ONNELLISTEN SAARI
Otava, January 2022, 396 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

Murder on the Isle of Bliss

by Eeva Louko

A crime-solving journalist investigates her father’s murder and the secrets of the tight community

• This first novel of a new Nordic crime series is a perfect combination of surprising twists and messy relationships!
• Louko’s debut received praising reviews already in the first week!

After living abroad for many years, thirty-something Ronja returns to her childhood home in Lauttasaari, Helsinki after her father is found murdered by the seaside. Welcoming her back are a group of old friends whom it’s both comforting and painful to see again, and the young police officer assigned to the case who does not seem to be doing his work properly. Using the skills she’s learned from working as a journalist, Ronja starts investigating the background of her distant father, uncovering the old secrets of the community that have been kept under wraps until now. When everyone knows everyone, each person becomes a suspect.

PRAISE:

“This debutant has crafted a multifaceted, clever, surprising and truly entertaining plot, which is evidence of her talent for this specific genre.” – Antti Majander in Helsingin Sanomat

KUOLEMA KULOSAARESSA
Otava, April 2022, 415 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

Lili Flame Investigates: Murder at the Mansion

by Laura Andersson
#1 in the Lili Flame Investigates -series

The beginning of this feel-good cozy crime series is filled with the glory of old-time detective novels and charms with its wit!

• A strong female lead, societal bling, and mysteries! Everything good in one book!

Post-war Helsinki is full of people looking to build a new life, and Lili Flame, who spent the war years in the US as a housemaid, is among them. However, the housekeeping gets swept aside when Lili breaks away from the traditional womanly roles of her time and begins a career as a private eye solving crimes which are too sensitive for the police.

Lili gets help from her husband, a gay man who’s becoming a companion like no other – even if the true nature of their marriage has to be kept a secret. The first case leads her to the party of a rich corporate family. The glamor and glitz of this segment of society is blinding, until the investigation takes a tragic turn and Lili realizes she has a much bigger mystery on her hands than she thought.

Inspired by Agatha Christie and the screwball comedies of the 30s, Lili and her curiosity will delight anyone looking for a good mystery, humor, and a little escapism!

Don’t forget the sequel coming out in 2023, Lili Flame Investigates #2: Murder of the Wrestling Woman!

SINUN VARJOSSASI
WSOY, June 2022, approx 400 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis in May 2022

In Your Shadow

by Martta Kaukonen

Is an apology better than revenge?

• A gripping page-turner about past trauma and the hunger for justice
• A new thriller by the internationally bestselling author Martta Kaukonen, whose debut Follow the Butterfly has been translated to 11 languages! 

The harassment of women should be kept silent no longer, a small group of activists declares and demands justice. But at what price?

When #metoo spread through the media like wildfire, many victims of harassment felt hopeful: now we can talk about it, now the change begins. But the fire died and things did not change. Traumas did not disappear and justice is yet to come. 

Sixty-year-old Maria hosts meetings for a group of people who will not be silenced. Among them are acclaimed actress Minna who has spoken about her experiences publicly, former straight-A student Suvi who doesn’t want to leave her home anymore out of fear, and performance artist Roni who’s looking to upgrade his feminism from words to actions. Can they trust each other? Are they driven by a desire for justice or a wish for revenge?

TERAPIASSA
WSOY, March 2021, 471 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

Follow the Butterfly

by Martta Kaukonen

An addictive psychological thriller in the spirit of Gillian Flynn!

• An international bestseller by author-journalist Martta Kaukonen, sold in 13 territories!
• A critical success and bestseller in Finland!
• Savonia Prize nominee!
  

Ida, 20, a serial killer who was abducted as a child, starts therapy with celebrity therapist Clarissa. Only one of them knows that they share a mutual secret from the past. Will the other one realize it before she gets murdered?

Clarissa is a middle-aged psychotherapist, the best in her field. Everyone knows who she is from her TV appearances and from glossy magazines. For her, every patient is a princess. And someone only she can save. Or can she? Clarissa already has one suicide to answer for; a teenage boy’s death never ceases to haunt her. When Ida becomes Clarissa’s patient, a cat-and-mouse game begins in which rules are followed by no one. The kind of game that never ends well.

This wildly popular thriller has already gathered fans worldwide, and has a sequel coming out in 2023!

PRAISE:

“Pushkin is proud to have acquired US rights in addition to UK rights for this incredible debut and is excited for English readers everywhere to experience the twisty, addictive thrill of Martta Kaukonen’s Follow The Butterfly.” – Adam Freudenheim, Publisher and Managing Director, Pushkin Press

“Kaukonen’s debut is such a skillfully constructed psychological thriller and it holds the reader in its grip offering surprises until the very last line. The gruesome plot speeds forward seemingly lightly in short paragraphs. The perspectives change swiftly between characters and the ambiance intensifies with an ending that flips the tables completely.” – Savonia Prize Jury Praise

KAUNA

Tammi, September 2021, 431 pp.

Reading material:

English manuscript

Bad Blood

by Max Seeck

New York Times Bestselling Author

Jessica Niemi #3

The third installment in the best-selling series! 

• A sequel to The Ice Coven and The Witch Hunter – a New York Times Bestseller
• In 2021, Max Seeck’s books have sold 108.000 copies in Finland only!

Prominent business executive Eliel Zetterborg is found brutally murdered in his home in Helsinki. The company he led has just announced drastic cutbacks and Zetterborg gained hundreds of enemies and death threats in the process.

But the murder motive becomes less clear, when the police finds out that the murderer had other targets as well. The only clue the police has is a photo of Zetterborg with three other men, whose faces are all scratched off. Who are the faceless men, and why can’t the police identify them? Are they other victims? Or something more sinister?

While Jessica Niemi suffers from a mental breakdown after her encounter with the witch coven, Jusuf gets a chance to lead the investigations and prove his skills as a police officer, while helping Jessica battle her demons that seem to be getting nearer and nearer…

PRAISE: 

“Max Seeck did it again. — Kauna is an example of both his knowledge of the suspense thriller tradition and his meticulous way of building a story.  — Seeck offers the readers wrong clues and bluffs that are part of the suspense genre tradition, together with different references from film and literary works throughout the plot line –  which is meandering and surprising in an exemplary way.”  Pertti Avola, Helsingin Sanomat Newspaper

PAHAN VERKKO
Tammi, September 2020, 395 pp.

