In our contuing effort to present a complete overview of the prose works of UBU we bring our devoted readers this rare and fascinating selection from the privately distributed publication "Aunt Agatha’s Opinionated Little Catalogue."
Scandinavian Crime Wave Bowls Over Mystery Readers!
Inspired by the international bestsellers of Henning Mankell, there’s been a Scandinavian Crime Wave lately, an explosion of writers from the colder climes. Their books are in the European tradition of Janwillem van de Wettering and Maj Sjowall/Per Wahloo, full of great writing & more cogitation & character development than gun play and violence. Warning: although very excellent and entertaining these books are far from "cozy" and not exactly uplifting – the characters tend to be at least mildly depressed & the crimes sordid – not enough sunlight I guess!
The Man Who Smiled
, Henning Mankell, The New Press, $24.95.
1994’s The Man Who Smiled, the fourth book in the Kurt Wallender series, inexplicably unavailable in this country, has finally been released and it finds Mankell in top form as Wallender, in the midst of a deep personal and professional crisis, finds himself drawn into the puzzling investigation of the murders of a father and son.
Chronological listing of other titles:
Faceless Killers
, Vintage, $13.00
The Dogs of Riga
, Vintage, $13.00
The White Lioness, Vintage, $13.00 (a personal favorite)
Sidetracked
, Vintage, $14.00
The Fifth Woman
, Vintage, $13.00
One Step Behind
, Vintage, $13.00
Firewall, Vintage, $13.00
Before the Frost
, Vintage, $13.00
Jar City, Arnaldur Indridson, Picador, $14.00.
Retjavik, Iceland, is the unlikely setting for this international sensation and Gold Dagger award winning mystery. Inspector Erlendur investigates the murder of a seemingly harmless old man. Does a "cold" case in the past hold the clue to a much larger evil?
He Who Fears the Wolf
, Karin Fossum, Harcourt, $14.00.
Norway’s entry by the popular Fossum features Chief Inspector Konrad Sejer, whose chief suspect in a brutal murder is taken hostage by a demented bank robber. His enquiry into the strange crime and even stranger criminals reveals the darkness behind the countryside’s bucolic facade.
Don’t Look Back
, Harcourt, $14.00
Detective Inspector Huss, Helene Tursten, Soho, $13.00.
One of the first and finest of the Scandinavian wave, Tursten’s book features Irene Huss, 40-something wife, mother, cop and judo expert, the face of modern Sweden, who must delve into the suspicious suicide of a real estate tycoon.
Sun Storm, Asa Larsson, Delacorte, $22.00. (Paperback edition available in Jan.
2007).
This remarkable psychological thriller won Sweden’s Best First Crime novel award, drawing comparisons to Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters. It features Rebecka Martinsson, a Stockholm Lawyer who finds herself drawn into the mystery surrounding the violent murder of the charismatic leader of a fundamentalist church.
Sun and Shadow
, Ake Edwardson, Penguin, $13.00.
Charismatic, moody Erik Winter is the youngest Chief Inspector in Sweden, a man consumed by the crimes he’s trying to solve. A bloody double murder on his doorstep is just the beginning for him on his latest case, in which he pursues an enigmatic serial killer through Gothenburg’s shadows.
In Matto’s Realm
, Fredrich Glauser, Bitter Lemon Press, $13.95.
Although he’s actually Swiss, the influential Glauser is a fitting forefather for the current Nordic crime writers. Written in the late 1930’s, Glauser’s books are golden age clever yet startlingly modern and have just been reprinted in the United States. In Matto’s Realm an old acquaintance pressures Sgt. Studer into examining the escape of a child murderer from an insane asylum in Bern. When the asylum’s director is found in the boiler room with a broken neck things get really crazy. The setting is familiar to Glauser, as he began his first Studer book Thumbprint while a patient in a similar institution.
Thumbprint
, Bitter Lemon Press, $13.95.
Fever
, Bitter Lemon Press, $14.95.
A Leak In The Safe 