title: Scandinavian Crime Fiction (21st Century Genre Fiction)
author: Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen
description: From Steig Larsson's <i>Millennium</i> trilogy and Henning Mankell's Wallander books to TV series such as <i>The Killing</i>, this is an authoritative guide to contemporary Scandinavian crime writing.
zlib_text: >
  
  
  > [PRAISE
  
  
  FOR
  
  
  GUNNAR
  
  
  STAALESEN
  
  > ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors.
  > Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex
  > but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a
  > series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin
  
  > ‘The Norwegian Chandler’ Jo Nesbø
  
  > ‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin Bates
  
  > ‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let
  > go!’ Mari Hannah
  
  > ‘With its exploration of family dynamics and the complex web of human
  > behaviour, Staalesen’s novel echoes the great California author Ross
  > MacDonald’s Lew Archer mysteries. There are some incredible set-pieces
  > including a botched act of terrorism that has frightening consequences, but
  > the Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than
  > spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Russel
  > McLean, Herald Scotland
  
  > ‘There is 