#FlashForwardFridays-Scandi Noir!

Yep, it’s Friday so you know what that means?

#FlashForwardFridays and BOY do I have a treat in store!
Not 1,but 2 new Scandi Noir books due for release in November!

If you are a fan of works in translation, then you won’t want to miss either of these books.

‘The Iron Chariot’ by Stein Riverton trans. Lucy Moffatt due for release November 2019,pre-order now

On a blazing hot summer’s day, holidaymakers at a guesthouse on a Norwegian island are shocked to discover that a fellow guest has been found murdered on a desolate plain. The nameless narrator, an author, was the last person to see the victim alive; shortly afterwards, he is disturbed by a noise like `a rattling of chains’. A local tells him this is `the iron chariot’, which is said to presage death.

Detective Asbjorn Krag is summoned from the capital, Kristiania, and sets about investigating the murder. When a similar death occurs on the plain, it is again preceded by the eerie sound of the iron chariot, which leaves no tracks. Mystery is added to mystery when the victim turns out to be a man believed to have died several years earlier.

Drawn unwillingly into the investigation, the narrator is puzzled by the enigmatic detective’s apparent inaction, and troubled by unfolding events. These begin to take a toll on his mental wellbeing and he sinks into a state of dread, exacerbated by mysterious happenings at the cabin where he is staying.

So profound is his unease that he feels he must leave the island. Then Krag promises to tell him the solution to the mystery…

About the author..

Stein Riverton was born Kristoffer Elvestad Svensen in a small Norwegian town near the Swedish border in 1884. After being caught embezzling money as a young office boy, he changed his name to Sven Elvestad and moved to Kristiania (Oslo) to start a new life as a journalist. He became notable for his stunts as a reporter, including spending a day in a circus lion’s cage. He was also the first foreign reporter to interview Adolf Hitler.

Under the pen name Stein Riverton, he wrote a series of crime novels featuring the retired police detective Asbjørn Krag. Published in 1909, Jernvognen (The Iron Carriage) is regarded as his masterpiece. He died in 1934.

The Riverton Prize, awarded annually to the best Norwegian crime story, is named after him.

First published almost a century ago, this is very exciting re-issue of a classic from the grandfather of Scandi Noir!

‘The Lake Forest Mystery’ by Palle Rosenkrantz trans David Young due for release November pre-order now

Detective Sergeant Eigil Holst is on holiday in the countryside when the body of a baby is washed up on the banks of a nearby lake. The local magistrate orders the lake to be drained and the body of a young woman is discovered, naked and weighed down with stones tied to her feet and neck.

Her identity is a mystery. Holst then takes it upon himself to find out where this woman came from, why she was in this remote location and who could have had motive to kill her. His investigations take him across Scandinavia and into central Europe as, gradually, he realises that the solution to the mystery could have huge implications for his own future.

Originally published in 1903, The Lake Forest Mystery is considered to be the very first Danish crime novel, and the annual Danish crime writing awards are named in honour of its author, Palle Rosenkrantz.

About the author…

Born in Helsingør in 1867, author, translator and lawyer Palle Rosenkrantz became the godfather of Danish crime with his 1903 novel, Hvad Skovsøen gemte (The Forest Lake Mystery). He also worked for the newspaper Politiken and wrote manuscripts for silent films. He died in 1941.