Reading material:

English edition

The Ice Coven

(a.k.a. Evil’s Net)

by Max Seeck

New York Times Bestselling Author

Jessica Niemi #2

Detective Jessica Niemi is on a hunt to save the life of a missing blogger. But is it already too late? 

• A standalone sequel to New York Times Bestseller, The Witch Hunter – rights sold to 40 countries and Hollywood
• In 2021, Max seeck’s books have sold 108.00 copies in Finland only!

Detective Jessica Niemi and her team have a new mystery on the table: a young woman’s corpse has been found on an icy beach, and two famous Instagram influencers have gone missing at the same time. One of the missing bloggers is a manga artist, and the dead woman found on the beach is dressed in a manga outfit – the two cases seem to be strangely connected.

While following the clues that are hidden deeply in Instagram Jessica struggles to keep her head clear. She keeps having repeating nightmares about her mother. And she has a feeling that something really awful is approaching her from the darkness…

PRAISE:

“Seeck throws in a murder that definitely happened, human trafficking, frog toxin, and somnophilia into the mix, masterfully ratcheting up the tension. Ragnar Jónasson fans will be mesmerized.” Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review

“I was convinced that Max did not just want to tell a dramatic story. I was certain that he had a vision. A vision to add something extraordinary to the world of thrillers and crime fiction, something that I have not seen in a suspense novel for many, many years. Bastei Lübbe is proud and honored to share Max‘ vision as his German publisher.” – Marco Schneiders, Publishing Director, Bastei Lübbe AG, Germany

“A Helsinki detective fights personal demons as she attempts to crack a string of murders…/ A disturbing mystery whose complex heroine’s internal struggles only enhance the storyline.  – Kirkus Review 

“A cracker of a read and I loved it. A tribute to the storytelling.” – Kerry Hood, Crime Revier, the UK

USKOLLINEN LUKIJA

Tammi, 2019, 395 pp.

Reading material:

English edition

The Witch Hunter

(a.k.a. Faithful Reader)

by Max Seeck

New York Times Bestselling Author

Jessica Niemi #1

A book-inspired serial killer is on the loose. Jessica Niemi – a detective with a mysterious past – steps up. A chase for the faithful reader has begun.

• A New York Times Bestseller!
• International sensation! Sold to 40 countries and Hollywood!

Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate an unordinary murder case. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer. But the murders are not random – they follow a pattern taken from Roger’s bestselling trilogy. Has a fan gone mad, or is this case more personal?

 PRAISE:

“One twist follows another, baffling the police and readers alike. Seeck imbues this riveting procedural with a deliciously creepy undertone. Readers will be excited to see what Seeck does next.”–Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review

“The Witch Hunter, translated with icy precision by Kristian London, is written in short, sharp, present tense chapters, a technique which adds to its relentless tension. Flashbacks to earlier episodes in Jessica’s life suggest that the strangeness currently unfolding is tied to her personal history. Discovering the how and why of it brings a resolution as bleak as anything Poe might have conjured.”–Wall Street Journal

“The Witch Hunter, Finnish novelist Max Seeck’s pulse-quickening English-language debut, is a genre twofer: it gives crime-novel enthusiasts a satisfying puzzle to logic out, and it offers fans of supernatural tales a look at the world of, as one character puts it, ‘amulets, rabbit feet, you name it… a police procedural with paranormal activity at its black heart.” –Shelf Awareness

”What a creepy and well-written thriller! Max Seeck definitely knows how to create tension. I couldn‘t help but rushing through the pages once I started reading this amazing novel – with a very fascinating detective Jessica Niemi and her team. And I loved the setting: Finland in wintertime! It backs up the scary atmosphere in a perfect way. Let’s say it in short: THE FAITHFUL READER is a stirring read!” – Claudia Müller, Editorial Director Fiction, Bastei Lübbe, Germany

“When I was reading THE WITCH HUNTER (a.k.a. Faithful Reader), I was thoroughly transported by the ice-cold Scandinavian setting and all the incredibly creepy twists and turns.  Max Seeck deftly weaves a police procedural with fascinating occult elements and fully realized, compelling characters. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.” – Michelle Vega, Senior Editor, Berkley, An imprint of Penguin Random House, USA

ENNEN KUIN TULEE PIMEÄÄ
Otava, September 2022, approx. 380 pp.

Reading material:
English synopsis & sample available in May 2022

Before the Polar Night Falls

by Elina Backman

The past and the present intertwine in this arresting novel with unforgettable characters! 

• International TV series in development!
• Book 3 in internationally bestselling and award-winning crime series by Elina Backman, translated in 15 languages!

A woman working for a law firm approaches Saana Havas to help with the mystery of her sister’s death. Her sister was found dead in a swamp near the Angeli village in Northern Lapland in 1998, and the murderer has never been caught. The police have given up on the case, no witnesses were ever found in the area of Lapland that covers hundreds of kilometers. Saana promises to help her, and receives all the material the client has collected. Part of this is a manuscript the woman wrote when investigating the case herself years ago. Saana travels to the North and investigates as the winter and polar night keeps creeping closer. As Saana investigates the old case, she also finds time to ponder on her own roots. An old photograph shows her parents in love at the top of the Saana fell. By the time Saana was born, they all lived in Helsinki, and as the years passed her father returned to the North and her mother stayed in the South. Her mother, who has since passed away, never spoke about her father’s family or roots. Saana interviews the locals and soon finds out unexpected secrets.

Things take a threatening turn when another girl is found dead in Inari. What happened in the North all those years ago? Has the murderer come back after all these year? Who is trustworthy? Who has been carrying secrets inside themselves all these years?  Set in both Helsinki and Lapland, this book is both a fascinating thriller and a detective novel about love, secrets, the magic of Lapland and nature, which acts as a silent witness.

Though part of the Havas-series, it’s not necessary to have read the previous installments in the series.

KUN JÄLJET KATOAVAT
Otava, June 2021, 400 pp.

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis, media portfolio

Still Waters Run Deep

by Elina Backman

Is evil lurking beneath the calm waters? Still Waters Run Deep is an awaited sequel to the bestselling All the King’s Men!

• International TV series in development!
• Book 2 in the best-selling series, sold to 15 countries!

Three young men are making a documentary film about a mystical hermit, living in the Isle of Sheep in Helsinki. First one of them disappears, then another one. When one of them is found dead in the nearby nature reserve, the police become involved.

