
Over the past few years, Scandi Noir has become a genre that I go to for comfort reads. It can be a strange kind of comfort as the stories are often dark and filled with pain but sometimes they carry me to a different place to spend time with people who think and behave a little differently but who I don’t have to struggle to understand.
Some books work better for me than others, even when they’re by the same author. My first Helene Tursten book Detective Inspector Huss (Inspector Huss #1) (1998) didn’t make much of an impression on me whereas, her An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good (2013) remains one of my favourites and the sequel, An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed (2020) is in my TBR pile. The difference in my reaction might just be the content – I’m apparently more engaged with a murderous octogenarian than with yet another police inspector struggling for work/life balance – or it may be that the author’s writing has improved or it could simply be that she changed translator and found someone better able to capture the spirit of her writing.
Anyway, I thought it was time that put a post together where I can put links to all my Scandi Noir reviews. I’ve listed them below in alphabetical order by the author’s surname. I hope there are a few on the list that capture your interest.
Scandi Noir Reviews
Links to my reviews are listed below by author in alphabetical order by author surname.
Samuel Bjork
Anne Holt
Ragnar Jonasson

2-stars
Jo Nesbø

4-stars

5-stars
Christoffer Petersen

3-stars
Hans Rosenfeldt

4-stars
Max Seeck
Viveca Sten
Erik Axl Sund

Abandoned – very good but too dark for me
Helene Tursten
Silje Ulstein

Abandoned because I couldn’t connect with the characters.










Excellent post, Mike! Very enjoyable!
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Thank you.
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