Outstanding crime fiction
from Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2021 Petrona
Award
Six outstanding
crime novels from Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted
for the 2021 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of
the Year. The shortlist is announced today, Thursday 30 September.
A NECESSARY DEATH by Anne Holt, tr. Anne Bruce
(Corvus; Norway)
DEATH DESERVED by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas
Enger, tr. Anne Bruce (Orenda Books; Norway)
THE SECRET LIFE OF MR. ROOS by Håkan Nesser,
tr. Sarah Death (Mantle; Sweden)
TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, tr. Deborah
Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press; Sweden)
THE SEVEN DOORS by Agnes Ravatn, tr. Rosie
Hedger (Orenda Books; Norway)
GALLOWS ROCK by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, tr.
Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton; Iceland)
The winning title, usually announced at the
international crime fiction convention CrimeFest, will now be
announced on Thursday 4 November
2021. The winning author and the
translator of the winning title will both receive a cash prize, and
the winning author will receive a full pass to and a guaranteed panel
at CrimeFest 2022.
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. We would also like to thank Jake Kerridge for being a
guest judge last year.
We are delighted to welcome new judge Ewa Sherman to the Petrona
Team. Ewa is a translator and writer. She blogs at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE,
is a regular contributor to CRIME REVIEW, and volunteers at crime
fiction festivals in Reykjavik, Bristol and Newcastle.
The judges’
comments on the shortlist:
There
were 28 entries for the 2021 Petrona Award from six countries
(Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden). The novels were
translated by 17 translators and submitted by 20 publishers/imprints.
There were 10 female, 16 male, one male/male pair and one
male/female pair of authors.
This year’s Petrona
Award shortlist once again sees Norway strongly represented with
three novels; Sweden with two and Iceland with one. The crime genres
represented include the police procedural, historical crime,
psychological crime, literary crime and thriller.
The Petrona Award
judges selected the shortlist from a rich field. The six novels stand
out for their writing, characterisation, plotting, and overall
quality. They are original and inventive, often pushing the
boundaries of genre conventions, and tackle complex subjects such as
class and power, the bonds of friendship, and the failure of society
to support vulnerable individuals.
Today, very aptly, is
International Translation Day. We are extremely grateful to the five
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:
A NECESSARY DEATH by Anne Holt, tr. Anne
Bruce (Corvus; Norway)
Anne Holt, according to
Jo Nesbø, is the ‘godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction’.
Best known for her ‘Hanne Wilhelmsen’ and ‘Vik/Stubø’ series
(the inspiration for TV drama Modus), she also served as
Norway’s Minister for Justice in the 1990s. A Necessary Death is
the second in Holt’s ‘Selma Falck’ series, whose eponymous
protagonist is a high-flying lawyer brought low by her gambling
addiction. The novel shows Falck resisting an attempt to kill her: on
waking in a burning cabin in a remote, sub-zero wilderness, she has
to figure out how to survive, while desperately trying to remember
how she got there. A pacy, absorbing thriller with a gutsy, complex
main character.
DEATH DESERVED by Jørn Lier Horst and
Thomas Enger, tr. Anne Bruce (Orenda Books; Norway)
Death Deserved
marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration between two of
Norway’s most successful crime authors. Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier
Horst are both already well known for their long-running ‘Henning
Juul’ and ‘William Wisting’ series. Death Deserved,
in which a serial killer targets well-known personalities, mines each
writer’s area of expertise: the portrayal of detective Alexander
Blix draws on Horst’s former career as a policeman, while Enger
brings his professional knowledge of the media to the depiction of
journalist Emma Ramm. The novel expertly fuses the writers’
individual styles, while showcasing their joint talent for writing
credible and engaging characters, and creating a fast-paced, exciting
plot.
THE SECRET LIFE OF MR. ROOS by Håkan
Nesser, tr. Sarah Death (Mantle; Sweden)
Håkan Nesser, one of
Sweden’s most popular crime writers, is internationally known for
his ‘Van Veeteren’ and ‘Inspector Barbarotti’ series. The
Secret Life of Mr. Roos is the third in a quintet featuring
Gunnar Barbarotti, a Swedish policeman of Italian descent, who is a
complex yet ethically grounded figure. His relatively late appearance
in the novel creates space for the portrayal of an unlikely
friendship between Mr. Roos, a jaded, middle-aged man who has
unexpectedly won the lottery, and Anna, a young, recovering drug
addict of Polish origin, who is on the run. Slow-burning literary
suspense is leavened with a dry sense of humour, philosophical
musings, and compassion for individuals in difficult circumstances.
TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, tr. Deborah
Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press; Sweden)
Mikael Niemi grew up in
the northernmost part of Sweden, and this forms the setting for his
historical crime novel To Cook a Bear. It’s 1852: Revivalist
preacher Lars Levi Læstadius and Jussi, a young Sami boy he has
rescued from destitution, go on long botanical treks that hone their
observational skills. When a milkmaid goes missing deep in the
forest, the locals suspect a predatory bear, but Læstadius and Jussi
find clues using early forensic techniques that point to a far worse
killer. Niemi’s eloquent depiction of this unforgiving but
beautiful landscape, and the metaphysical musings of Læstadius on
art, literature and education truly set this novel apart.
THE SEVEN DOORS by Agnes Ravatn, tr. Rosie
Hedger (Orenda Books; Norway)
Agnes Ravatn’s The
Seven Doors has shades of Patricia Highsmith about it: a
deliciously dark psychological thriller that lifts the lid on
middle-class hypocrisy. When Ingeborg, the daughter of university
professor Nina and hospital consultant Mads, insists on viewing a
house that her parents rent out, she unwittingly sets off a grim
chain of events. Within a few days, tenant Mari Nilson has gone
missing, and when Nina starts to investigate her disappearance and
past life as a musician, worrying truths begin to emerge. A novel
about gender, power and self-deception, expertly spiced with Freud
and Bluebeard, The Seven Doors delivers an ending that lingers
in the mind.
GALLOWS ROCK by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, tr.
Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton; Iceland)
Gallows Rock is
the fourth in Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s ‘Children’s House’
series, featuring child psychologist Freyja and police detective
Huldar as a reluctant investigative duo. Their relationship provides
readers with some lighter moments and occasional black humour, along
with a frisson of mutual attraction. The novel’s intricate plot
focuses on skewed morals and revenge: what begins as a ritualistic
murder at an ancient execution site in the lava fields – the
Gallows Rock of the title – leads to the unearthing of a case of
long-term abuse, whose devastating impact is sensitively explored.
The author won the 2015 Petrona Award for The Silence of the Sea.
The judges
Jackie Farrant –
Crime fiction expert and creator of RAVEN CRIME READS; bookseller for
twenty years and a Regional Commercial Manager for a major book chain
in the UK.
Dr. Kat Hall –
Translator and editor; Honorary Research Associate at Swansea
University; international crime fiction reviewer at MRS. PEABODY
INVESTIGATES.
Ewa Sherman –
Translator and writer; blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE; regular
contributor to CRIME REVIEW; volunteer at crime fiction festivals in
Reykjavik, Bristol and Newcastle.
Award administrator
Karen Meek
– owner of the EURO
CRIME website; reviewer, former
CWA judge for the International Dagger, and Library Assistant.
Further
information can be found on the Petrona Award website:
http://www.petronaaward.co.uk.
Images of the
Petrona Award logo and the shortlisted titles are available (from
8.00am) at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/swanseauniversity/sets/72157651434095286
(copy & paste link
into browser)
On social media, please use #PetronaAward21.
