Introductions

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Good lord, Dee...keep you teen sleuthes straight!!

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

Lol haha

[Grant]

Hi!

I am a Canadian currently living in Calgary. I discovered Nordic Noir when a colleague from work leant me a paperback by Arnaldur Indriason. I've never looked back! :-) There are so many fantastic authors and so many books still to be translated.

Thanks for having me in the group!

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welcome Grant!

[Grant]

Naomi wrote: "Welcome Grant!"

Thank you Naomi!!!! :-)

[Christine PNW]

Hey, Dee! I've been reading a lot of mysteries lately, & really love Henning Mankell. Imagine my surprise when I saw your lovely avatar as one of the mods of this group. :)

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

lol - yep ;)

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Gee, Dee...you gettin' around again?!?! lol

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

just a 'lil ;) Mayhem and I go WAYYY back...well, maybe not that far, but we've hung out on the amazon discussion boards

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

yep, i'm stepping out on you ;)

[Sharon]

Grant wrote: "Hi!

I am a Canadian currently living in Calgary. I discovered Nordic Noir when a colleague from work leant me a paperback by Arnaldur Indriason. I've never looked back! :-) There are so many fa..."

From a former Canuck welcome to the group. Hope you had a good stampede this year.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Dee wrote: "yep, i'm stepping out on you ;)"

I go with the virtual getting around part! ;)

[Bruce]

Hi everyone!

I got hooked on Scandinavian crime fiction a couple of years ago, when everyone seemed to be reading Steig Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, quickly worked my way through the trilogy and soon found Henning Mankell, whose Wallander books (and one or two others), I devoured. In between, I discovered Jo Nesbø and have read all of his Harry Hole books – I'm just finishing The Phantom. They're very well written, and keep you guessing!

[Sharon]

Bruce wrote: "Hi everyone!

I got hooked on Scandinavian crime fiction a couple of years ago, when everyone seemed to be reading Steig Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, quickly worked my way through the..."

Absolutely :-)

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welccome, Bruce!

[Kathleen]

I'm very new to the concept of Nordic Noir. I tried to read the Steig Larsson books but they were too brutal for me - I don't handle women being abused well. But so far I'm impressed with Jo Nesbo.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Kathleen wrote: "I'm very new to the concept of Nordic Noir. I tried to read the Steig Larsson books but they were too brutal for me - I don't handle women being abused well. But so far I'm impressed with Jo Nesbo."

Fancy meeting you here! Welcome.

[Kathleen]

Naomi wrote: "Fancy meeting you here! Welcome...."

Thank you.

[Bobbi]

Hi. I live in Minnesota and was introduced to Nordic Noir while on a cruise in Greece two years ago. Henning Mankell's "the 5th woman" and I was hooked! Have since read 15 of his books + Stieg Larson, Per Wahloo, Maj Sjowall, Jusi-Adler Olson, Ake Edwardson,and Kjell Erickson to name a few!I am trying to read Jo Nesbo's The Red Breast. Most of my books I buy in Canada when visiting family. I love that I have found this group and hope i can figure out which book you are reading in October.

[Sharon]

Bobbi wrote: "Hi. I live in Minnesota and was introduced to Nordic Noir while on a cruise in Greece two years ago. Henning Mankell's "the 5th woman" and I was hooked! Have since read 15 of his books + Stieg Lar..."

Hi Bobbi, I am a Canadian living in Holland. Lovely to read your obvious enjoyment of Scandinavian reading ...keep an eye open for some of the original films and series too coming out of Scandinavia. S

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

hi bobbi welcome to the group!!

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welcome to the group, Bobbi!

[Pam]

Hi, I'm Pam and I work in a library in Maryland. I started off reading Larsson and for all those who had trouble with the first book so did I but keep reading. There are a lot of characters to remember in this one but keep at it. After I finished with the trilogy I was hungry for more. I read the Wallender series and started looking for more. I see you have Keeper of Lost Causes on your list, a totally awesome read by Jesse Adler-Olsen. I have The Absent One ready next. I didn't notice any Nesbo on your list so I think I will add. What I like most about this genre is the darkeness and the realness of the characters. One of my favorite genres. I see some new names on your book list and I will be checking them out.

[Sharon]

Pam wrote: "Hi, I'm Pam and I work in a library in Maryland. I started off reading Larsson and for all those who had trouble with the first book so did I but keep reading. There are a lot of characters to reme..."

Jo Nesbo is excellent Pam. If you do though, start with the first, which is just out this month in English finally...The Bat. They take you through the cases of Harry Hole nicely and IMHO his early books were best. Number two will be out translated to English next year. Stand alone is Headhunters and a real rollercoaster of a read and the film is too.
JO NESBO

Harry Hole books:
The Bat 11/10/12
The Cockroaches ...due translated 2013

The Redbreast
Nemesis
The Devil’s Star
The Redeemer
The Snowman
The Leopard
Phantom. April 12/12

The White Hotel No English available
Headhunters (stand alone) Current film out UK and NL April 2012

[Pam]

Oh I have read a few but not in order because they hadn't been translated yet. I read The Snowman and The Leopard so far and am ready to start the Phantom. Yes I know I am way out of order. I love Harry Hole as a character. I understand he writes children's books also.

