English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

26 views
Group read-alongs > May 2019 - read-along

Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)    post a comment »
dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (last edited Apr 29, 2019 06:25PM) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
So far we have six books for May 2019 they are:

1) Published 7 May 2019 Things My Son Needs to Know about the World Things My Son Needs to Know about the World by Fredrik Backman by Fredrik Backman Fredrik Backman . Sweden.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove shares an irresistible and moving collection of heartfelt, humorous essays about fatherhood, providing his newborn son with the perspective and tools he'll need to make his way in the world.

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience: fatherhood.

As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the "firsts" that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn't shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and mid-life crises to practical jokes and poop.

In between the sleep-deprived lows and wonderful highs, Backman takes a step back to share the true story of falling in love with a woman who is his complete opposite, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care about unconditionally. Alternating between humorous side notes and longer essays offering his son advice as he grows up and ventures out into the world, Backman relays the big and small lessons in life, including:

-How to find the team you belong to
-Why airports explain everything about religion and war
-The reason starting a band is crucial to cultivating and keeping friendships
-How to beat Monkey Island 3
-Why, sometimes, a dad might hold onto his son's hand just a little too tight

This is an irresistible and insightful collection, perfect for new parents and fans of Backman's "unparalleled understanding of human nature" (Shelf Awareness). As he eloquently reminds us, "You can be whatever you want to be, but that's nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are."

2) Published 16 May 2019 Council: Helga Finnsdottir Book II Council Helga Finnsdottir Book II (The Helga Finnsdottir Mysteries 2) by Snorri Kristjansson by Snorri Kristjansson Snorri Kristjansson . Vikings/Iceland/Sweden.

A murdered diplomat, planted evidence and a treacherous sister: once again, Helga had better find the real killer quickly, before heads start rolling - literally - in this brand-new Viking noir mystery.

Helga Finnsdottir left her foster parents, the old Viking chieftain Unnthor Reginson and his knowing wife Hildigunnur, to see the world, but she stopped in Uppsala when she fell in love. Now she's established herself as a local healer and herb-woman on the outskirts of town, and life is good - until King Eirik the Victorious calls a trade council and hairy northerners and southern Swedes alike descend on the town.

Unfortunately for Helga, one delegation is headed by a very determined young woman who has her own agenda and will let nothing - and no one - get in her way. But the last time Helga saw Jorunn Unthorsdottir, her foster-sister was being cast out by their father for killing their brother Bjorn and trying to pin the blame on Helga.

So perhaps it's no great surprise when one of the delegates is murdered, or that Helga's soon tagged as the lead suspect. It doesn't take her long to clear her own name, but that only leads suspicion to fall on to her man.

Once again, Helga must solve a murder, and fast, before the innocent pays with his head.

3) Published 21 May 2019 The Summer of Ellen The Summer of Ellen by Agnete Friis by Agnete Friis Agnete Friis . Denmark.

Agnete Friis returns with a lyrical, suspenseful new standalone set in rural Denmark that moves between the present and the summer of 1978, exploring obsession, toxic masculinity and the tricks we play on our own memory.

Jacob, a middle-aged architect living in Copenhagen, is in the throes of a bitter divorce and the resulting alcoholic binge when he receives an unexpected call from his great-uncle Anton, who is in his nineties and still lives with his brother Anders on their rural Jutland farm—a place Jacob hasn’t visited since the summer of 1978.

Anton asks Jacob to answer the question that has haunted them both for decades: What happened to Ellen?

To find out, Jacob must revisit the farm and confront what took place that summer—one defined by his teenage obsession with Ellen, a beautiful young hippie from the local commune who came to stay with Anton and Anders, and the unsolved disappearance of Jacob’s best friend’s sister. What he finds is that none of these events were what they seemed, though they have affected the course of his entire life.

Story Locale: Rural Denmark

4) Published 21 May Clearing Out: A Novel Clearing Out A Novel by Helene Uri by Helene Uri Helene Uri . Norway.

