The Petrona Award 2024 - Winner

Winner of 2024 Petrona Award announced 

The winner of the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is: 

DEAD MEN DANCING by Jógvan Isaksen translated from the Faroese by Marita Thomsen and published by Norvik Press. 

Jógvan Isaksen will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize. 

The judges’ statement on DEAD MEN DANCING: 

Similar to the story of the ancient god Prometheus, a man has been shackled to rocks on the Faroe Islands, and left to drown on the beach. The discovery of his body throws the local community into an unsettling chaos, and as the journalist Hannis Martinsson investigates, he comes across evidence of similar deaths. He realises they are linked to the events in Klaksvík in the 1950s, and a local revolt which tore the community apart. As Martinsson digs into the troubled past, he learns about his country’s history, and also gives the reader a chance to discover what makes the Faroes intriguing and spellbinding. Being a largely unknown territory to most, Dead Men Dancing includes a useful introduction to the modern reality of these islands by the CEO of the Faroese Broadcasting Corporation, mirrored by the social commentary that lies at the heart of the book itself, and the portrayal of the relationship with Denmark throughout the years. 

This is only Isaksen’s second novel to be translated into English following Walpurgis Tide. This contemporary Faroese crime fiction writer places his characters in the wild, beautiful, and unforgiving environment and allows them to search for truth. The judges found the location to be absolutely integral to the unfolding of the plot, and how the raw natural beauty of the Faroes served as a reflection of the thoughts and actions of the characters.

Dogged and uncompromising, Martinsson is a superb creation, similar in his ‘detective’ thinking and approach to Gunnar Staalesen's lonely wolf PI Varg Veum, which the judging panel found very appealing. Martinsson's gloomy demeanour and natural cynicism was beautifully balanced throughout with the more empathetic side of his nature, and in the age-old tradition of crime fiction his personal and professional relationships are fraught with tension. 

The translation by Marita Thomsen is both accomplished and a little unusual, drawing as she does on the vernacular and intonation of the Scottish dialect. Again, the judges found this to be refreshingly different, and enjoyed the unique cadence and rhythm this gave to the book overall, an essential quality of any book in translation. 

The judges agreed that in Dead Men Dancing the balance between location, plot and characterisation worked well, incorporating some of the familiar tropes of crime fiction, but also providing a refreshingly different reading experience. This was achieved by the depiction of the Faroes themselves and their history, working in symmetry with the narrative, and also by the characterisation of Martinsson, reminiscent of the traditional spare style in Nordic crime fiction. The assured and distinctive translation was also a significant factor in the judges' overall decision. 

Statements from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Jógvan Isaksen (author): 

I feel it is a great honour to win this award, especially when I see that the competition includes several of my favourite Scandinavian authors. I am also proud to represent my country, the Faroe Islands, a self-governing part of the Danish Kingdom with its own language and traditions. Furthermore there are special bonds between the UK and The Faroes since the friendly occupation during World War II. I personally became a member of Collins Crime Club when I was only thirteen, and fought my way through crime novels I could hardly read. But at last I got there and have for many years been an admirer of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Eric Ambler, Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin and many, many more. 

Marita Thomsen (translator): 

It was thrilling to translate the Faroese novel Dead Men Dancing and a great honour to receive the Petrona Award. I am privileged to find myself in the company of the master crafters of stories and languages shortlisted this year, congratulations to all! My thanks first and foremost to Jógvan Isaksen for keeping us in suspense, as he navigates the rugged outlines of the psychology and wild shores of the Faroe Islands. This book offers a fascinating window into regional tensions in the archipelago and historical tensions in the Kingdom of Denmark. Thank you to the passionate Norvik team for expert guidance and editorial advice. And to Richard and Jane for your patience and boundless enthusiasm for everything, even the difference between rowing boats and oared boats. 

Janet Garton (Norvik Press Commissioning Editor):

We are delighted that Dead Men Dancing has won this year’s Petrona Award. Jógvan Isaksen is a master of suspense, and his maverick amateur sleuth Hannis Martinsson takes the reader on hair-raising trips by land and sea before – of course – solving the mystery before the frustrated police. The Martinsson series was the basis of the successful TV series TROM, and this is the second of the series to be published by Norvik Press, after Walpurgis Tide in 2016. Hopefully there will be more to come! 

