Scandinavian Mysteries discussion

Anybody want to start a string of comments with a first opinion?

Sure, I'll bite. I think for me a lot of it is simply where they take place. I've always liked police procedurals and mysteries, and a lot of these give you a good idea of how things work in other countries....kind of a lame answer, but...all I can come up with now! I think too, a lot of these delve into the culture of the country; which is interesting to me as well.

Slightly OT; but I'm also enjoy Wallender on PBS; Kenneth Branaugh plays him like i'd expect him to be in real life...

I grew up with two minds. The Swedish one which I had to use to survive the household of my parents. The American one which I used to survive in the world of school and business. I enjoy nordic mysteries because its like going home but I don't have to stay.

What strikes me as unusual about these mysteries is how the police team pulls together like a family. For example, Inspector Huss, in the GLASS DEVIL, even finds a sweetie for her boss. In the GLASS DEVIL, the virulence of the crimes -- an attack on Huss, pedophilia, and double suicide -- and difficult weather in Sweden, Edinburgh, and London -- make the coziness of the police team, and of Huss's own idyllic family life with a sensitive chef husband and delightful twin daughters, even more prominent.

For American readers, it's delightful to read a crime novel in which the police are genuinely shocked by crime! So much of our crime and police fiction absolutely takes violence for granted that they have to be especially gory or brutal to get attention. Obviously some of these Nordic novels have brutal crimes in them, too, but the police in them are often as horrified as anyone else would be. I love that the underlying question (usually unspoken, but not always) in these books is "how could this happen here?"

Guy wrote: "For American readers, it's delightful to read a crime novel in which the police are genuinely shocked by crime! So much of our crime and police fiction absolutely takes violence for granted that t..."

Yes, so true. Just finished Hakan Nesser's THE RETURN in which Inspector Van Veeteren is appalled at his own desire to flesh out bottom dwellers. As he recovers from an excision of his cancerous gut, Van Veeteren feels compelled to give a name and credible history to the headless, handless, footless corpse found by a fat little six-year old girl who'd strayed away from her daycare expedition. The crimes in THE RETURN and Helene Tursten's THE GLASS DEVIL are occasions to analyze tightly knit communities of the "how could this happen here" variety.

The other distinctively Scandinavian aspect of many of these books is their implicit dismay at the unraveling of a carefully-maintained social fabric. The obvious culprit (also expressed in many of these books) is the fading away of the cultural homogeneity of those countries, expressed by the anxiety about "foreigners" resident in Scandinavia. But ironically, it's the cultural openness of Nordic countries that makes them interesting, too! And Scandinavians themselves see opening up to the world as something that enhances their lives on the whole. But the price at home may be a weakening of the consensus about what it means to live together as both free and still responsible for each other.

The best of these novels, in my opinion, get beyond the fear of foreigners to see the basic societal problems as deeper--rooted in a kind of materialistic individualism that is almost narcissistic. Stieg Larsson's amoral, disconnected Lisbeth Salander is a postmodern foil to his Mikael Blomquist, who though modern is very moralistic in an almost old-fashioned way that evokes an older kind of Swedishness.

Mankell got me started, though I remember reading some Robert Barnard (?) mysteries years ago that were set in Norway that I liked. I like the settings and the dark and the cold. Must be my Scandinavian heritage.

Hello - I am new to this group, but very glad I found it. I read the Martin Beck series over twenty years ago in German and loved every story.
I just re-discovered Henning Mankell, and read Steig Larsson for the first time.
Characters deal with everyday problems that have great meaning to them while solving crimes that have meaning to the rest of society.
I also like the settings - dark and cold or bright and blinding. Each building tells a story - and the inhabitants add to it. I can almost smell the coffee Mikael drinks in his backyard in The Girl With the Green Tattoo, or feel the atmosphere in Suzanne's cafe.
Just great stories -

Have you tried Jo Nesbo? His books are probably my favorites in the genre.

No, I haven't tried him, but I am going to the library today and will try and find some. Are his books ones you should read in a certain order?

My recommendation is this:
The Redbreast
Nemesis
The Devil's Star

The Devil's Star loops back to a storyline which started in Redbreast, continues in Nemesis and then resolves itself in The Devil's Star.

Nesbø's books take place in Norway, rather than Sweden.

Thanks, Nancy!

