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Reading lists

The best Nordic noir books

Hunted

What happens when the cops become the prey?

[A] truly brilliantly constructed plot that’s likely to have even the experienced crime fiction enthusiast falling off their chair. The goosebumps-inducing aha-moments are lined up one after another.

‘Brilliant visceral writing with terrific pace, this book grips you like a vice from the very first line and never lets you go’

Arne Dahl is one of the true greats of Scandinavian crime fiction.

Arne Dahl is possibly the most thoughtful and playful contemporary Nordic crime writer. He also happens to be one of the most thrilling.

Hunted has its strength in the classic layered build-up, where there’s always an extra layer hidden behind what you supposedly see, and red herrings and planted clues force the reader to keep their wits about them all the way.

What happens when the cops become the prey? 
 
'Arne Dahl is one of the true greats of Scandinavian crime fiction' MARK BILLINGHAM 
 
It starts when Desiré Rosenkvist of Stockholm Police receives a letter. Two things are immediately clear: the letter she holds in her hands was written in a state of utter desperation and paranoia. And it contains details of one of her old murder cases, which only the murderer could know. 
 
Desiré contacts private investigator Sam Berger, who sets off to the remote north of Sweden with his colleague Molly Blom to find the author of the letter and to stop them in their tracks. 
 
But someone wants to keep them from getting to the bottom of the mystery at any cost and is watching their every move. What happens when the cops become the prey? 
 
A dark and gripping Scandi-thriller set in the snowy tundra of rural Sweden, from international bestseller Arne Dahl. 
 
'Dahl's intelligent mastery of the genre delivers a flawless atmospheric thriller - chilling in every sense' The Sunday Times Crime Club

Watching You

A breath-taking thriller with twists you’ll never see coming. The start of a new series from international bestseller Arne Dahl.

Brilliant visceral writing with terrific pace, this book grips you like a vice from the very first line and never lets you go.

Arne Dahl is one of the true greats of Scandinavian crime fiction

Compelling… The first in a new series featuring 
 a smart but wayward detective

Arne Dahl combines global intrigue with intelligence, suspense, and genuine literary quality

Without doubt, Arne Dahl is the King of Scandi Noir and does not look like giving up that mantle with a new thriller series. Like all his thrillers his writing has a pace that is breath taking from the first sentence to the last, he has you in a vice like grip. He has such a compelling way of creating characters that just attract attention that intrigue and intelligence. Dahl’s books are both complex and compelling at the same time, the plotlines are well planned, leaving you to wonder how his characters would actually survive in the social democratic PC world that is Sweden… Watching You is a superb introduction to Arne Dahl’s new crime series and you will be gripped from the beginning and wanting the next as soon as you have finished

Soon to be the subject of a series adaptation from the producers of Killing Eve 
 
 
‘Brilliant visceral writing with terrific pace, this book grips you like a vice from the very first line and never lets you go’ PETER JAMES 
 
Someone is watching. 
 
At each abandoned crime scene there's a hidden clue: a tiny metal cog. Someone is sending Detective Sam Berger a message, someone who knows that only he will understand the cryptic trail. 
 
Someone knows. 
 
When another teenage girl disappears without trace, Sam must convince his superiors that they’re dealing with a serial killer. As the police continue the hunt to find the latest victim, Sam is forced to unearth long-buried personal demons. He has no choice if he is to understand the killer's message before time runs out. 
 
Somebody is killing just for him.

Europa Blues

A gangster is murdered; an elderly professor is executed; eight women disappear. 
 
Three cases, one team of detectives - the latest instalment in Arne Dahl's award-winning crime series, as seen on BBC Four

Europa Blues is a superlative crime novel: a complex network of narrative rivulets that all flow to a central roiling torrent that deals with the Holocaust, sex trafficking, the Mafia and some very peckish wolverines. In Dahl’s deft hands this potentially overwhelming plot is rendered effortlessly gripping by writing that is in turns simple and evocative – the crime novel as literary fiction. But Dahl’s elegant writing is not above getting its hands dirty. Europa Blues is violent, exciting and satisfying too

A Greek gangster arrives in Stockholm, only to be murdered in a macabre fashion at Skansen zoo, his body consumed by animals. 
 
As the Intercrime Unit – a team dedicated to solving international violent crime – investigate what brought him to Sweden, eight Eastern European women vanish from a refugee centre outside of the city while an elderly professor, the tattooed numbers on his arm hinting at his terrible past, is executed at the Jewish cemetery. 
 
 Three cases, one team of detectives and an investigation that will take them across Europe and back through history as they desperately search for answers, and the identities of their killers.

To the Top of the Mountain

Like Henning Mankell? Then you'll love Arne Dahl, the latest international crime sensation as seen on BBC Four.

Dahl’s plotting is deft, his action scenes thrilling and his characterisation brilliant

Dahl appears to possess the customary Scandinavian talent of bagging a slew of literary awards, and in his much-acclaimed Intercrime series delivers crime writing of genuine authority

A man is blown up in a high-security prison. 
 
A major drugs baron comes under attack. 
 
