A fan letter to Scandinavian noir.Authors named books to read in addition it’s a travelogue,A wonderful read as a fan myself this was a guide to so many books and authors of the genre,#netgalley#fs&g

As someone who just got into Scandinavian authors and genre a few years ago, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Kind of wish I had it when I first started reading. I have a ton of books and 75% are scandi crime. I'm just now venturing into old scandi books from decades ago.

Highly recommend this book. Would also make a great gift to a fellow reader along with a scandi book.

Scandinavian Noir is a love letter by the author to her beloved Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian mysteries. It is also a memoir describing how she loved the written version of Scandinavia so much, she moved to Stockholm.

I have read at least one book in each of the author’s three favorite series: Sjowall/Wahloo’s Martin Beck, Mankell’s Kurt Wallander, and Nesbo’s Harry Hole. Interestingly, the book I liked best, Nesbo’s The Snowman, was described as “the one where the Grand Guigol theatrics begin to intrude”. In fact, the introduction explains why I do not enjoy Scandinavian mysteries much.

“This is the mystery novel not as a puzzle that can be forgotten as soon as it is solved, but as an experience one is living through along with the characters.”

As an Agatha Christie fan, I agree to disagree that puzzle mystery books are quickly forgotten. While I agree that a foreign setting does add an extra layer to a mystery, it is not the main reason I read mysteries. It appears that to some extent that is why the author is attracted to Scandinavian Noir.

In the first half of the book, commonalities among the books are discussed. Alcohol, bureaucracy, and isolation figure prominently in this mystery sub-genre. Unfortunately, child abuse, sexism and xenophobia are also frequently present.

The second half explores how the written version compares to the author’s real-life experience in Sweden. There is also an excellent list of books to read in the sub-genre in the appendix.

If you are already a fan of this sub-genre, Scandinavian Noir is a must read. For the rest of us, the author admits that spoilers abound in the first part but the list of books to read and in what order is invaluable. 4 stars!

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoyed this book which is equal parts literary analysis and travelogue. Lesser seeks to discover the cultural/social circumstances that influenced the development and writing of Scandinavian noir. If you enjoy or read this type of literature then it will be worth your time.

Now here’s the book I liked conceptually just as much as in its execution. Great idea that lead to a great trip for the author and a memorable armchair one for me. So the premise is (I’m sure infinitely relatable to great any readers out there)…a woman spends nearly four decades obsessed with Scandinavian noir genre. We’re talking way before Stieg Larsson’s books popularized it for the West and the rest of the world, we’re talking since way back when. And through these books she constructs and image and an understanding of the Scandinavian way of life, culture and, of course, detective work. That’s first 50% of the book, fiction as reality, laid out in alphabetical essay style entries on various aspects of life according to books. And then in 2018 the author takes an actual trip to visit all the places from her beloved books and observes how reality corresponds to fiction. That’s the other 50% of the book. Laid out so cleverly that in fact the essays are done in first person (and thus pretty much read like a lively, albeit necessarily one sided, conversation with someone about their favorite books) and the actual trip is done in third person, the author herself becoming a character in her very own story. That’s the basics and they are pretty great. And now for some specifics…the author only travels to Norway, Denmark and Sweden, since that is where most of her favorite stories take place. If you haven’t read any of the books she talks about and might want to in the future, there are some crucial plot giveaways throughout. It might be ok, though since there’s so much information in general, you might forget some of it by the time you actually get around to the books. And if and when you do, there’s a comprehensive reading list in the addendum. Personally, I’ve read some of Nordic noir, enough to have a general idea of the genre and my level of appreciation for it (considerable, in fact, live the starkness and succinctness of writing, the locales, the attitudes, etc.). Might read some more after this, there’s definitely at least one book that’s available at our library. There are fascinating discrepancies between the fictional and real world, as the author and we the readers along with her learn, there are less actual crimes, especially murders, there’s a considerably greater gender equality in the police force and so on. The author interviews police officers in different countries to establish all this. But it’s more than this, it’s her cultural and sociopolitical observations too, the way a person gets introduced to a different world, and a way of life one I personally find infinitely superior to all alternatives. Albeit, ironically enough, only from things I’ve read. So anyway, read this book if you love books, read this book if you love travelogues. Read this book to dream of what if scenarios readers can dream up. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.