Saana Havas, recovering from burnout, hears that her colleague’s younger brother has gone missing and decides to set up a true crime podcast to help with the search. Meanwhile, police commissioner Jan Leino and his team are investigating the disappearance and possible murder of the documentary makers.

When young men disappear and die, it’s often regarded just an accident. But could it be that someone is actually hunting for them?

PRAISE:

“We are beyond happy that we will be publishing STILL WATERS RUN DEEP. We liked the second book of Elina Backman even more than the first one (and we are in love with the first one as well!). Events are unfolded richly and dynamically. The book pays a lot of attention to the human side: old acquaintances are revealed more fully, the reader receives an opportunity to look into the inner world of the characters.”
-Sofia Shramko, Rights Manager, Mann Ivanov Ferber, Russia

KUN KUNINGAS KUOLEE

Otava, May 2020, 495 pp.

Reading material:

English sample, synopsis, media portfolio

All the King’s Men

(a.k.a. When The King Dies)
by Elina Backman

Beginning of a new detective series – already an international hit! Cosy Crime as its best.

• Rights sold to 15 countries and counting.
• Immediate bestseller in Finland! Amazing reviews! 
• International TV series in development!
• Nominated by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy as the Best Translated Crime Novel of the Year 2021 in Sweden

Saana has been fired from her job as a click-bait journalist, so she decides to spend a summer with her aunt in a small-town Hartola. It sounds like a perfect opportunity to take it easy and recover. But when Saana begins to dig into a case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken.

Meanwhile in Helsinki a fire-marked body is be found at Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, and crime investigator Jan Leino and his team have a new case in their hands. However, the investigation isn’t going anywhere, and Jan fears that the murder at King’s Gate a is just the beginning…

Saana and Jan continue working on their own cases until their paths cross – for more than one reason.

 PRAISE:

“Elina Backman is a very exciting addition to our crime list and we are very proud to be able to publish her…we have every confidence she is more than capable of becoming as popular as authors such as Jo Nesbø, Lars Kepler and Hjorth Rosenfeldt. Dutch and Flemish readers love high quality crime fiction from Scandinavia, and Elina Backman is one of the most exciting new voices we have recently come across.” – Chris Kooi, Acquiring Editor, Cargo/De Bezige Bij, the Netherlands

“A Star is Born.” – Iltalehti, Finland

“Backman keeps the multiple storylines effortlessly together and builds an entertaining summery detective story. – –All The King’s Men (A.K.A ‘When the King Dies’) is the beginning of a new series, and it is a flowy, exciting and skillfully written novel that leaves you wanting for more.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Finland

KIIKKU
Otava, September 2022, approx 300 pp.

Reading material:
English synopsis, English sample coming soon!

Swing

by A.M. Ollikainen

The second book in a new fast-paced and addictive Nordic Noir series. A.M. Ollikainen is Finland’s Lars Kepler!

• A. M. Ollikainen is a pseudonym for the husband-and-wife author duo Aki and Milla Ollikainen.
• Cargo is the writers’ first novel together and the Winner of a National Crime Novel Competition
• Rights sold in 14 languages!

A famous mountain climber is found hanging above a seesaw in a playground. The other end of the seesaw bears a sandbag that has spilled its contents.

Paula Pihlaja barely has time to start the investigation when another body turns up – at another playground, hanging above a seesaw in the same way. 

A serial killer is on the loose, but the victims seem to have nothing in common. In the first novel of the series, Paula develops strange symptoms. In this second instalment of the series, Paula is forced to hide her escalating symptoms from her colleagues, trying to avoid police fitness tests. At the same time, she continues investigating the life of her son, whom she gave up for adoption when he was a baby, in order to understand why he ended up a criminal, and eventually in prison for manslaughter. The drama intensifies when Paula finally shares her secret with her son about the slowly advancing ALS.

KONTTI
Otava, May 2021, 360 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

Cargo

by A.M. Ollikainen

The first book in a new fast-paced and addictive Nordic Noir series. A.M. Ollikainen is Finland’s Lars Kepler!

• A. M. Ollikainen is a pseudonym for the husband-and-wife author duo Aki and Milla Ollikainen.
• Cargo is the writers’ first novel together and the Winner of a National Crime Novel Competition
• Rights sold in 14 languages!

A cargo container is found, washed up on the shore in Helsinki with a dead body inside.The property where the container is discovered, belongs to one of the most notorious businessmen in Finland. As Police Commissioner Paula Pihlaja begins to investigate the case, traces lead back to the businessman’s family, revealing decades of suspicious business ventures in Africa.

Meanwhile, Paula’s own personal life is shaken by old memories that are now surfacing following recent events.When she was younger, she had to give her baby up for adoption. The boy, her son, is now in his twenties and facing a murder charge. Not only is Paula tormented by her own guilt about the adoption, she is also worried about what will become of her son.

PRAISE:

“Finland is the new Mecca of crime fiction. You need proof? Just read the first novel by A.M. Ollikainen. I couldn’t imagine a better start for a series. CARGO is outstanding.”– Marco Schneiders, Publishing Director, Bastei Lübbe

Cargo is Scandi crime at its finest! We are really looking forward to introducing Paula Pihlaja to the Swedish readers and listeners.  -Henrik Lindvall, Senior Editor, Bokfabriken

„Cargo” is a fast-paced story with suspense until the end and well-drawn main character—an intelligent, empathetic and pragmatic police commissioner, Paula Pihlaja. – Dominika Dudarew-Osiecka, Czarna Owca, Poland

Something very exciting is for sure happening within the genre of Nordic noir – our eyes are drawn to Helsinki. A.M. Ollikainen comes in and blow our minds. What a terrific start for a new series!– Vidar Strøm Fallrø, Development Editor, Aschehoug, Norway

Maria Kallio series

Tammi, 1993-2020

Reading material:

English editions Books 1–11,
German editions Books 1–14

Maria Kallio series

by Leena Lehtolainen

Leena Lehtolainen has sold over 2,5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 30 languages. In the US, only Jo Nesbø has been translated more!

• New Maria Kallio TV Series on MTV3/Cmore in fall 2021, to be continued in 2022!
• The New York Times Nordic Noir Guide recommends Maria Kallio series
• Finland’s best-selling female crime writer!
• English editions available for Maria Kallio books #1-11, published in the US by Amazon

Finland’s most popular crime series, the Maria Kallio mysteries, follows the career of a tough, down-to-earth and emotionally intelligent police officer who starts working in the Helsinki violent crimes unit. Every book centers around murder, but there are also elements of social issues, and Maria’s personal development is present throughout the series, as we follow her struggle to balance police work and motherhood.

