Scandinavian Fiction

Police detective Hannah Duncker didn’t expect to return to her native Öland. She fled after her father’s murder conviction and returns to make peace with her shame. She has a new job with the local police and a nosy new partner. A 15-year-old’s death catapults her into a murder investigation that resurrects ghosts from her previous life. As she hunts for the truth, she must confront the people she abandoned. Not all are pleased to see her back home, and she soon learns that digging through the past comes with consequences.

'The Quick'. A woman swims in a remote, milky-blue lagoon. Steam rises from the water, and as it clears, a body is revealed in the ghostly light. 'The Dead'. Miles away, a vast aircraft hangar rises behind the perimeter fence of the US military base. A sickening thud is heard as a man’s body falls from a high platform. 'The Forgotten'. Many years before, a schoolgirl went missing. The world has forgotten her. But Erlendur has not.

In an orphanage outside Oslo, twelve-year-old Olav is causing havoc. The institution's ageing director, Agnes Vestavik, sees sheer hatred in the boy's eyes. When Vestavik is found murdered at her desk, stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife – with Olav nowhere to be found – the case goes to Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to superintendent in the Oslo police. Hanne suspects that Olav witnessed the murder and fled, and she orders an investigation of the orphanage staff.

La primera nevada cae en noviembre este año en Oslo. La mañana siguiente, al despertarse, un niño no encuentra a su madre en casa. Se le hace raro encontrar su bufanda favorita colgando del cuello de un muñeco de nieve que alguien ha hecho en el jardín. El detective Harry Hole empieza a sospechar que hay un psicópata suelto, desde hace demasiado tiempo, cuando descubre que un alarmante número de madres y esposas han desaparecido en circunstancias similares, tras caer la primera nieve.

Due uomini condividono lo stesso nome, Asle. Uno è un uomo di successo, l’altro alza il gomito troppo spesso. Viene da pensare che siano la stessa persona, eppure a volte si incontrano e si parlano. Il tempo e lo spazio li seguono come due rette che a volte sembrano intersecarsi, su quella che potrebbe essere la costa sudoccidentale della Norvegia, tra i ghiacci, il mare scuro e i fiordi. Tra amori fugaci, alcool, gruppi rock e sigarette, i due Asle si incontrano per la prima volta. Si assomigliano, si vestono allo stesso modo ed entrambi vogliono fare i pittori.

Jurek Walter was shot and killed years ago. The police moved on and managed to forget the darkness that had tainted their lives. But now someone is leaving a trail of broken bodies across Sweden, and the clues all point to Walter. Detective Joona Linna is convinced his worst nightmare is becoming a reality: the man who tore apart his family has returned to finish the job. When Joona’s partner is taken - and locked inside an underground coffin - he finds himself with an impossible choice: leave her to die, or walk into the trap set by the only man he ever feared.

Midsummer approaches, and Wallander prepares for a holiday with the new woman in his life, hopeful that his wayward daughter and his ageing father will cope without him. But his summer is ruined when a girl commits suicide before his eyes, and a former minister of justice is butchered in the first of a series of apparently motiveless murders.

Drei Tote – ein Geheimnis. Der Selbstmord eines Häftlings auf Freigang, der Tod einer Museumsangestellten und ein dreieinhalb Jahre zurückliegender Mord an einem Journalisten – diese Fälle können keine Gemeinsamkeit haben. Oder doch? Die ehemalige Polizistin Liv Jensen, die sich gerade als Privatdetektivin in Kopenhagen selbstständig gemacht hat, versucht genau das herauszufinden.

Nora bliver sendt på sommerferie langt ude på landet hos sin mormor, som hun ikke rigtig kender, og som er svær at komme ind på livet af. Heldigvis møder hun den jævnaldrende Abbas, som har store, grønne øjne og får alt i hende til at gnistre. Sammen går de på opdagelse i skoven, hvor de finder en forladt hytte og gør den til deres egen. Men der er noget, Abbas ikke fortæller. Hvorfor er han egentlig så bange for Dorrit, der har den lokale café nede i byen? Snart går det op for Nora, at det her vil blive en sommer, der vender op og ned på alting.

The leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. One man escapes. In the wood in the country land outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page.

Left to her own devices, Detective Sergeant Charlie West struggles with the responsibility of a full-blown murder investigation when a man is pushed off a cliff. Not ready to have her apron strings severed so soon, West finds Munro who reluctantly agrees to shed light on the Ayrshire detectives' most challenging case yet. Once the police have discovered the identity of the dead man, and established his demise was the result of foul play, the race is on to hunt down the murderer.