The Petrona team would like to thank David Hicks for his continuing sponsorship of the Petrona Award.

The Petrona Award 2024 - Shortlist

 

Outstanding crime fiction from the Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2024 Petrona Award

Six impressive crime novels from the Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted for the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 10 October and is as follows:

Anne Mette Hancock - The Collector tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Jørn Lier Horst - Snow Fall tr. Anne Bruce (Norway, Michael Joseph)

Arnaldur Indriðason - The Girl by the Bridge tr. Philip Roughton (Iceland, Harvill Secker)

Jógvan Isaksen - Dead Men Dancing tr. Marita Thomsen (Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark), Norvik Press)

Åsa Larsson - The Sins of our Fathers tr. Frank Perry (Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Yrsa Sigurðardottir - The Prey tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)

The winning title will be announced on 14 November 2024. 

The Petrona Award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia, and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his continued generous support of the Petrona Award. 

The judges’ comments on the shortlist:

There were 31 entries for the 2024 Petrona Award from six countries (Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). This year’s shortlist sees both the Kingdom of Denmark and Iceland represented with two novels each and Sweden and Norway with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a strong pool of candidates with the shortlisted authors including Petrona Award winners, Jørn Lier Horst and Yrsa Sigurðardottir.

As ever, we are extremely grateful to the six translators whose expertise and skill have allowed readers to access these outstanding examples of Scandinavian crime fiction, and to the publishers who continue to champion and support translated fiction. 

The judges’ comments on each of the shortlisted titles:

Anne Mette Hancock - THE COLLECTOR translated by Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

When ten-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia: a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone, posted just hours before his disappearance, shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn - but from where? When Lukas’s blood-flecked jacket is found, DNA evidence points to Thomas Strand, a former soldier suffering from severe PTSD, but then Strand turns up dead in his apartment. 

This is a complex thriller of buried secrets, that beautifully wrong-foots the reader from beginning to end.

Jørn Lier Horst - SNOW FALL, translated by Anne Bruce (Norway, Michael Joseph)

The discovery of an Australian backpacker’s body in Spain prompts a group of amateur true crime detectives into action. They are scattered online around the world, attempting to solve the mystery of her death. Astri, a young Norwegian woman whose intense pursuit takes her closer than anyone else to solving the case, prepares to reveal her findings and then goes offline. When William Wisting reluctantly gets involved in the investigation, he is faced with the unusual, unorthodox investigators of varied skills and intentions, and puzzling connections. 

A slow methodological approach gathers pace and pulls readers into a complex web of low-key international ties. As always Lier Horst delves deep into the psychology and motives of the characters, creating a slow-burning police procedural of empathy and human interest, firmly rooted in Norwegian society.   

Arnaldur Indriðason - THE GIRL BY THE BRIDGE translated by Philip Roughton (Iceland, Harvill Secker)

When a young woman known for drug smuggling goes missing, her elderly grandparents have no choice but to call friend of the family, retired detective Konrád. Still looking for his own father's murderer, Konrád agrees to investigate the case, but digging into the past reveals more than he set out to discover, and a strange connection to a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavík city pond decades ago recaptures everyone's attention.

One of Iceland’s most established authors, Indriðason skilfully interweaves different timelines along with assured characterisation, in this second book to feature Konrád.

Jógvan Isaksen - DEAD MEN DANCING translated by Marita Thomsen (Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark), Norvik Press)

Similar to the story of the ancient god Prometheus, a man has been shackled to rocks and left to drown on the beach. But this time it happens on the Faroe Islands. The discovery of his body throws the local community into an unsettling chaos. As the journalist Hannis Martinsson investigates, he comes across evidence of similar deaths. He realises they are linked to the events in Klaksvik in the 1950s, and a local revolt which tore the community apart. As Martinsson digs into the past, he learns about his country’s history, and the reader has a chance to discover what makes the Faroes intriguing and spellbinding. 

This is only Isaksen’s second novel to be translated into English. The contemporary Faroese crime fiction writer places his characters in the wild, beautiful, and unforgiving environment and allows them to search for truth. Dogged and uncompromising, Martinsson is a superb creation. 