Each episode of the new TV series is based on a Maria Kallio crime novel of the same name. The TV show is aimed at an international audience!

#1 MY FIRST MURDER (Ensimmäinen murhani, Tammi 1993, 251 pp.)
When a member of a student choir is found dead, young police sergeant Maria Kallio is given the opportunity to prove herself.

#2 HER ENEMY (Harmin paikka, Tammi 1994, 244 pp.)
Maria Kallio has left the Helsinki police force to work for a law office. When a new acquaintance is found strangled in her home, Maria is pulled back into the world of criminal investigation.

#3 COPPER HEART (Kuparisydän, Tammi 1995, 248 pp.)
Maria has returned to her old home town to serve as the summer replacement for the local sheriff. But her peace is disturbed, first by her old flame, and then by the discovery of a body.

#4 SNOW WOMAN (Luminainen, Tammi 1996, 352 pp.)
Elina Rosberg, the director of a women’s therapy center disappears. Clues point to murder, and the list of suspects includes participants of the current therapy group.

#5 DEATH SPIRAL (Kuolemanspiraali, Tammi 1997, 359 pp.)
A 16-year-old skating sensation is found slain with her own skates.

#6 FATAL HEADWIND (Tuulen puolella, Tammi 1998, 348 pp.)
Maria Kallio spends a weekend on the island of Rödskär, where one of her former boyfriends fell to his death. Soon another man loses his life.

#7 BEFORE I GO (Ennen lähtöä, Tammi 2000, 375 pp.)
An openly homosexual Green Party politician is savagely beaten: was this a personal grudge, a random act of violence or a hate crime?

#8 BELOW THE SURFACE (Veren vimma, Tammi, 2003, 314 pp.)
When a woman’s body turns up in a lake—with a bullet to the back of her head—Violent Crime Unit commander Maria Kallio, freshly back from maternity leave, is fast to get on the case.

#9 THE NIGHTINGALE MURDER (Rivo Satakieli, Tammi, 2005, 346 pp.)
When well-known prostitute Lulu Nightingale is murdered on live television, Maria dives into the convolutions of sex for hire and politics.

#10 DERAILED (Väärän jäljillä, Tammi, 2008, 378 pp.)
Maria Kallio is called back to investigate the murder of a sports official. The case appears to connect to recent threats against a journalist and a track-and-field doping scandal. A new house and an opportunity to play bass in a rock band with some other cops add some light to Maria’s life.

#11 WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE (Minne tytöt kadonneet, Tammi, 2010, 342 pp.)
After returning from Afghanistan with a heavy heart, Maria Kallio starts investigating the mystery of several missing immigrant girls, and one of them turns up dead.

#12 THE IRON TRIANGLE (Rautakolmio, Tammi 2013, 352 pp.)
Two bodies turn up wrapped in plastic out in the archipelago: the man was shot and the woman drowned.

#13 A STROKE OF SADNESS (Surunpotku, Tammi 2015, 432 pp.)
The dead body of a diamond dealer is found at a church. The murderer appears to also have stolen a set of diamonds. The hunt leads the police into an international web of crime.

#14 THE END OF INNOCENCE (Viattomuuden loppu, Tammi 2017, 457 pp.)
Maria begins work in a new unit investigating crimes commited by and affecting minors and youths. When the body of a recently-released serial sex crimes offender is found in an abandoned traffic park in Espoo, Maria has a homicide investigation on her hands.

#15 THE RIPPLE EFFECT (Jälkikaiku, Tammi 2020, 450 pp.)
Maria and her team are working to solve a new case, but online trolls are targeting them and doing everything to distract them. But when Maria is almost killed by an earless driver, it makes her wonder if all the harassment is related to the case, or could it be something more personal?

Don’t forget another bestselling series by Leena Lehtolainen!

The Bodyguard Series stars a New York-trained bodyguard who is fiercely self-sufficient, highly alert to her surroundings, and haunted by horrific violence in her past. Rights sold to 7 territories!

HAKOISTEN ANNA
Tammi, April 2022, approx. 300 pp.

Reading material:
English synopsis
English sample in March 2022

Anna of Haga Manor

by Riikka-Maria Rosenberg

The Ladies of Haga Manor #1

Life and love of the nobility in 18th century Finland!

• Opening chapter of a new series about historical women

Anna of Haga Manor is an enchantingly sensuous historical novel that transports the reader to 18th century Finland, still part of Sweden then, and into the middle of a certain love story.

Anna Magdalena Lilliebrunn, a noblewoman approaching her forties, has a stain on her reputation and the role of an old maid looms in her future. Everything is about to change, however, as the notoriously hot-tempered officer Karl Gustaf Uggla from the neighboring manor is chosen to be Anna’s husband. 

At the Haga Manor, Anna is met by a frigid atmosphere. The reserved relatives and her husband’s lover make sure that the new daughter-in-law will neither feel at home nor become lady of the house. Will the tough and self-willed Anna be capable of living in the manner that she believes in?

Anna of Haga Manor is the masterful opening chapter of a new historical novel series, The Ladies of Haga Manor, which is based on thorough research on the lives and fates of real women who lived at the real Haga manor. The ambience of the past is expertly captured and the reader will want to savour every word.

Upcoming books in The Ladies of Haga Manor series:

II THE BARONESS (2023)
Lieutenant colonel Erik Abraham Leijonhufvud, husband of Helena von Burghausen, purchases Hakoinen Manor from Karl Gustav Uggla in February of 1792. The officer has returned from war, drawn into himself, and concentrates on administrative tasks. Helena, ten years her husband’s junior, feels the king has taken her husband. Both her changed husband and the loss of her child spark Helena von Burghausen’s interest in beginning the construction of the new main building in Hakoinen Manor.

As the story unfolds, flashbacks take the reader to Helena’s youth, to the lighthearted Gustavian era, to her marriage, and Finland under the spotted fever epidemic during the War of Gustaf III.