Winner of the Nadia Christensen Prize for translation from the American-Scandinavian Foundation

In a masterful blend of fiction and autobiography, a Norwegian novelist sends her character to the far north to learn what she can about their Sami ancestry

Inspired by Helene Uri’s own journey into her family’s ancestry, Clearing Out, an emotionally resonant novel by one of Norway’s most celebrated authors, tells two intertwining stories. A novelist, named Helene, is living in Oslo with her husband and children and contemplating her new protagonist, Ellinor Smidt—a language researcher, divorced and in her late thirties, with a doctorate but no steady job.

An unexpected call from a distant relative reveals that Helene’s grandfather, Nicolai Nilsen, was the son of a coastal (sjø) Sami fisherman—something no one in her family ever talked about. Uncertain how to weave this new knowledge into who she believes she is, Helene continues to write her novel, in which her heroine Ellinor travels to Finnmark in the far north to study the dying languages of the Sami families there. What Ellinor finds among the Sami people she meets is a culture little known in her own world; she discovers history richer and more alluring than rumor and a connection charged with mystery and promise. Through her persistence in approaching an elderly Sami activist, and her relationship with a local Sami man, Ellinor confronts a rift that has existed between two families for generations.

Intricate and beautifully constructed, Clearing Out offers a solemn reflection on how identities, like families, are formed and fractured and recovered as stories are told. In its depiction of the forgotten and the fiercely held memories among the Sea (sjø) Sami of northern Norway, the novel is a powerful statement on what is lost, and what remains in reach, in the character and composition of contemporary life.

5) Published A Forgotten Hero: Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish Humanitarian Who Rescued 30,000 People from the Nazis A Forgotten Hero Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish Humanitarian Who Rescued 30,000 People from the Nazis by Shelley Emling by Shelley Emling Shelley Emling . Sweden.

The true story of Folke Bernadotte's heroic rescue of 30,000 prisoners during WWII.

In one of the most amazing rescues of WWII, the Swedish head of the Red Cross rescued more than 30,000 people from concentration camps in the last three months of the war. Folke Bernadotte did so by negotiating with the enemy -- shaking hands with Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Gestapo. Time was of the essence, as Hitler had ordered the destruction of all camps and everyone in them.

A Forgotten Hero chronicles Folke's life and extraordinary journey, from his family history and early years to saving thousands of lives during WWII and his untimely assassination in 1948. A straightforward and compelling narrative, A Forgotten Hero sheds light on this important and heroic historical figure.

6) Published 29 May 2016 The Helicopter Heist The Helicopter Heist by Jonas Bonnier by Jonas Bonnier. Sweden.

A fast-paced, riveting novel inspired by the true story of a group of four young Swedish men who pulled off “one of the most spectacular heists of all time” (Time). The men behind the daring daylight robbery have been imprisoned, but the $6.5 million that they stole has never been recovered.

Sami has a history of petty crime, but that’s all behind him now. He has a new child to provide for, so he’s training as a chef, ready to lead a quiet life. But when a business deal suddenly goes sideways, Sami is left wondering how he’ll ever provide for his newborn daughter.

Michel and his family fled a bloody civil war in Lebanon when he was a child. He grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm surrounded by poverty and criminals. He’s trying to turn over a new leaf, but the past just won’t let him go.

Niklas has always had a thirst for life. He traveled the world and made an effort to become someone who was both seen and heard everywhere he went, the sort of person people talked about. He followed through on his vision…and no good has come of it.

Zoran is a businessman. He knows everyone and who seals a deal with a handshake. When he was young, the ambitious Yugoslavian had a dream—to get rich, by whatever means necessary.

And Alexandra? She’s the reason that the four men found themselves plotting to rob a Stockholm cash depot in September 2009.

At first, the plan seems foolproof. Every contingency is covered, every detail is planned perfectly, and the payoff will make them all rich for life. No one would even get hurt. But not everyone is who they seem. Even as the gang’s stolen helicopter is lifting off from the cash depot with $6.5 million inside, questions remain unanswered. What secrets does each man hold? Who is the woman who has implicated herself in all of their lives? And who among them holds the key to the wealth they so desperately seek?



