Nordic Noir for the Summer
None of the much-anticipated “next Stieg Larsson’s” have come close to that author’s uber-best-selling popularity. The latest contender, The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, Knopf, landed on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list, where it is now at #13 after 4 weeks, slipping from a high of #9, making it unlikely to touch the Larsson record. Still, it’s quite an achievement for a book in translation.
For fans who want more, USA Today offers a list of “Scandie Lit” coming out this summer (all are international best sellers). Below are their picks, with our annotations:
The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector VanVeeteren Mystery by Swedish writer Hakan Nesser, Pantheon, 6/14 — the fifth title in the series to be translated into English; excellent prepub reviews.
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, FSG, July 5 — Expected to be a major success (it’s one of People‘s Picks for the summer, calling it “spellbinding”), this first novel by a Swedish husband-and-wife team, it’s been signed for a movie, to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom.
Bad Intentions: An Inspector Sejer Mystery by Karin Fossum, HMH, 8/9; Fossum has been called the “Norwegian queen of crime.”
Call Me Princess by Denmark’s Sara Blaedel, Pegasus, 8/17; the publisher compares this “Danish crime queen” to both Stieg Larsson and Camilla Lackberg. This is her American debut.
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Dutton, 8/23; winner of several Danish crime fiction prizes, Adler-Olsen has dominated Danish best seller lists, but most of his books have not been translated into English. PW gives this one a starred review, “Stieg Larsson fans will be delighted.”
Not on the USA Today list
Until Thy Wrath Be Past, by Swedish crime writer Asa Larsson, SilverOak/Sterling 8/9; SilverOak is a new imprint that focuses on Scandinavian crime; they brought Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellstrom to the US. It was on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list for four weeks in January, rising to #8.