III AMALIE (2025)
As Amalie Sofie Elise Baer is born in Pertteli’s Haaris gård, her mother dies at childbirth. Her father, burgess Anders Baer, arranges the family’s affairs the best he can: he marries Christina Elisabeth Boije af Gennäs of Hakoinen. Then he arranges for the marriage of his daughter to his new brother-in-law Hans Gustaf. Amalie rises to nobility, but has to put up with her husband’s mistress Kustaava Eulaalia Kajander and the children born of the affair.

When the nobility loses the right to tax exemption, Hans Gustaf looks for other ways to earn income. He focuses on farming: among other things, he opens a private dairy school in Hakoinen. He also acts as courtier at the Russian emperor’s court and as parliament member in Finland.

KAMARINEITSYT

Otava, April 2020, 429 pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis, Series presentation

THE SILK SISTERS #1: Charlotta

by Sara Medberg

Glamor, the courtly life, beautiful dresses, and passion!

• First book in a new series set in the Nordic Royal circles of the 19th century!

A new series about the Grand Duchy of Finland in the spirit of Jane Austen. Strict class hierarchy and fabulous silk ruffles rule in the 19th century Åbo, where seamstress Charlotta Silke is looking for her own Mr. Darcy. When Baron Ridderlöw of Starfire Manor hires Charlotta as a lady’s maid for her sister, both their lives change for good. Charlotta gets her hands on Jane Austen’s newly published Pride and Prejudice, which alters the way she sees her role as a woman. But the book’s ideas of modern love, marriage and early feminism are put to the test as the bitter war-torn Baron Ridderlöw becomes romantically interested in Charlotta. Can an ordinary lady’s maid have it all – a meaningful life and the man of her dreams?

PRAISE:

“Lightheartedness with fact-covered icing. — With a fine nuance of the modern things special in that era..” – Länsi-Suomi newspaper

“We are eager to share our enthusiasm for Sara Medberg’s outstanding series with the Danish readers! With complexly fascinating women, glamour, intrigues and historical accuracy, Sara Medberg has written a series that will enchant fans of Bridgerton and historical romance.”
– Ariane Veiergang, Acquiring Editor, People’s Press, Denmark

HURMURIHERTTUA

Otava, March 2021, 384pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis, Series presentation

THE SILK SISTERS #2: Arabella

by Sara Medberg

• Second book in the Silk Sisters series!

A story about the mistress of Blackthorn Castle, Arabella Öhrnmarck. She becomes widowed after an unhappy marriage and travels home to Stockholm to be near the Royal Court. But something strange is going on. Mystical incidents and threatening situations keep occurring. It seems that someone is out to silence her. What secret are they searching for? Then, a fascinating English duke begins to court Arabella…

The novel takes place in the years of 1815 and 1816 under the rule of Crown Prince Carl XIV Johan. The era is parallel with the life of the classical novelist Jane Austen, and the genre is regency romance, as is the popular series Bridgerton. The novel features well-known places, such as the still standing Royal Palace of Stockholm and the imposing castles of Drottningholm and Strömsholm.

“Innuendo, Class Distinction and Hidden Love in the Bridgerton spirit.”

PRAISE:

“We’re very excited to introduce Sara Medberg to the Swedish readers. Her eye for historical details is impressive, and we love the Nordic setting for her books.” – Jennifer Lindström, Senior Editor, Norstedts Förlag

“Sara Medberg’s series from the Nordic manors and courts of the 19th Century is as fascinating as it is entertaining. The author’s knowledge about the historical period makes a solid base for the story, but does not stop the excitement, drama and desire from flowing through the pages. I am thrilled to be able to share these books with Norwegian lovers of historical feelgood and romance. “ Anja Gustavson, Editor, Kagge Forlag

Upcoming books in the Silk Sisters series:

III ARAMINTA (2023)
From Swedish Midsummer to beautiful Jylland in Denmark! Araminta Solina’s brother is arrested and accused of high treason. A desperate fight to free him ensues. A mystical baron offers his help. Can they save him?

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.) DENMARK: People’s Press

IV NO ORDINARY DEBUTANTE (working title) (2024)
When mademoiselle Elize Cavalier wakes up in an unknown man’s bed after her debutante ball at the Royal Castle in Copenhagen she knows she’s in trouble. Blacksmith Elias Jensen is just as surprised, but for other reasons. A scandal is in store!

V THE UNRULY BARONESS (working title) (2025)
Baroness Morgenstierne has decided not to let conventions rule her life! She arranges a contest for her hand, to find a husband. But when admirers besiege the baroness, things get more complicated than she had envisioned and there’s an unforeseen turn of events…

 VI THE KING’S BELOVED (working title) (2026)
Oslo, Norway, anno 1817. Crown prince Carl Johan of Sweden appears at palace maid Mariette’s cottage. A diary has been found, secrets come to light, Mariette is transferred to the Stockholm court. But will she always only be a rich man’s mistress?

VÄND OM MIN LÄNGTAN
Förlaget, 2016, 180 pp.

Reading material:
English synopsis
Swedish edition

Longing

by Ann-Luise Bertell

Bothnia Trilogy #1

A story of emigration, of mothers, daughters and brothers, and what it is like to live with longing in your heart

• First part of the celebrated and moving Bothnia trilogy

This award-winning debut novel delves into the fate of an Ostrobothnian emigree to Canada and the longing which has planted itself in her mind.

The twilight of day is awaiting Maria Alina. The only visitors she has are dead relatives, J. R. Ewing of Dallas, and a home care nurse whose name she can’t remember. She has, however, an important task remaining: to write the story of her life for her daughter on the other side of the Atlantic. If there is one thing Maria Alina regrets in her life, it’s that she was silent when she should have spoken.

Death, sorrow, and longing have tinted Maria Alina’s life, which opens as a series of intense scenes starting in her childhood. She speaks about trips across the ocean, about staying put and forgetting, about brothers who believed they could fly, and about old women who know how to turn longing around.

A story of boundless yearning, suppressed tears, and restrained people, the novel has been inspired by the story of Bertell’s grandmother.

PRAISE:

“Ann-Luise Bertell has written a book with great insight into life and its meaning. It lacks neither linguistic elegance, dramatic strength nor events that touch deeply. On the one hand, the novel shows what lovelessness and lack of empathy can cause among us humans, and, on the other hand, how one can influence one’s future through the right values and an unwavering belief in one’s own self. It is important to fight to be able to turn around your longing.”
– Egil Green, Östnyland, Finland

HEIMAN
Förlaget, October 2020, 381 pp.

