The Tenant is an electrifying debut of literary suspense from international bestselling author Katrine Engberg that introduces two police detectives struggling to solve a shocking murder and stop a killer hell-bent on revenge. Originally published in Denmark in 2016, Katrine Engberg’s debut, The Tenant, marked the beginning of what would become the internationally acclaimed and…
If you like the setting of your murder mysteries to take place in a cold, snowy climate, you’re not alone. The newest and bloodiest murder mysteries now seem to take place in Scandinavia. There’s something about murder, mystery, and the bitter cold that seem to go together, and it seems that readers have been entertained…
I hate watching reruns of mystery and crime TV shows I’ve already seen—it’s not much fun to tune in when you already know who did it. And, while the networks offer plenty of summer replacements, this season, none captured my attention as much as the shows I enjoy the most. So, while I’ve been longing…
The reputation of Scandinavian thrillers has really taken off in recent years. Stieg Larson was the first author to gain international fame, but other writers such as Jo Nesbø, Henning Mankell, and Camilla Läckberg are equally well regarded. At the moment, there’s also a great deal of Scandinavian crime drama available on television and given…
The Seventh Child by Erik Valeur, translated from Danish by K.E. Semmel, involves a journalist provoked to identify missing orphans who may be abandoned children of the elite, connected to an unsolved murder on September 11th (available April 1, 2014). On the early morning of September 11, 2001, a woman is found dead on a…
When you can't even enjoy half a kanelsnegle because of government oppression, what has this world come to? According to a story in the Guardian: …cinnamon has enjoyed a reputation for being something of a super spice with claims that it could help to lower blood sugar, fight bacteria, reduce inflammation and help to treat…
Death of a Nightingale by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis is the third crime novel featuring Danish nurse Nina Borg (available November 5, 2013). Sometimes it’s hard to tell a story. You have to think of a character. No, make that an interesting character (or at least a character who’s boring in an interesting way).…
The Hanging by Lotte & Soren Hammer is the U.S. debut of this Danish brother/sister writing team. (available June 11, 2013). One morning before school, two children find the naked bodies of five men hanging from the gym ceiling. The case leads detective Konrad Simonsen and his murder squad to the school janitor, who may know…
Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis is the second Nina Borg nordic mystery set in Denmark (available October 2, 2012). When I saw that this book had finally come on the market, I leapt at the chance to read it. I loved the first novel in the Nina Borg series, The Boy In…
The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen is the second in the Danish “Department Q” cold case mystery series (available August 21, 2012). Detective Carl Mørck is satisfied with the notion of picking up long-cold leads as head of Department Q, Denmark’s cold case squad. So he’s naturally intrigued when a closed case lands on his…
