When I did talking head duties for the BBC4 TV programme Nordic Noir, I shared screen time with knowledgeable Dane, Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, of the Scandinavian Studies Department of University College London and we recently chatted about the writers I’d chosen to include in this study. Jakob approved, but added: ‘There a couple of names I would think could profitably be included in an overview of Scandinavian crime. Norwegian Kim Småge (80s–90s, not translated, I think) should be mentioned as key to the pre-history of Norwegian and Swedish crime. The Finnish writer Leena Lehtolainen is often referred to approvingly in contemporary criticism regarding gender and crime (English translation is in the offing). Of the Danes: Anders Bodelsen (who specialised in neo-realism in the 60s–70s) could be considered to be the father of a particular socio-realist Danish crime tradition; and then there’s Dan Turell representing the 1980s; and more recently Gretelise Holm and Elsebeth Egholm (who might be considered Danish femi-krimi writers). Regarding films, I’d add that Kjell Sundvall’s Jägarna from 1996 should be worth a mention in approving terms’.
Top translator Don Bartlett added: ‘I’ve noticed that the Danes talk about the “femi-krimi”, novels (as mentioned by Jakob above) with a female investigator: Sara Blædel, Gretelise Holm and so on. By the way, Holm’s books are interesting, perhaps more international than Sara Blædel’s. And – yes, Elsebeth Egholm? Isn’t she a rival for the Crime Queen title? She has two – connected – series running, and writes filmscripts. Oh – and, personally, I’d like to see a nod to Torben Nielsen for Nineteen Red Roses… ’
Another valuable contact of mine is Nordic crime fiction expert Simon Clarke, who suggested the following should at least receive a namecheck: ‘Karin Wahlerg and Anna Jansson should be mentioned; two talented writers who have both been recently published by Stockholm Text. Håkan Ostlundh is popular in Sweden, and has just been published in English, while Marie Hermanson has enjoyed great success in that country, and she’s due for an appearance in English. I’d certainly record Camille Grebe and Åsa Traff who are sisters. Their impressive Some Kind of Peace appeared in translation in the UK in 2012.’
Scandinavian specialist Nils Nordgren said to me: ‘Finland is a problem for us all in terms of nailing its crime fiction; there are very few translations, even in the Nordic languages. I suppose we have to accept the fact that the Swedes and the Icelanders have done a more effective job of breaking into the English language crime market. In my home territory of Norway, some of the leading and most interesting crime writers of today are, sadly, not to be found in English: Unni Lindell, Knut Faldbakken, Kurt Aust, Gert Nygårdshaug, Jan Mehlum and a recent addition, Torkil Damhaug. But I’m pleased to say that Tom Egeland has had three of his books published in the UK and should be read by anyone interested in the genre. Arthur More is an unusual figure, a smuggler-turned-author. His crime novels (he also wrote mainstream books and short stories) were written in the 1930s and 1940s. And keeping that historical perspective (which we should), mention should also be made of Sven Elvestad/Stein Riverton, Bernhard Borge/André Bjerke, Torolf Elster and Max Mauser – in fact, these Norwegians were the finest (if not the most prolific) Scandinavian crime writers before Sjöwall & Wahlöö. On the Danish crime scene, attention needs to be paid to Anders Bodelsen, who wrote the thrice-filmed The Silent Partner (Christopher Plummer starred in one version) and several other crime novels over the years. He was, in fact, once considered almost as important as the sainted creators of Martin Beck in pointing out a new direction for crime writing in Scandinavia. Historically speaking, there is Palle Rosenkrantz who wrote in the early 1900s (one of his short stories was dramatised for The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes TV series, and starred John Thaw as DI Eigil Holst).
‘Apart from those series which made a splash in the UK, there have been several popular Swedish made-for-TV crime dramas, including three recent ones, which have not yet reached an English audience: Anna Jansson’s Maria Wern, Liza Marklund’s Annika Bengtsson (also the subject of two earlier feature films) and an acclaimed series based on Arne Dahl’s powerful novels. Then there’s Jan Guillou & Leif GW Persson’s Anna Holt (her name ironically prefiguring the Danish crime writer Anne Holt), Beck (based on Sjöwall & Wahlöö’s characters) and Helene Tursten’s Irene Huss. In Denmark from 2006–2008, audiences were given Anna Pihl, written by Borgen creator Adam Price. And in Norway two feature films and four serials have been made from the work of Karin Fossum, while six of Unni Lindell’s crime novels have been made into TV serials. One might add a variety of police serials (of different accomplishment), Fox Grønland, Black Money/White Lies, Codename Hunter (I and II), all made by the same writer/director, Jarl Emsell Larsen, who is at present making another, Eye Witness.’(Nordgren modestly does not note the fact that he himself has a small part in the latter, as Chief Constable of a local police district.)