Has anyone seen Andreas? Andreas's disappearance is a mystery to all, including his inseparable friend Zipp. But its not easy for Zipp to come forward with details of the last time he saw his friend - they had been following an old woman, an easy target for some quick cash, and Andreas boldly followed her into her home brandishing his knife, the next moment he was gone.

When a young woman is found dead, the police are quick to respond. But what they find at the scene is unexpected. The body is posed, the scene laboriously set. And there is almost no forensic evidence to be found. Detective Mia Krüger has been signed off work pending psychological assessment. But her boss has less regard for the rules than he should. Desperate to get Mia back in the office, Holger Munch offers her an unofficial deal.

Sebastian Bergman ist zurück: Eine Vergewaltigungsserie erschüttert Uppsala. Als eines der Opfer stirbt, wird die Stockholmer Reichsmordkommission hinzugezogen. Doch das einstmals eingespielte Team um Torkel Höglund muss sich erst wieder zusammenraufen und persönliche Konflikte beilegen. Vor allem, als auch Kriminalpsychologe Sebastian Bergman in den Fall eingeschaltet wird. Bergman ist schon länger nicht mehr Teil des Teams, das Verhältnis zu seiner Tochter Vanja, Hauptverantwortliche für die Ermittlungen vor Ort, zerrüttet.

He calls himself Ulf—as good a name as any, he thinks—and the only thing he’s looking for is a place where he won’t be found by Oslo’s most notorious drug lord: the Fisherman. He was once the Fisherman’s fixer, but after betraying him, Ulf is now the one his former boss needs fixed—which may not be a problem for a man whose criminal reach is boundless. When Ulf gets off the bus in Kåsund, on Norway’s far northeastern border, he sees a “flat, monotonous, bleak landscape . . . the perfect hiding place. Hopefully.”

Vizepolizeikommissar Carl Mørck wird zur Aufklärung eines brutalen Todesfalls von der Mordkommission in Kopenhagen hinzugezogen. Wie sich herausstellt, gibt es eine Verbindung zu einem mehrere Jahre zurückliegenden und ausgesprochen brisanten cold case. Ausgerechnet jetzt geht es Carls Assistentin Rose sehr schlecht. Sie wird von grauenhaften Erinnerungen aus ihrer Vergangenheit heimgesucht. Sie kämpft mit aller Macht dagegen an - und gegen das Dunkel, in dem sie zu ertrinken droht. Und welche Rolle spielen die jungen Frauen Michelle, Jasmin und Denise, die sich zu einem starken und hochexplosiven Kleeblatt verbündet haben?

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson. A young woman, an asylum seeker from Russia, is found murdered on the seaweed-covered rocks of the Vatnsleysuströnd in Iceland. Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir of the Reykjavik Police is called to investigate this - the final case in her career before she is forced into retirement. When Hulda starts to ask questions, it isn't long before she realises that no-one can be trusted and that no-one is telling the whole truth.

Four nuns and a fifth woman, a visitor to Africa, are killed in a savage nighttime attack. Months later in Sweden, the news of the unexplained tragedy sets off a cruel vengeance for these killings. Inspector Kurt Wallander is home from an idyllic holiday in Rome, full of energy and plans for the future. Autumn settles in, and Wallander prays the winter will be peaceful. But when he investigates the disappearance of an elderly birdwatcher, he discovers a gruesome and meticulously planned murder - a body impaled in a trap of sharpened bamboo poles.

Eine Tote hing kopfüber in einem Baum und keiner weiß, was damals geschah. Siebzehn Jahre lang hat Polizeikommissar Habersaat versucht, den tragischen Tod der jungen Frau aufzuklären. Doch jetzt, kurz nachdem er das Sonderdezernat Q um Hilfe bittet, kommt er selbst auf schockierende Weise ums Leben - und wenig später stirbt auch sein Sohn. Die Recherchen bringen Carl Mørck und sein Team auf die Insel Öland, zu einem Mann, der mit seinen Heilsversprechen Sinnsucher aus ganz Europa anlockt.

Først stak Emil fra Lønneberg hovedet i suppeterrinen og måtte af sted til lægen i Mariannelund for at komme fri igen. Så hejste han lille Ida op i flagstangen, og til slut skabte han vildt postyr til markedet på Hultfreds slette. - Og det var endda kun nogle af alle de skarnsstreger, Emil fra Katholt i Lønneberg i Småland i Sverige bedrev den sommer.