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis
Swedish edition

Homestead

by Ann-Luise Bertell

Bothnia Trilogy #2

A detailed and insightful story of four generations and what it means to be human, set in the heart of the Finnish Osthrobothian plains

• Nominated for Finlandia Prize 2020 and Runeberg Prize 2020
• Independent sequel to the praised Longing!

When Elof is ten years old, his father dies, leaving him and his little brother Ivar alone at the mercy of their relatives. Fear becomes their companion throughout life – a companion who can only be disciplined by the joy of storytelling, alcohol and women. Elof knows that he is a bit of a coward, but has learned that he must never show fear, especially not in front of others and never to his wife Olga, whom he never really gets close to. Pride is the most important thing to Elof, as is their homestead, Heiman, which is all the family has ever truly owned.

HOMESTEAD talks about how love and trauma are passed on from one generation to another. This intense family chronicle asks the question; what is the price you have to pay, if you never get to be yourself? Ann-Luise Bertell writes an epic tale with a great drive, crystallized in scenes with strong sensual sensations, full of rich emotions.

PRAISE:

“The novel sets a stage for the quiet psychology of villages and places. I come to think of Selma Lagerlöf who knew her settings and its people, or of Elena Ferrante with her novels about the Naepolitan quarters; Bertell is very astute in describing children, and children’s thoughts, their fears and agendas. [—] Homestead is a marvelous read..”
– Barbara Strand-Blomström. dagensbok.com, Sweden

VIHREÄ SALI
Otava, September 2021, 315 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

The Green Chamber

by Sirpa Kähkönen

A heartfelt story of memories, youth, and searching for the people you’ve lost

• Savonia Prize Winner!
• Rights sold in Estonia!
• Author Sirpa Kähkönen has been nominated for the Nordic Council Literary Prize , three times for Finlandia Prize
• From the award-winning author of twelve novels, published in Sweden, France, Denmark and Hungary

In December 1964 Kuopio, in the eastern lake area of Finland, it’s a time of harsh, frosty days when the lake freezes in the grip of cold. As their parents are exhausted from the post-war world of reconstruction, three young people – Irene, Leo and Jaakko – are trying to find their way into a carefree reality looking to solve the painful secrets of budding love and friendship.

AINOA KOTINI
WSOY, March 2021, 329 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

My Only Home

by Hanna Brotherus

The only way to regain control of your body, soul, and life is to be completely and brutally honest

• No. 1 bestselling Finnish fiction title of 2021 with more than 60,000 copies sold in Finland!

When her children leave their home, a woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived, to examine whose eyes she has seen herself through, to understand what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to have a fresh start in everything possible.

NÄLKÄVUOSI
Siltala, 2013, 139 pp.

Reading material:
English edition

White Hunger

by Aki Ollikainen

What does it take to survive in Finland during the Great Famine of 1866–1868?

• Longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2016, Prix Femina and Europese Literatuurprijs
• Independent Best Translated Fiction Books 2015
• Winner of the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Prize for Best Debut Novel in 2012

A mother and her two young children trudge through a swirling snowstorm, with nothing but endless misery around them and golden, grand St. Petersburg as their destination. The endless winter and ruthless hunger have turned people into animals, and on their journey the family comes face-to-face with a reality that is nearly impossible to imagine today.

MUSTA SATU
Siltala, 2015, 155 pp.

Reading material:
English sample

A Tale of Darkness

by Aki Ollikainen

A writer and his great-grandfather – and a swamp with a spine-chilling past to unite them

• The highly praised second novel of the author of WHITE HUNGER!

In his second novel, Aki Ollikainen takes his readers to the Tattarisuo swamp, which has a dark and special reputation in Finnish criminal history. The narrator’s family has fallen apart, and his wife and son have left him. Reality has become unhinged, and the unresolved tragedies inherited from prior generations have started to overwhelm his thoughts. Many paths seem to lead him to Tattarisuo, a place where a man known as Witch-Kallio used to perform mystic practices.

PASTORAALI
Siltala, 2018, 137 pp.

Reading material:
English sample

A Pastoral

by Aki Ollikainen

An idyllic midsummer’s day in Eastern Finland. People falling in love and taking care of each other, and nature sublime in its beauty. But darkness lurks around the corner…

• An exquisite depiction of human emotions and midsummer in Finland!

Aki Ollikainen’s picturesque third novel is aglow with the rural idyll of a summer’s day and the fantasies of people wandering in the midsummer’s night. During a single day in Eastern Finland, the realities of multiple generations meet, time flows through itself, and strange things occur. And normal things occur as well. Two young people fall in love, two slightly older ones are struggling with their relationship, and two even older people have found a sublime tranquility in each other.

YSTÄVÄNI NATALIA

Teos, 2019, 240 pp.

Reading material:

English edition

My Friend Natalia

by Laura Lindstedt

A brave novel about a young woman’s sexuality, therapy, the power of narration and identity. This is a playful, brilliant, feministic and surprisingly funny novel by a Finlandia-award winner!

• International bestseller! Lindstedt’s books have been translated into 18 languages!
• Recently published in Norway, Germany and France to great reviews!
• Finlandia Prize winning author!

Natalia starts to see a therapist to help solve the problems in her sex life. It is clear from the beginning that she is not going to play by the rules of therapy. The weekly sessions combine art, philosophy, literature, childhood memories and erotic experiences as a method of treatment, and slowly they make Natalia lose all her inhibitions. She starts to enjoy her therapy – maybe too much?

The novel takes a deconstructive approach to the self-help narratives of our time and drives the tools of autofiction into a dead end, asking what is concealed when everything is revealed?

PRAISE:

Lindstedt’s new novel is convincing and impressive, exciting and provoking. It is fascinating how playfully easy Laura manages to narrate a female experience that is equally thought-provoking and entertaining. My Friend Natalia is a sharp and stimulating novel, written with the finger on the pulse of time by a writer with great authority.
– Signe Russwurm, Oktober, Norway

“Badwy and beguiling.” – Kirkus Reviews

The Red Room

by Kaj Korkea-aho

A published author looking to buy an apartment in southern Helsinki. Offer me a good price, and I’ll write you a book! 

• Nominated for Nordic Council Literary Prize 2022!
• Runeberg prize nominee!
• By awarded writer, columnist and comedian Kaj Korkea-aho, published in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark!

