Euro Crime News

I enjoyed B of B by Box, but not as much as BLUE HEAVEN, in terms of his standalones. - Craig Sisterson

I liked Misterioso and the James Thompson book, but man, I thought that Simon Tolkien book was a stinker. - barbara fister

that one was a DNF for me Barbara - Bernadette

It was a DNS for me! (S = start) - Maxine

I am very much looking forward to reading Misterioso - but put off by Amazon UK's inexplicable prices of £23.46 hardcover, £15.46 for Kindle. - mediations

I had a nice surprise in the post today - a copy of Misterioso on loan from Miss Petrona. - Karen Meek

No female authors listed though. - Karen Meek

Seems a bit ill-informed, eg the para on translated just says that the Nordics "didn't have it their own way" and cites a couple of other countries, but there have been some good Nordic books pub thls year. And lots of other ones, saying that Before I go to Sleep is streets better than (eg) CLCL or The Invisible Ones or M Connelly's two or Alice LaPlante, etc etc seems a bit off. & lots of others. - Maxine

Didn't realise it was B Forshaw's article. There is a quote on the front of his Death in a Cold Climate from the only Nordic crime writer mentioned in this article and D Meyer is of course also translated. I've just finished Suspect X - hmm. - Karen Meek

Oops, nor did I (for an awful minute there I thought you meant "our" BF, Barbara) - Maxine

I suspect it doesn't change the tone a whole lot but what is Fiesta? as in "... translation redolent of a dog-eared copy of Fiesta..." - Bernadette

Fiesta is a low brow porn mag in UK (assuming one can have a high brow one). - Rob from iPhone

Oh...ouch then - Bernadette

She's missed the point in that the book shows various disgusting aspects (eg an old peeping-Tom addicted to porn mags...) but that isn't anything to do with the translation, is it? He's only translating what the author wrote. (Also she has not picked up that the book was first published 18 years ago). - Maxine

The review was written by a music journalist and noir writer, one of whose own books was described on Amazon as like "Martina Cole on a very bad day." I thought Fiesta was a car, which proves how old and out of touch I am. - Norman

Karen and I saw her (cathi unsworth, the reviwewer) at a Waterstone's event - we were there for Theorin. She was promoting "Bad Penny Blues" her book about a crime in 1960s London - and did talk about music a lot so that explains it Norman, thanks. I think Fiesta mag was probably still going at the time she set her novel but I presume it is long since defunct - not sure about the car! Quite an ill-researched/ill-informed review I thought. - Maxine

Norm, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) Fiesta's been published since 1966. I reckon you were a young man around then, but clearly a clean living one! Not the kind of magazine you put in a dentist's waiting room. - Rob

Rob, I was far too busy plagiarizing Gray's Anatomy in my exams, the textbook not the TV series, to read magazines of any kind. "A clean living one"; please don't remind me that I wasted my university years working and getting a qualification, instead of enjoying myself. ;-) - Norman

Unless she reads Norwegian how can she criticise the translator like this? - mediations

Precisely. Review just hot air and showing off (but showing off ignorance rather than what the writer thinks she's showing off). - Maxine

Steve Murray suggested I write a Danish post to follow on from my Swedish and Norwegian posts, but when I look at the Danish crime fic I have read, it would be a thin post (as two of the authors were not my cup of tea, reducing the total even further). - Maxine

This might be another Danish thriller (Dorte?), Stig Dalager, Land of Shadows?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Sh... - Karen Meek

Yes, he is Danish, but it seems that he writes in several different genres, including poetry, so I have never read him. - Dorte Jakobsen

Maxine, when you can get Kaaberbøl & Friis (out in the US now) and Elsebeth Egholm (out in Australia), it may help. But it seems that with Egholm they begin in the middle of her series. A huge mistake in my opinion as the series was excellent in the beginning but has grown a bit stagnant now if you ask me. - Dorte Jakobsen

Nice article. I especially like her very female way of handling the Steig comparison! (The patterson stuff is interesting too but I only read one chapter of the Postcard Killers before deleting it entirely -sorry Liza, I'll stick to your single-authored tomes in future). - Maxine

Good interview, and the article was by our friend Declan Burke. - Norman

Good spot, Norman. No wonder the article reads as if it is by someone who actually knows something about crime fic. - Maxine

Annika 'obnoxious'? Has Liza read the novels????? - mediations

I found Annika quite obnoxious in Red Wolf, though still intriguing... - Craig Sisterson

really well written author interview article (not surprising, given the writer - kudos to Burke) - lots of interesting things that go beyond the standard questions etc. As a NZer, the comments about the imperfections in Sweden, one of the world's leading democracies, particularly echoed - NZ is often right up there with the Scandinavian countries when it comes to many quality of life... more... - Craig Sisterson

I don't find her obnoxious, not least given all she has to deal with - but even without that, she's great, doing what she has to do to survive at work and home. She's one of the female characters in crime fiction who most represents the modern woman's lot (that is, woman who works and has children). - Maxine

I'm afraid I've never been able to get on with Annika as a character, though I do see what you mean, Maxine. She should have married Irene Huss's husband. - barbara fister