the imminent arrival of a ship with undisclosed and mysterious cargo. Gradually it appears that the two cases could be linked in someway while the missing couple bring back memories of a tragedy that occurred more than a generation ago which Veum becomes convinced may also have some relevance.  Could lightning really strike the same family twice? 

Methodically he attempts to investigate the background of the key characters involved yet there are many layers that he needs to delve through before he can uncover a realistic version of the truth. 

Translated as always by Don Bartlett, the descriptions are rich and the language vibrant. Mirror Image is one of those books that you will happily make more time for, just to uncover one more clue or witness another encounter.  There are no silly shocks or scares but there are genuinely unforeseen surprises which make Mirror Image as compelling a Nordic Noir novel as any that you're likely to read this year. 

The Blurb

Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.

Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car into the sea, in an apparent double suicide.

As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost...

ABOUT GUNNAR STAALESEN

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1947.

He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies.

Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour). Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted for the award in 2019. He lives with his wife in Bergen.

Many thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for an advance copy of Mirror Image. Please check out the other reviews of this book on the blog tour as shown below.

#crime fiction #crimeintranslation #european literature #novels in translation #nordicnoir #crime fiction in translation #crimefiction