Lust and power collide in an upscale apartment in the fashionable southern Helsinki. The steep and sturdy Art Nouveau walls have seen decadent parties and cruel games.

At first, it’s just a joke: a newspaper ad in which a young writer promises to write a book in exchange for an affordable apartment. But when a gentleman living alone offers him the home of his dreams, the young man finds himself involved in a remarkable game. 

He begins to write a story that takes the reader to the labyrinth of desire and submission, to the nightlife of 1980s Helsinki, and to the intricate setups of relationships between men – but what is his place in it?

PRAISE: 

“THE RED ROOM  is psychologically skillful and pulsates with drive and strong allure. It depicts a world that for most readers is unfamiliar and hidden” – Runeberg Prize Jury on THE RED ROOM

“This novel about music, power and submission is a page-turner with an air of melancholy for a certain loss of thrust. What will the hedonists dream up next, now that Tom of Finland’s leather-clad gays are printed on mugs like Moomintrolls?” – Aftonbladet, Sweden

“Korkea-aho’s text unerringly challenges many of our contemporary age’s notions of power and dominance, resoluteness and desire, without imposing pointers or ready-made answers. The novel openly and empathetically approaches the yearning of its characters and sensitively orbits the enigmatic and contradictory expressions of desire.” – Nordic Council Literary Prize jury

TÄMÄ LÄPINÄKYVÄ SYDÄN
Otava, August 2021, 268 pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis

This Transparent Heart

by Katja Kallio

A passionate novel about the forbidden love of a misfit woman and a Soviet prisoner of war

• From a critically acclaimed bestselling author and screenwriter
  
• Rights sold in the Czech Republic!
• Katja Kallio’s books have sold close to 180,000 copies in Finland!

Young Beata returns home to war-torn Hanko in the winter of 1942. When she accidentally encounters a prisoner of war who sees directly into her innermost being, life changes irreversibly. Forbidden love puts Beata and Ivan at risk for their lives, but they can’t stay apart. In the moment of reckoning, Beata has to ask herself whether one can ever truly know their beloved – or even themselves.

A stirringly beautiful and intimate description of hatred and its only counterforce –  the connection between people.

PRAISE:
”Brilliant […] In Katja Kallio’s novel ‘This Transparent Heart’, love is a deeply sensitive, private matter – and a powerfully social issue as well. […] One has to command the author for the thorough background research, the fine emotional depth, and the touching expression. What was born is a gripping drama full of emotion.” – Antti Majander, Helsingin Sanomat

Katja Kallio is a strong voice of Finnish woman writing and I am happy to have her included in the portfolio of Kniha Zlin. The story of The Transparent Heart captures reader’s attention immediately with its deep insight into a humand mind, riveting plot of forbidden love and expressive poetic language.
– Jitka Hanušová, Kniha Zlin, Albatros Media, Czech Republic

KAIKKI OLI HEIDÄN
Otava, September 2021, 397 pp.

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis

They Had It All

by Juha Itkonen

It’s 2050, and the choices made in 2019 still echo in the changed world. Can one still learn how to understand, to atone, to forgive?

• A speculative fiction about three generations of men, spanning decades
• The highly acclaimed new novel from one of this generation’s most recognized authors in Finland, published in Sweden, Norway, Germany and Denmark! 

A melancholy, feverish novel about male ego and the end of the world, about people’s ability to love one another and their inability to keep hold of the happiness they have achieved.

Bechi

by Koko Hubara

This is the story of a simultaneously symbiotic and destructive relationship between a mother and a daughter, and of a desire to belong somewhere while also wanting to break free.

• One of the most interesting authors of our generation & the founder of Brown Girls Media
• Selected as one of the best books of 2021 by Finnish press!

Bechi is in her thirties, and lives in Helsinki, where she is trying to finish her master’s thesis. Her mother Shoshana is a writer of Yemeni Jewish heritage. Her autobiographical novel shocked readers in Finland when it came out in the mid-90s, and she has also burned all the bridges between her family in Israel.

What’s more, the fate of Shoshana’s brother is forever burned into the minds of the family’s three generations of women: Bechi, Shoshana, and her mother, Rivka. 

When Bechi meets her mother for a morning coffee at a Helsinki café and tells her about her pregnancy, many years of tension come to a head. How can two people remember everything so differently? More importantly, what are the things they would rather forget?

PRAISE:

“A novel that repels sentimentality and deals with the challenging relationship between a mother and daughter in a world controlled by ‘men that look like toasted bread’. The novel also discusses transnationality, the mental health of a parent, sexuality and consent.” – Starred review in Helsingin Sanomat newspaper on the best books of 2021 

“Yemenite Jew Shoshana has started a family and become a breakthrough author in Finland, yet she has not found her home there. Koko Hubara’s debut novel strives to dismantle the mystification of a mother’s love […] The story grasps you […]”– Suomen Kuvalehti magazine on the best books of 2021

JÄRJETTÖMIÄ ASIOITA

Tammi, March 2021, 340 pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis
Spanish sample

Irrational Things

by Saara Turunen

A story of love, death and life between two countries. Turunen’s funny, witty and melancholic voice examines the contradiction of sense and sensibility.

• An immediate bestseller by the internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director Saara Turunen
• Over 18.000 copies sold in Finland!
• Rights sold to Estonia and Lithuania!

The narrator of the book, a nameless woman, travels to Barcelona. She meets a foreign man and falls in love with him. The man is the total opposite of her in many ways. Where she has been brought up to exert control, to plan and to master her life, he is sort of a free soul. He doesn’t want to worry about tomorrow; rather, he just drifts freely, taking things as they come.

The book discusses not only love but also writing about it. Is love a suitable subject to deal with if you want to be taken seriously? And what is love really? Is it comparable to the class system, a way of controlling property and heritage, or something else, something difficult to explain but unavoidable, for all of us to deal with at some point of our lives. Turunen handles her themes in a melancholy and playful way. The short, clear sentences convey precise observations about the contradictions of life, norms, the expectations we face and the difficulties in fulfilling them. The narration flows effortlessly and takes the reader to a fascinating and private world, strongly connected with our times but at the same time teeming with eternal questions.

Saara Turunen is known for her bold and direct style. Her insightful texts are compared to Sally Rooney and Rachel Cusk: the representational style catches the reader and immerses one in the real, observational moment in an enjoyable way.