A massacre takes place in a dark suburb. 
 
Detective Paul Hjelm and his team have been disbanded and discredited, the six detectives scattered throughout Sweden. 
 
But now something dangerous is approaching, and only Hjelm and his team can stop it.

Bad Blood

Set to be the new Scandinavian crime sensation from BBC Four: in Bad Blood, Detective Paul Hjelm and his team are called in to try and catch an American serial killer on the loose in Sweden

Crime fiction of genuine authority with a sinewy, uncompromising structure

Detective Paul Hjelm and his team receive an urgent call from the FBI. A murderer whose methods bear a frightening resemblance to a serial killer they believed long dead is on his way to Sweden. 
 
For years the FBI hunted the so-called ‘Kentucky Killer’, their agents haunted by the terrible injuries he inflicted on his victims through his signature device: a weapon that squeezed the vocal cords shut. Has he somehow returned from beyond the grave to torture a new generation, or do they have a copy-cat on their hands? And what do they want in Sweden? 
 
If they are to capture the killer, the team must collaborate with their colleagues in the FBI on a desperate hunt that will take them from rainswept city streets to deserted Kentucky farmhouses, and will push them to the limits of their endurance.

The Blinded Man

Set to be the new Scandinavian crime sensation from BBC Four: The Blinded Man, the first in Arne Dahl's award winning crime series, introduces us to an elite team of detectives on the hunt for the killer of several high profile businessmen

Mystery devotees who loved Mankell's Kurt Wallander, and crime-fiction "lifers" who still treasure Sjowall's and Wahloo's Martin Beck, will want to add Paul Hjelm to their short lists of international favorites

Thoughtfully haunting and sometimes beautifully written, the first of Hjelm's cases to be translated into English is likely to resonate with readers of the Stieg Larsson trilogy

Arne Dahl has created a school of his own within the Swedish crime writing tradition. He combines global intrigue with intelligence, suspense, and genuine literary quality

Loose canon Paul Helm and his character-filled team entertainingly chase multiple false leads as they hunt for a Thelonious Monk obsessed assassin

[A] superb police procedural... Dahl has created a brilliant character and a terrific story, and should that not be enough, this is a classic cop-shop tale of the old school

Finely written… as beautiful as it is baffling… another primer on capitalist catastophe

I thoroughly enjoyed this taut and well-written thriller… An enjoyable debut from Dahl and definitely a series to warrant further investigation

An intelligent and innovative read, I will definitely be looking for the next in the series

THE FIRST INTERCRIME THRILLER, TO BE BROADCAST ON BBC FOUR SPRING 2013 
 
Sweden's elite are under attack. 
 
Two rich and powerful men have been murdered, and in the face of mounting panic - and media hysteria - a task force has been created to catch the killer. 
 
To his surprise, Detective Paul Hjelm, currently under investigation for misconduct after shooting a man who took the staff of an immigration office hostage, is summoned to join the new team. 
 
But the killer has left no clues, even removing the bullets from the crime scenes, and Hjelm and his new teammates face a daunting challenge if they are to uncover the connection between the victims and catch the murderer before he kills again.

Arne Dahl

Ian Giles

Arne Dahl is one of the true greats of Scandinavian crime fiction

Arne Dahl is possibly the most thoughtful and playful contemporary Nordic crime writer. He also happens to be one of the most thrilling.

There's no one in Nordic crime right now who's better than Arne Dahl.

'Brilliant visceral writing with terrific pace, this book grips you like a vice from the very first line and never lets you go.

Arne Dahl has created a school of his own within the Swedish crime writing tradition. He combines global intrigue with intelligence, suspense, and genuine literary quality.

Suspense, intensity, strong characters and an unexpected plot...Dahl is a master of how to confuse the reader, and his intricate and well-planned plot constantly gives the story a new twist.

Arne Dahl has once again succeeded in writing an extremely cleverly composed political thriller full of surprising twists and a fast-paced plot. This is a Swedish crime feast at its best

It's not for nothing Arne Dahl is known as the master of plots...The suspense is borderline unbearable... one of Sweden's most read-worthy and rebellious crime writers

'Arne Dahl is possibly the most thoughtful and playful contemporary Nordic crime writer. He also happens to be one of the most thrilling' IAN RANKIN 
____________________________Detective Inspector Sam Berger's life has been turned upside down. He is suspected of a murder and his partner, Secret Service agent, Molly Blom, is in a coma. 
 
Meanwhile, a terrorist attempt is threatening Stockholm and a wanted murderer is on the loose. Berger escapes to the Stockholm Archipelago while he waits for orders from the Swedish Security Service's chief executive. 
 
But is he the solution or is he part of the problem? 
_______________________________‘Arne Dahl combines global intrigue with intelligence, suspense, and genuine literary quality’ LARS KEPLER'Arne Dahl is one of the true greats of Scandinavian crime fiction' MARK BILLINGHAM

Arne Dahl

Books by Arne Dahl

Series by Arne Dahl

Intercrime4 Books

Sam Berger Series3 Books

Articles featuring Arne Dahl

The best Nordic noir books

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