As always we will add books as they become known to us. Good reading.


message 2: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (last edited May 12, 2019 09:35AM) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
Nick Griffiths has a book out called "Mayhem in the Archipelago" published 1 May 2019. Sweden.

On the surface, the Stockholm archipelago in summer seems a serene and beautiful place. But as naive young British diplomat, Matt Simmonds, discovers, some alarming surprises can lurk just below that surface. At a time of increasing tension in the Baltic, Matt’s curiosity leads him into a complex web of conspiracies. He soon finds himself being played by conspirators in Moscow, Washington, Stockholm and even little Latvia. Matt tries to find out the truth behind reports of a mysterious and undetectable Russian submarine in the waters just outside Stockholm. If the reports are true, the revelations could spark conflict across the Baltic region. But as Matt discovers, there might be more than one undeclared submarine in those waters, and it seems that their various owners have very different agendas.

Not only does Matt have to find the truth about the submarine threats, he also has other challenges. He has to help his Ambassador save the British Embassy from threat of closure, compete with the devious French for an arms contract, and deal with increasingly strange demands from London. But most importantly for Matt, he wants to win the spirited Annika, while fending off the advances of the voluptuous Marcella. Who says diplomatic life is boring?


message 3: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
We have Christoffer Petersen Christoffer Petersen with a book called The Thunder Spirits: A short story of faith and foul play in the Arctic The Thunder Spirits A short story of faith and foul play in the Arctic (Arctic Shorts Book 7) by Christoffer Petersen to be published 31 May 2019. Denmark (Greenland).

When a body is found during an evangelical visit to a remote Arctic settlement, Constable David Maratse must find the murderer before a frenzy of faith covers their tracks.

The Thunder Spirits is the seventh in a series of novellas to feature Constable David Maratse in Greenland. Each novella is set during Maratse’s career as a police constable, and features aspects of Greenlandic culture, tradition, and not least the stunning natural environment.


message 4: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (last edited May 24, 2019 01:40PM) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
We have Secrets Revealed Secrets Revealed (War Girl #8) by Marion Kummerow by a German author, Marion Kummerow Marion Kummerow published 28 April 2019. Denmark & Norway.

Whom can you trust when friends become foes?
Hiding from the Nazis…
… right under their noses.

Lotte works for the Wehrmacht and spies for the British.

A race against the time begins, when her contact in the Norwegian resistance is captured.

Who will be faster, the Allies liberating Norway or the Gestapo finding out her secret?

If she’s caught she’ll be tortured and killed.

Follow Lotte on her agonizing flight across Denmark, evading not only her own people.

Get the book now.


message 5: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
Wolves at the Door Wolves at the Door by Gunnar Staalesen by Gunnar Staalesen Gunnar Staalesen was published 13 April 2019. Norway.

The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door. And they want vengeance…

The next instalment in the international, bestselling Varg Veum series by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir…

‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’Ian Rankin

One dark January night a car drives at high speed towards PI Varg Veum, and comes very close to killing him. Veum is certain this is no accident, following so soon after the deaths of two jailed men who were convicted for their participation in a case of child pornography and sexual assault … crimes that Veum himself once stood wrongly accused of committing.
While the guilty men were apparently killed accidentally, Varg suspects that there is something more sinister at play … and that he’s on the death list of someone still at large.
Fearing for his life, Veum begins to investigate the old case, interviewing the victims of abuse and delving deeper into the brutal crimes, with shocking results. The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door. And they want vengeance.


message 6: by Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.) (last edited May 29, 2019 01:24PM) (new)

Ken Fredette (klfredette) | 6569 comments Mod
The Grand Man: A Scandinavian Thriller The Grand Man A Scandinavian Thriller by Florence Wetzel by Florence Wetzel Florence Wetzel a U.S.A. author who went to Sweden to write her book. Published 15 May 2019. Sweden.

A fast-paced detective novel about an American jazz-journalist in Stockholm who gets drawn into two unsolved Swedish mysteries: the 1986 murder of prime minister Olof Palme, and Stieg Larsson's missing fourth book.


message 7: by Icewineanne (new)

Icewineanne | 323 comments This sounds interesting Ken. Usually enjoy jazz themed mysteries.


back to top