Åsa Larsson - THE SINS OF OUR FATHERS translated by Frank Perry (Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Rebecka Martinsson, disillusioned with her challenging job as a prosecutor, initially has no intention of looking into a fifty-year-old case involving the missing father of Swedish Olympic boxing champion, Börje Ström. Agreeing, however, to the dying wish of her forensic pathologist friend she begins to follow links when a body is found in a freezer at the house of a deceased alcoholic. The grim realities of life in the area years ago, and the current influx of criminals attracted by developments in Kiruna make for a tough investigation and difficult soul-searching, coupled with Rebecka’s own history in a foster family.

Larsson remains a wise, observant, social commentator and creator of a gripping, suspenseful and utterly moving series, with her eye to the past and the future, and emotive style. Delicate and  relevant humour adds hope to the fragile lives of the main characters.

Yrsa Sigurðardottir - THE PREY translated by Victoria Cribb (Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)

Kolbeinn has been called to his old home as the new owners have uncovered some photos, and a muddied child's shoe bearing the name 'Salvor'. A name Kolbeinn doesn't recognise. Soon after, his mother's carers say that she has been asking for her daughter, Salvor.

Jóhanna is working with the search and rescue team in Höfn to find two couples from Reykjavik. Their phones' last location, the road leading up into the highlands. In a harsh winter, the journey is treacherous, and they soon find the first body.

Hjörvar works at the Stokksnes Radar Station in the highlands. He's alone when the phone connected to the gate rings: the first time it's ever done so. Above the interference he can hear a child's voice asking for her mother. 

How are these events connected?

Sigurðardottir balances these three storylines, each with her trademark creeping sense of unease, in this dark and disturbing standalone.

The judges

Jackie Farrant - creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller/Area Commercial Support for a major book chain in the UK.

Ewa Sherman - translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE.

Award administrator

Karen Meek – owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

On social media, please use #PetronaAward24.

The Petrona Award 2024 - Longlist

From the press release which was embargoed until 8.00am today:

Petrona Award 2024 - Longlist 

OUTSTANDING CRIME FICTION FROM DENMARK, ICELAND, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 PETRONA AWARD 

Ten crime novels from Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. 

They are:

Tove Alsterdal - You Will Never Be Found tr. Alice Menzies (Sweden, Faber & Faber)

Anne Mette Hancock - The Collector tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Jørn Lier Horst - Snow Fall tr. Anne Bruce (Norway, Michael Joseph)

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger - Stigma tr. Megan E Turney (Norway, Orenda Books) 

Arnaldur Indriðason - The Girl by the Bridge tr. Philip Roughton (Iceland, Harvill Secker) 

Jógvan Isaksen - Dead Men Dancing tr. Marita Thomsen (Faroe Islands (Denmark), Norvik Press)

Åsa Larsson - The Sins of our Fathers tr. Frank Perry (Sweden, MacLehose Press) 

Lilja Sigurðardottir - White as Snow tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)

Yrsa Sigurðardottir - The Prey tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton) 

Karin Smirnoff - The Girl in the Eagle's Talons tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, MacLehose Press)

The longlist contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners, Jørn Lier Horst and Yrsa Sigurðardottir. 

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Orenda Books and MacLehose Press both having two entries, and the breakdown by country is Iceland (3), Sweden (3), Denmark (2) and Norway (2). 

The shortlist will be announced on 10 October 2024.

The Petrona Award 2024 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller/Area Commercial Support for a major book chain in the UK and Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE, with additional help from Sarah Ward, author, former Petrona Award judge and current CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger judge.

The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website. 

The Petrona team would like to thank both our sponsor, David Hicks, for his continuing support of the Petrona Award and the CWA, in particular Maxim Jakubowski, for allowing Sarah to step in following the very unexpected death of our much missed judge and friend Miriam Owen.

The Petrona Award was established to celebrate the work of Maxine Clarke, one of the first online crime fiction reviewers and bloggers, who died in December 2012. Maxine, whose online persona and blog was called Petrona, was passionate about translated crime fiction but in particular that from the Scandinavian countries.

The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year. More information on the history of the Award and previous winners can be found at the Petrona Award website.

