The Swedish movie Master Detective Lives Dangerously from 1957 is one of my all time favorites. The movie is based on Astrid Lindgrens book about the boy detective Kalle Blomkvist and she wrote the script as well. I really recommend it if you have not seen it yet. I do not even know how many times I have seen the movie.

War of the Roses

It is summer in Lillköping, Sweden, and Kalle, Anders and Eva-Lotta (The White Rose) battle against Sixten, Jonte and Benka (The Red Rose) in the war about a special stone. Their innocent game becomes serious when Eva-Lotta finds the old man Gren dead. She bumped into the killer right before that and she becomes the most important witness. It is not surprising that Master Detective Kalle Blomkvist ends up solving the murder mystery.

The Robber Language

The Robber Language was introduced in Astrid Lindgren’s books about Kalle Blomkvist, and The White Rose benefit from it in the movie. I am sure that I am not the only one who have used this code language as a child, or?

Stieg Larsson

Lisbeth Salander is based on Astrid Lindgrens Pippi Longstocking. Stieg Larsson also borrowed Kalle Blomkvist’s last name to the male main character of his books – Mikael Blomkvist – and in the Millenium books Swedish media sometimes nicknames him “Kalle”.

Original movie title in Swedish: Mästerdetektiven lever farligt

I liked Ninni Schulman’s first novel The Girl with Snow in Her Hair, and her independent sequel, The Boy who Stopped Crying, was even better. I definitely want to read more crime novels by Ninni Schulman, another fabulous Swedish crime writer.

A Pyromaniac is Wreaking Havoc

A house is burned down and a woman dies during a thunderstorm in Hagfors, but it turns out it was arson, and not lightning that struck the house. A few days later two people die in arson, and it does not take long before a fourth person dies in the same way. Everyone in town is scared and the fire extinguishers are quickly sold out. Do the arsons have a connection? Will the police solve the case before even more people will lose their lives?

The Main Character

The main character, the local newspaper journalist Magdalena Hansson, returned to her hometown in the first book and she still lives there. She is put in hot air when she stumbles on clues that can lead to the pyromaniac. We also get to follow her private life, which is almost as eventful.

Somewhere in Sweden

The novel describes life in a small town in Sweden, and how difficult it can be to change people’s perception of you. It is also questioned whether it is safer in a small town, since bullying and loneliness can be just as difficult, if not more so there. I come from a small town and the town described in the book (Hagfors) could be any small town in Sweden (albeit with a different dialect).

Original title in Swedish: Pojken som slutade gråta

The well-known politician Christian Weber is a proponent of a national DNA registry, and as an example of how it will work he voluntarily gives a sample of his saliva in a TV show. It turns out that his DNA matches evidence from a ten-year-old case where a young girl was murdered. Christian denies the allegations and a day later he has disappeared without a trace. If he tells the truth, what has really happened?

Truth and Consequence

The novel is about responsibility and shows that all our decisions in life have consequences, sometimes very serious ones. But chance also turns out to be of great significance. The novel also brings up violence and threats against women, and the guilt a mother has to live with when she has brought a violent man into her child’s life.

Interesting Intrigue

Current events are mixed up with Christian’s flashbacks and the murdered girl’s mother’s flashbacks. The debate regarding a national DNA registry is very interesting and the intrigue is exciting. The novel could have turned out great, but somewhere along the line it falls short. Too bad.

Original title in Swedish: Ingenstans under himlen

Can you please introduce yourself to any readers who may not yet be familiar with you?

I was born in 1965 in Stockholm where I live now. I work with IT product development. Until a few years ago I was as close as you could be to an illiterate when it came to fiction. I was even less interested in writing. But destiny had other plans. Nowadays books are a part of my everyday life even though I still read too little. I’m blaming lack of time, and writing takes up most of my time.

Your crime trilogy brings up the Swedish justice system, science, extremism, terrorism, and homosexuality. I also appreciate that they made me think about existential questions. How did you come up with the idea for your novels?

The idea for the story started with a brief article in the newspaper describing how a grandmother and her grandchildren were killed by a drunk driver, how short the punishment was for the driver, and the fact that drunk driving was a mitigating factor. In the same newspaper it was described how someone else got a much tougher punishment for withholding half a million dollars in taxes. The notable contrast of what a human life is worth became the kernel of the story. The rest just fell into place.