Yes, you have to read those Nesbos in the order Nancy says, or the impact is destroyed. I like them (I have also read Redeemer and Snowman) - but they are a bit over-melodramatic at the end.

I've read tons of Scandinavian crime fiction in the past few years. One of my favourite autohrs is Karin Altvegen - I can't rate her too highly. Try Missing or Shadow or Betrayal. (her other translated book is Shame which I did not think quite as top-notch as the others, but still pretty good). Missing is very exciting indeed, and Betrayal really bleak and black.
Shadow is wonderful, Chekhovian almost.

I really like Hakan Nesser and Helene Tursten who are mentioned above. I've read the 4 of Nesser's and the 3 of Tursten's that are translated, and very much enjoyed them all. I love Nesser;s sense of humour.

Nesser's books are awesome. Have any of you tried the series by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom? It begins with The Beast, then continues with Box 21. They're much grittier than all the books mentioned here, but definitely worth reading.

I've read Box 21 (called The Vault in the UK, not such a good title) and thought it brilliant. I haven't read The Beast yet, but probably will. They have been picked up by a new publisher in the UK, I think Quercus but can't recall now. Good for us as it means we'll get more of their books. They are so bleak and cynical - quite compelling.

Bleak and cynical they definitely are, and excellent reads as well. I hope more come out in translation and soon.

Guy- enjoyed your thoughtful comments on the unraveling of social fabric...I am reading Mankell's the Dogs of Riga, in which this is highlighted more than in Faceless Killers when foriegners were attacked and accused of murder. Mankell is skillful at highlighting what happens, in Latvia, when social fabric has eroded and nobody seems to know who's in charge or is fighting against a silent oppressor. Very interesting Kurt Wallander's take on this country and the way it weighs on the people who live there.

Hi Nancy -

In the meantime I have read two Ekman novels and had great difficulty with Under the Snow - thought it might have been the translation. The syntax was always slightly out of kilter. Blackwater seemed to be better, but Ekman is not the author I would run to when I need a good book.
I have also not been able to find any Jo Nesbo books in the libraries here, but have ordered them all!

well, Susan, I do hope you like them! I would feel absolutely terrible if you ordered them and hated them! I've added a couple of authors to my repertoire: Karin Fossum and Asa Larsson, neither of whom I've read before. I'll keep you posted.

I read just about all of Karin Fossum's books last month and found them good. Right now I am reading books by Mankell which don't include Wallinger.

I don't know Asa Larsoon.

Did you read Ekman? I really would like to know what someone else thought of her books, esp. Under the Snow.

Thanks for the tips -

I read Blackwater, but it was eons ago. In fact, I'd been thinking about rereading her books recently. Glad you liked Fossum's books.

What Hans said-"it`s like going home"-I can really relate to you Hans.(LOL)

I've been taken with Scandanavian crime fiction for a couple of years now. It started with Henning Mankel and I've read about 3 books in the Walander series now (I never seem to get back to him because I get caught up in a new series). Then I read the Martin Beck series and loved each and every one of those books. Then there was Stieg Larson. I even ordered the Millenium series from the UK in hardcover so I could finish it sooner. I'm into Jo Nesbo now - just finished The Redeemer. I also like Asa Larson and I've got Karen Fossum in the background.

I find Scandanavian fiction 'bare'. The physical and emotional landscapes in the books are wide, open. They get right to the point of the mystery or crime. And there are no wasted words. Everything lends itself to propelling the story forward. I like that economy. It means the stories roll towards the end at a ferocious speed keeping me, the reader, rolling right on with them. I don't know what I'm going to do if I ever run out of Scandanavian writers. Let's hope they don't stop writing them!

Just finished my 3rd Fossum and on to the 4th one. Her books are intense, her characters are fascinating and well connected. Have read Anne Holt, Peter Hoeg, Asa Larson, Henning Mankel, Yrsa, Indrianson, Tursten,
And still have a long way to go. Thanks for the advice about Nesbo. My favorite is still Semilla's Sense of Snow by Hoeg

Question Are Nordic and Scandanavian books from Finland too? Are they the same thing?

I believe officially it goes like this

Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland

Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway

Often the terms Nordic and Scandinavian are used interchangeably by people outside Europe but no one inside the region would do so (I got a lesson in this last year when participating in the Scandinavian reading challenge)

Thanks Bernadette!