Petrona Award 2024 - Entries

We are pleased to announce that 31 of the 32 titles that were eligible for the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year have been entered by the publishers.

The winner of the Award will be announced online later this year.

The rules for eligibility are:

• The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2023.
• The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.
• The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))
*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries 

[15 titles are by Female authors and 12 by Male plus 3 teams of Female and Male authors and 1 team of 2 Male authors. There are 22 translators (11 Female (15 titles), 11 Male (16 titles)) and 6 countries are represented (11 Sweden, 7 Iceland, 7 Norway, 3 Denmark, 2 Finland and 1 France).]

Maria Adolfsson - Cruel Tides tr. Agnes Broomé (F, Sweden, Zaffre)

Tove Alsterdal - You Will Never Be Found tr. Alice Menzies (F, Sweden, Faber & Faber)

Samuel Bjork - The Wolf tr. Charlotte Barslund (M, Norway, Bantam)

Stella Blómkvist - Murder at the Residence tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)

Kjell Ola Dahl - The Lazarus Solution tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

M T Edvardsson - The Woman Inside tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (M, Sweden, Macmillan)

Anki Edvinsson - The Snow Angel tr. Paul Norlen (F, Sweden, Thomas & Mercer) 

Carin Gerhardsen - Black Ice tr. Ian Giles (F, Sweden, Head of Zeus)

Johana Gustawsson - Yule Island tr. David Warriner (F, France, Orenda Books)

Anne Mette Hancock - The Collector tr. Tara F Chace (F, Denmark, Swift Press)

Jørn Lier Horst - Snow Fall tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway, Michael Joseph)

Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger - Stigma tr. Megan E Turney (M&M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Arnaldur Indridason - The Girl by the Bridge tr. Philip Roughton (M, Iceland, Harvill Secker)

Jógvan Isaksen - Dead Men Dancing tr. Marita Thomsen (M, Denmark, Norvik Press)

Ragnar Jonasson & Katrín Jakobsdottír - Reykjavík tr. Victoria Cribb (M&F, Iceland, Michael Joseph)

Katrín Júlíusdóttir - Dead Sweet tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Lars Kepler - The Spider tr. Alice Menzies (M&F, Sweden, Zaffre)

Camilla Läckberg & Henrik Fexeus - Cult tr. Ian Giles (F&M, Sweden, HarperCollins)

Asa Larsson - The Sins of our Fathers tr. Frank Perry (F, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Jenny Lund Madsen - Thirty Days of Darkness tr. Megan E Turney (F, Denmark, Orenda Books)

Niklas Natt och Dag - 1795: The Order of the Furies tr. Ian Giles (M, Sweden, Baskerville)

Jo Nesbo - Killing Moon tr. Seán Kinsella (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)

Jo Nesbo - The Night House tr. Neil Smith (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)

Max Seeck - The Last Grudge tr. Kristian London (M, Finland, Welbeck)

Lilja Sigurdardottir - White as Snow tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir - The Prey tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)

Karin Smirnoff - The Girl in the Eagle's Talons tr. Sarah Death (F, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Gunnar Staalesen - Mirror Image tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Viveca Sten - Hidden in Shadows tr. Marlaine Delargy (F, Sweden, AmazonCrossing)

Antti Tuomainen - The Beaver Theory tr. David Hackston (M, Finland, Orenda Books)

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  - You Can't See Me tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Not Submitted 

Katrine Engberg - The Island (apa The Sanctuary) tr. Tara Chace (F, Denmark, Hodder & Stoughton)

And the covers courtesy of Goodreads:        

Petrona Award 2024 - Eligibles

A Sad Loss

We are very sorry to report the sudden death of Miriam Owen who has been part of the Petrona Judging Team for several years. Miriam was well known, respected and loved, particularly in the Scandi-crime world, and we will miss her and her expertise very much.

Fellow judge and friend Ewa Sherman shared this photo from Iceland Noir 2014 and with her permission I've included it below.

As regards this year's Petrona, with the kind permission of the CWA, Petrona Award co-creator and former judge, and current judge for the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger, Sarah Ward will be helping out with the first round of judging. We may recruit a guest judge at the long/shortlist stage if required. We hope to have a new full-time judge in place for Petrona 2025.