Anger Mode begins with a quote by David H. Ingvar, Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology, and your trilogy is based on a great scientific/existential secret that may change the world as we know it. Where did you get your interest in brain research? And how much research have you done regarding the subject?

I have always been interested in what we call our “consciousness”. The brain makes us who we are, that interprets, decides and solves puzzles. It is so developed and advanced that it even understands its own existence. Yet it is the part of the body that we know the least about, and that harbors so many secrets. I contacted a few brain researchers and found out that we know surprisingly little about this complex creation, even though researchers get a little closer to solving the riddle every day. But there are plenty of different theories, and I borrowed some of them for my novels. But the little jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula actually exists. It is so small but still very sophisticated with its capability of “eternal life”.

How long did it take you to finish each novel and how much of that time was spent on research and how much was writing time?

It took almost exactly a year to finish each novel. I would say that a tenth of the time is pure research. The rest is writing, editing, writing, editing…

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

I typically write a few hours in the evening. During the weekends I usually write in one or two three-hour segments. When I travel I write during any downtime. But I prefer to write at home.

Your main characters Walter Gröhn and Jonna de Brugge are very different. How did you create them?

I wanted two opposites as main characters. I thought it would be interesting to write about their dynamic. Their traits were interestingly enough already in my mind when I started writing. Then I could just finalize their personalities when I got to know them in more detail.

I read on your website that SVT (Swedish Television) has got the right to adapt your novels about Walter Gröhn and Jonna de Brugge into movies. How exciting! What actors would you like to see play the main characters?

It is a difficult question. I don’t really have any favorites. Maybe two unknown actors or somebody that has never played a police before.

You can hardly share anything about your second and third novel without giving away the storyline of your first novel, and you should read them in order since I imagine it may be difficult to keep up otherwise. Was this a conscious choice? Or do you disagree and think that you can read the novels in any order?

No, you should read them in order. I have tried to exclude redundant flashbacks in the second and third novel. The drawback is that it is difficult to jump into the second or final part. At first I was only going to write one novel, but I had to divide it into three parts since almost 1,300 pages would be too long for one novel.

I read that you were not that interested in novels until recently. What made you change your mind? And do you have a favorite crime writer?

I received a writing course as a present. Maybe it was not the best present for someone who was not at all interested in fiction. But as the pages were filled with text my interest grew. At last I was absorbed by the writing. A weird experience. I almost had a déjà vu feeling that I had written books before.

I like John Le Carre, he is an excellent author with a great language and he also has a message in his books. Then “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco is one of my favorite novels. It is a type of medieval crime novel with a lesson in philosophy, but that also make demands on the reader.

I am looking forward to the standalone parts about Walter Gröhn. Can you please tell us a bit about “The Pianotuner” that will be published this fall? Will we recognize anything from the other three novels? How many parts have you planned?

Some characters from the trilogy with return in The Pianotuner. Other than that it is a completely different story that focuses on a fifteen-year-old girl. It is a very sad story. It is so miserable that I have to take a break from the writing now and then. It is also difficult to write from a narrative point of view, since I use two time axes, where one is inverted. Add a complex intrigue to that. The Pianotuner is definitely a challenge to write.

We will see how many novels I will write. The only thing I know is that I won’t write another trilogy. Every part will be standalone.

Thank you and good luck with your future novels!

This interview has been translated from Swedish.

I read Stepping Out of Line approximately a year ago, and now the turn came to Denise Rudberg’s second novel in her elegant crime series about prosecution secretary Marianne Jidhoff.

I really like that the main character is a middle aged woman. Two of her closest colleagues are men, Torsten and Augustin, but Marianne is the one in focus.

Storyline

A partner of the investment company The Chinese Wall is severely beaten in the days between Christmas and New Year’s. Marianne and her group are assigned to the case. The company has a very conservative view of women, but can the fact that the abused man wanted to go on paternity leave really be a motive? We also get to follow another partner’s family where the wife has been abused for years, and she is finally reaching her limit.