[Sharon]

Pam wrote: "Oh I have read a few but not in order because they hadn't been translated yet. I read The Snowman and The Leopard so far and am ready to start the Phantom. Yes I know I am way out of order. I love ..."

Well, I really think you should wait off on Phantom until you have read the rest. It is one .... of a read. Early books were great!

Many Scandinavian writers also write children's books. H. Mankell has a nice series as well...etc.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welcome, Pam...hopefully we can give you some more NN options in our discussions, as well.

[Pam]

Thanks Naomi, i read a lot of everything and this is one of my favs :)

[Bobbi]

Thanks to this great group I discovered James Thompson. Just finished his first book Snow Angels and I have to say that I am so glad to have ordered his first three books at once!!

[Pam]

I never heard of Thompson and I shelve books at my library. I will check him out.

[Anna, the Enabler]

Oh, James is awesome. (Don't confuse with Jim Thompson, a US crime writer from like 50 y ago... E.g. "The killer inside me" - awesome but a different person called Jim... The curse of popular names?)
How about James as a recommendation for a Finnish author, by a Finn? Plus worldwide, he'd just have to be the best selling Finnish crime author of the past decade. :)

[Helen]

Just finished reading Unwanted Loved it. Kristina Ohlsson is a Swedish writer. Her skills describing the landscape are not as poetic as Johan Therin, but I loved the ending. Very realistic. My next book is Johan Theorin the Quarry. I read Echoes from the Deadand The Darkest Roomloved both of them. Really enjoying my Nordic stage.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welcome, Helen.

[Lili]

Pam wrote: "I never heard of Thompson and I shelve books at my library. I will check him out." He is one of the best Noir writers but do read his books in order.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Pam wrote: "I never heard of Thompson and I shelve books at my library. I will check him out."

Pam...I agree with Lili. Jim is incredibly character driven and you will be lost if the books aren't read in order.

[Sharon]

IMHO having read Scandinavian writers for many years now, they all benefit from reading as much as possible in order written.

[Anna, the Enabler]

Helene Tursten's stuff works well out of order.
(Sort of like Harry Bosch - all are unique and self-contained, but you'll get that 5-10% extra enjoyment when you do find them in order).

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Sharon wrote: "IMHO having read Scandinavian writers for many years now, they all benefit from reading as much as possible in order written."

Yeah, you are right Sharon...Anna..I haven't read any Helene Tursten's stuff yet. I keep getting distracted with other stuff!

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

do we need to have her as a featured author naomi to make you read something of hers...lol!

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Probably Dee...I am constantly distracted by other stuff!

[Anna, the Enabler]

Tursten is perfect for the dark time of year, so why not pick her for December? There are more than 3 of her books available anyway.
And decent balance with all the dark and Huss.

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Sara Blaedel has a book coming out in Dec. so she is author of the month. We can do her in either Jan or Feb though.

[Sue]

Hi I'm Sue, I'm brand new to Nordic Noir and only have a few titles to my credit. But both impressed me and thought I'd get some good suggestions from this group. I've read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Faceless Killers both excellent.

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

welcome to the group Sue - I hope you find lots of new books to read ;)

[[deleted user]]

Hi :-) Like Sue I'm quite new to Nordic Noir. A couple of years ago I read The Millennium Trilogy - sad to say I wasn't impressed by the books. Recently I've been reading Camilla Läckberg and Sara Blaedel. As a Dane I'm happy to see Sara Blaedel as author of the month. As a new Nordic Noir reader, I have a lot of catching up to do :-)

[Anna, the Enabler]

Hi Sue and Danish, welcome :)
Just the perfect place to find the next reads. Once you've tried a few things and figured the ones you like the most, it'll be easier to find even more perfect reads for next. Jo Nesbø would probably be a good try next if you like really dark stuff...

[[deleted user]]

Anna wrote: "Hi Sue and Danish, welcome :)
Just the perfect place to find the next reads. Once you've tried a few things and figured the ones you like the most, it'll be easier to find even more perfect reads f..."

Oh, I forgot Jo Nesbø .. I read Headhunterssome years ago. Both the book and movie were great :-)

[Naomi, the Sanity Check]

Welcome, Sue!!

[Ellie]

Hi, I'm Ellie from north west England. My first introduction to Nordic Noir was Miss Smilia's Feeling for Snow. I'll do my best to participate in the group but am juggling my reading with a 6 month old and a PhD / Doctorate I need to finish by October!!!

[Dee, the Insanity Check]

good luck Ellie! I know the whole PhD feeling - i'm hoping to have mine done this year - this dang dissertation...lol!