Miriam and Ewa, 2014.

Ten Years of the Petrona: THE KATHARINA CODE by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce

The final post on the first ten Petrona Award winners, is a review by current Petrona Judge, Ewa Sherman, of the 2019 Petrona Award winner THE KATHARINA CODE by Jørn Lier Horst, translated from the Norwegian by Anne Bruce and published by Michael Joseph in 2018. 

NB. Jørn Lier Horst (author), Anne Bruce (translator) and Neil Smith (translator) are the only people to have won the Petrona Award twice (so far).

Katharina Haugen went missing twenty-four years ago, leaving behind her heartbroken husband Martin, a mysterious string of numbers written on a piece of paper, and a methodically packed suitcase. Since then on 9 October each year Chief Inspector William Wisting looks though the files of this unsolved case and analyses all the evidence again, and then a day later visits her husband. What has started as a way to try to comfort and understand the grieving man has turned into a reluctant friendship, as together Wisting and Martin reminisce about Katharina and ponder life questions in general. 

This time on the anniversary of this miserable event, however, Martin is missing, too, and though Wisting feels uneasy and concerned, he has to prepare to investigate another missing person’s case, that of a 17-year-old girl who disappeared as she left a party one night. Nadia Krogh, daughter of a local multi-millionaire businessman, was abducted by unknown perpetrators who demanded a huge ransom. The money was delivered to the arranged place but never collected, and initially her boyfriend became the main suspect, and was promptly charged by the police. This happened in 1987, two years before Katharina’s case.

Now, modern forensic methods have helped to establish that Martin Haugen’s fingerprints were present on the ransom letter, made of cut-out words from a newspaper. To help with the new search, the ambitious insomniac Adrian Stiller from the Cold Cases Group at Kripos in Oslo arrives at Larvik police station to push all possible buttons and establish that Martin was responsible for Nadia’s disappearance. 

Stiller wants Wisting to work secretly and elicit a confession from Martin during a weekend fishing trip, and also asks Line, Wisting’s daughter, to write a series of press articles and to work on podcasts to jog the memory of anyone who might have remembered the teenager’s case and to come forward, and at the same time to set a trap for his suspect. As discreet monitoring is put in place, both father and daughter begin separately to follow Stiller’s plan.

In THE KATHARINA CODE, translated beautifully by Anne Bruce, Jørn Lier Horst puts his main character in a very uncomfortable situation as working undercover is alien to Wisting and has affected his self-esteem: in all his years in the police, he has endeavoured to be honest, direct and combative in encounters with both colleagues and criminals. Hence it is very interesting to follow the process and get to know another side of Wisting as he keeps some information secret from his journalist daughter and at the same time strives to influence Martin and get a confession while assuming a normal friendly demeanour. 

The tension increases as both men spend more time together, while fishing and cooking in an isolated cabin in the woods, and their means of external communication begin to fail. The relationship, quite formal yet coloured by years of memories and slowly built trust, unravels and leads to a shocking finale.

The novel does not focus on the fireworks and excitement of a current urgent investigation but instead develops slowly to explore the past, guilt and how someone ordinary might cross the line and then harbour painful secrets. It’s a good, solid mystery about blame and circumstances.

Ewa Sherman @ Nordic Lighthouse

Ten Years of the Petrona: TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner

The ninth post on the first ten Petrona Award winners, is a review by current Petrona Judge, Jackie Farrant, of the 2021 Petrona Award winner TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, translated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner and published by MacLehose Press in 2020.

It is 1852, and in Sweden’s far north, deep in the Arctic Circle, charismatic preacher and Revivalist Lars Levi Læstadius impassions a poverty-stricken congregation with visions of salvation. But local leaders have reason to resist a shift to temperance over alcohol. Jussi, the young Sami boy Læstadius has rescued from destitution and abuse, becomes the preacher’s faithful disciple on long botanical treks to explore the flora and fauna. Læstadius also teaches him to read and write – and to love and fear God. When a milkmaid goes missing deep in the forest, the locals suspect a predatory bear is at large. A second girl is attacked, and the sheriff is quick to offer a reward for the bear’s capture. Using early forensics and daguerreotype, Læstadius and Jussi find clues that point to a far worse killer on the loose, even as they are unaware of the evil closing in around them…

TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi is an utterly fascinating and uniquely different crime novel. Using the real life figure, the Revivalist preacher, Lars Levi Læstadius as the central character, adds an authenticity and deeper level of interest to the book, and being unfamiliar with this highly intelligent, progressive and insightful man, there is a real frisson of Niemi linking the past with the present here. To try and encapsulate in a review the many themes of the philosophical, spiritual and metaphysical, and the razor sharp historical detail that Niemi so confidently and brilliantly entwines in this book won’t be easy, as this is a novel quite unlike any other that I have encountered of late.

