Top 5 Picks For Easter Crime Weekend
When the majority of Christian world decorate their houses with Easter bunnies and coloured eggs, the Norwegians start rampaging in the bookshops in search for the coolest crime novels. Because Easter is also a murder mystery time when Påskekrim (Easter crime) books are read and movies watched.
This tradition dates back to 1923 when one of the crime novels launch campaign has been initiated in the media a week before Palm Sunday. With the success that the campaign has brought, the publisher tried his luck the year after, hence determining a new popular Easter component, which is still very viable in Norway.
With a great variety of Scandinavian crime novelists to choose, including Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson, the supply of crime and murder mystery books has already overstepped the boundaries of Scandinavian countries and almost dominate the global market. It's not just Norwegians skimming through the pages in their holiday cabins - the whole world follows investigations carried out by Harry Hole, Detective Wallander or Lisbeth Salander. Or other characters from high suspence crime novels produced by very productive Scandinavian authors.
Thus why not try to get involved into an engaging reading after your egg hunt is completed? We have five Scandinavian novels on offer:
The Ice Child
A new criminal thriller by a famous Swedish writer known by her invented couple of investigators Detective Patrick Hedstrom and Erica Falck. The story always takes place on the roundabouts of Fjällbacka. This time a semi-naked girl wanders through the woods in freezing cold weather. When she finally reaches the road, a car comes out of nowhere. It doesn’t manage to stop. Detective Patrik Hedström finds out that four months ago the same girl disappeared on her way home from the local riding school, and no one has seen her since. For those who are not familiar with the previous works by Camilla Lacberg, we recommend to start with Ice Princess.
The Savage Altar
The book, which won Sweden's Best First Crime Novel Award, chills the reader from the first page. And not because it takes place in the glittering frozen wastes of northern Sweden. A body of a man with his hands severed and eyes gourged out is find in the local church. The victim's sister discovers the body and is suspected of the murder. She managed to call her old friend who now lives in Stockholm and practices as a tax lawyer for help. What dark secrets are burried deep down under this small northern town?
The Weeping Girl
Yet another famous Swedish writer and representative of the Nordic Noir who has introduced an intuitive detective Van Veeteren to the world of crime fiction. However, this book focuses on Ewa Moreno, his protege. She's got a tough case where an eighteen year old girl disappears after she has visited her father in jail convicted for murdering his pupil. Soon afterwards the father also disappears. Ewa Moreno has to unfold all the events from the past in order to solve the case.
Missing
Compared to Henning Mankell, Karin Alvtegen plots a classical thriller. A homeless woman finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. A man is found dead and she is accussed of his murder. For fifteen years nobody has asked for her but suddenly she is the most wanted person in Sweden. She is about to run and hide but then she thinks of striking back and clearing her name. The name she refused so many years ago.