A New Habit

Twice is a Habit was much better than the first book, so I have nothing against my new habit if Rudberg continues in this style.

…eleven pipers piping,

…ten lords a-leaping,

…nine ladies dancing,

…eight maids a-milking,

…seven swans a-swimming,

…six geese a-laying,

…five golden rings,

…four calling birds,

…three french hens,

…two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

About Twelve Days of Christmas

About Twelve Days of Christmas…

Twelve Drummers Drumming

To symbolize the gift on the twelfth (and final) day of Christmas we selected Twelve Drummers Drumming by C. C. Benison.

Twelve Drummers Drumming takes place in the idyllic English village Thornford Regis and our detective is Revered Tom Christmas, aka Father Christmas. He has moved to the village to recover after his wife’s murder, but once he gets there another woman is killed and soon everyone in town is a suspect. It all sounds like it could be the perfect cozy holiday mystery, the only problem is that the novel is set in the month of May.

I have not read the book yet, but one review I read compared the writing style and setting to that of Agatha Christie, which sounds very promising.

Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas

For this series we could not ignore Stuart MacBride’s series of short stories Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas. Maybe something to read next Christmas?

Thank you for following our Twelve Days of Christmas series. Happy New Year from TheCrimeHouse team! We look forward to another year of great crime fiction in 2012.

…ten lords a-leaping,

…nine ladies dancing,

…eight maids a-milking,

…seven swans a-swimming,

…six geese a-laying,

…five golden rings,

…four calling birds,

…three french hens,

…two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

About Twelve Days of Christmas

About Twelve Days of Christmas…

Paying the Piper

To symbolize the gift on the eleventh day of Christmas (eleven pipers piping) we selected the crime novel Paying the Piper by Simon Wood.

The Piper is an infamous child kidnapper operating in the bay area. He always returned the children unharmed when the ransom had been paid. Until a fake Piper contacted a journalist to leave “clues”. The real Piper then kills the child. Eight years later he strikes again, and this time he kidnaps the journalist’s child and the terms are different.

For the first chapter, visit the author’s official website.

…nine ladies dancing,

…eight maids a-milking,

…seven swans a-swimming,

…six geese a-laying,

…five golden rings,

…four calling birds,

…three french hens,

…two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

About Twelve Days of Christmas

About Twelve Days of Christmas…

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

To symbolize the gift on the tenth day of Christmas (ten lords a-leaping) we selected The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, a TV series about Detective Inspector Thomas “Tommy” Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton.

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries are based on Elizabeth George’s novels about Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers at Scotland Yard.

The two main characters are quite different and come from different backgrounds. Lynley (aka Lord Asherton) is an earl, and Havers come from a working-class background. As expected there is some drama regarding the class differences.

…my true love gave to me: nine ladies dancing,

…eight maids a-milking,

…seven swans a-swimming,

…six geese a-laying,

…five golden rings,

…four calling birds,

…three french hens,

…two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

About Twelve Days of Christmas

About Twelve Days of Christmas…

Lisbeth Salander

To symbolize the gift on the ninth day of Christmas (nine ladies dancing) we selected THE girl (maybe not quite a lady) Lisbeth Salander.

Lisbeth Salander is one of the main characters in the Millennium trilogy by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. He imagined what Pippi Longstocking would be like as an adult, and and then he created Lisbeth.

After reading the novels I had a difficult time imagining the character in a movie. I did not think anyone could do the role justice. Two women proved me wrong. Noomi Rapace in the Swedish movies, and Rooney Mara in the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

…seven swans a-swimming,

…six geese a-laying,

…five golden rings,

…four calling birds,

…three french hens,

…two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

About Twelve Days of Christmas

About Twelve Days of Christmas…

Miss Marple

To symbolize the gift on the eighth day of Christmas (eight maids a-milking) we selected a very famous maid, Miss Marple.

Agatha Christie created some of the best known investigators, and Miss Marple hardly needs an introduction. I absolutely love the books about Miss Marple, and I appreciate how she does not look like your typical detective. Despite that she solves murder mysteries wherever she goes. She lives in the fictional St. Mary Mead in England, and appears in twelve novels and twenty short stories.