On a very basic level, this book is a murder mystery with a small community filled with fear and suspicion as a murderer walks amongst them, preying on defenceless young women in a series of attacks driven by violent rage. As such, even with such a seemingly simple premise, Niemi constructs a chilling and compelling mystery, as the suspicion amongst the local people is attributed by turn to a possible bear attack, to a wandering miscreant, and then far more dangerously into the perpetrator being from the community itself. Reading this from a contemporary viewpoint, I was struck by how little the human race has moved on in terms of accepting peoples’ differences, as the community quickly turns on Jussi, the young Sami boy that Læstadius has taken into his tutelage. This fear of the unknown and the different runs like a vein throughout the book, as even Læstadius himself, with his Revivalist preaching and fervent followers puts him at odds with the men of influence in the town, who value wealth and gaiety over religion and abstinence. Consequently, there are many trials and pitfalls for Læstadius and Jussi, who intent on identifying the perpetrator find themselves in an increasingly perilous position.

What I was increasingly struck by was the progressiveness and intuitive thinking of Læstadius, harnessing clues and applying practical chains of thought to the residual evidence of each crime. Obviously, forensic science was very much in its infancy in this period, but Læstadius neatly assesses and applies increasingly modern methods to his dissemination of the physical evidence he uncovers, based on common sense and lateral thinking. Hence, we see the rudimentary application of the crime scene analysis, we as modern readers are familiar with in its purest form, as Læstadius inches forward with his knowledge and supposition on how to gather clues, analyse them, and catch a killer. From fingerprints to daguerreotypes, from simple pencil shavings to indentations in the landscape, Læstadius draws on his knowledge of psychology, botany, literature and branches of science and pseudo science to close in on the perpetrator. 

I think it serves as a testament to the quality of Niemi’s writing and his erudite turn of phrase, and by turn the sublime translation by Deborah Bragan-Turner, that I revisited several passages throughout my reading of the book. His rendering of this harsh, but beautiful landscape, the sheer drudgery and hardship of these people’s lives, the physicality of his characters, and the more metaphysical musings of Læstadius himself on art, literature and education, held me in their thrall. On the subject of the community he is a part of, I was struck by their deep connection to the land and the way that their lives have this naturalistic interconnectedness, perhaps stronger than faith and education itself. 

“You might easily form the impression that the farm-maid or the reindeer herder lacked the disposition for academic study. But even though they didn’t read books, they knew the changes in the movement of the animals at every moment in the year. They knew hundreds of reindeer marks by heart, and manged to find old pasture grounds, berry patches and fishing lakes from the high mountains to the coastline…In many matters, local people had a deeper understanding than all of Uppsala’s professors.” 

As much as Læstadius recognises that these people and particularly their children have the potential for a profession, education and improvement, he never loses sight of this more basic characteristic of his flock that connects them to the soil. Likewise, with his apprentice Jussi, he recognises and respects Jussi’s physical need to wander and be amongst nature, but aims to educate him as fully as possible, and their relationship seems to transcend a simple one of teacher and pupil or even adoptive father and son.

TO COOK A BEAR proved to be an incredibly enjoyable reading experience for me, and as someone who has an innate curiosity of the world and our place within it, I found it tremendously satisfying. Not only did it read as a compelling tale of jealousy and murder, with its nods to early forensic techniques, but it expanded out to envelop a host of larger themes based on religion, morality, art and at its heart an enduring interconnectedness with the landscape and the changing of the seasons. Mikael Niemi has produced a completely fascinating, intelligent, and beautifully written book. Highly recommended.

Jackie Farrant @ Raven Crime Reads