PRAISE:

“I love the way Turunen writes about seemingly mundane details, but they actually represent structures or pain points of the society. Her language is straightforward, and the humor is seen in the contrasts of what is said and what happens. “ – Turun Sanomat newspaper

“We are honored to be the first foreign publishers of this masterly Work by Saara Turunen. We believe that its subject is a matter of great relevance in the face of the modern life-style and the readers will relate with and feel for the main heroine.”– Ieva Savukynaitė-Dubicka, BALTO, Lithuania

RAJAMAA

Otava, 2020, 192 pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis

Arctic Mirage

by Terhi Kokkonen

When Karo and Risto’s holiday to Northern Finland ends in a car accident, they are forced to stay at the luxurious Arctic Mirage Hotel. Will their relationship survive the next six days? 

• Winner of the 2020 Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize – Prestigious award for the best debut novel of the year
• Feature film in development!
• Rights sold in Germany and Estonia!

Karo and Risto go on a holiday in Northern Finland to give themselves time to fix their stressful marriage. However, on their way home, they’re involved in a car accident and are subsequently forced to stay at the only accommodation in the area; Hotel Arctic Mirage. Once inside, they find that the hotel has a rather strange atmosphere and it starts to have a peculiar effect on them. Karo begins to doubt her own memories and tries her best to escape the snowbound hotel holiday village whereas Risto starts to feel strange and refuses to leave.

Arctic Mirage is a strong-spirited, psychological novel about people in exceptional circumstances. It keeps the reader gripped and provides chills on every page.

 PRAISE:

“The unusual setting of the luxury hotel in the middle of the cold, snowy, isolated atmosphere of Lapland wasteland which translates directly to the inner numbness the characters, the slow unmasking of the characters, the carefully crafted language, the subtle atmosphere of menace – these are all things which made me fall in love with this phenomenal novel. I have to admit that it has captured my thoughts since the very moment I read the English sample translation, for it is not only one of the best reading experiences I had in a long time, it’s also such an interesting study of some of the most pressing issues of our time.  Terhi Kokkonen is such a brilliant, exceptional addition to our list of international authors!”

– Lina Muzur, Verlagsleiterin/Publishing Director, Hanser Berlin

KUUNPÄIVÄN KIRJEET

Teos, September 2020, 336 pp.

Reading material:

English edition

The Moonday Letters

by Emmi Itäranta

A scifi mystery and a love story that bends space, time, myth and science.

• Third novel by internationally bestselling and award-winning author
• To be published in the US and UK in July 2022!

The Moonday Letters has elements of clifi, elements of suspense, and feels Golden Age-y in its imagination of how space has been colonized in the wake of Earth’s transformation.

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

While recalling her own path to becoming a healer under the guidance of her mysterious teacher Vivian, she discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.

Part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, Moonday Letters is also a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.

PRAISE:

“The Moonday Letters is a beautifully crafted and hauntingly written mystery that successfully combines many elements of science-fiction, and I’m delighted to have it on Titan’s list!”  – Cat Camacho, Senior Editor, Titan Books, UK

“When I started reading The Moonday Letters, I was transported very quickly into the world Emmi had created, and was tantalized by the mystery – and relationships – I was discovering. The Recorded Books team and I are very happy to bring it to audio listeners everywhere.”  – Catherine Wallach,  Senior Acquisitions Editor,  Recorded Books, USA

“Itäranta’s language is beautiful, and depictions almost poetic. The story grows, as emotions, clues, past, secrets and truth open like flowers. The plot flows forward and the mystery keeps readers hooked up. And it is a pleasure to read.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

TEEMESTARIN KIRJA

Teos, September 2012, 266 pp.

Reading material:

English edition

Memory of Water

by Emmi Itäranta

A story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, undying hope in a wrecked world

• International hit: rights sold to 22 territories
• Feature film premiering in 2022!

The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been keepers of natural springs for centuries, Memory of Water tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

PRAISE:

The writing is gorgeous and delicate in this dystopian award-winning debut, which is unique in both its setting and the small scale the Finnish author Itäranta employs. A larger world, with huge problems, is hinted at but not shown. Because the reader stays with the beautifully realized character of Noria and the village she inhabits, the tension is high even though the pacing remains measured.” – Library Journal, starred review US

UKKOSHUILU
Otava, August 2021, 400 pp.

Reading material:

English sample & synopsis

The Storm Flute

by Johanna Sinisalo

Beauty comes in many forms—stunning, exciting, thrilling, perilous. Weather takes all of these forms.

• Finlandia Prize winning author
• Rights sold in Hungary and Denmark!

Predicting or altering the weather is the eternal dream of humanity. A merchant named Jonah, living in Assyria 600 years before the common era, gets caught in a storm. Is the storm a curse from God, or is it his own doing? In Finland in the 2010’s, Leena Lind loves her job as a meteorologist, but the activities of an aggressive finance company have her wasting her expertise at menial tasks. When her daughter Leia plays a game that involves making a video of a thunderstorm, Leena’s life is blown irretrievably off track and soon no one is safe anymore.

A masterful novel about the thin line between knowledge and belief, the Storm Flute is a love letter to the weather – a fierce, global story of the destructive power of the human desire for control. 

PRAISE:

“This book is a pleasure to read. The language Johanna Sinisalo uses, the descriptions and expressions are all thoroughly measured, yet flow with ease. The text moves forward like a dream in which you can immerse yourself with joy. Furthermore, the portrayal of the characters, the construction of the suspense, and the plot development all function superbly. Not to mention the depth of the content, the importance of the themes or the sense of wonder that is so characteristic of speculative fiction. ‘The Storm Flute’ climbs to the best among Sinisalo’s collection of works.” – Tähtivaeltaja magazine

“What strikes me most in ‘The Storm Flute’ is its multidimensionality: the working life satire and the thriller-like twists and turns intertwine with serious ponderings about the smallness and frailty of us human beings in front of the Unknown. – In the descriptions of storms and thunders, there is poetic glamour: swirling, electricity, blazing, and rumbling.” – Jani Saxell, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland

KUOLEMA EHTOOLEHDOSSA
Teos 2013, 305 pp.

EHTOOLEHDON PAKOLAISET
Teos 2014, 256 pp.

EHTOOLEHDON TUHO
Teos 2015, 280 pp.

Reading material: 

English editions 

Sunset Grove Trilogy

by Minna Lindgren

Rip-roaring, hilarious and poignant. For the fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Mma Ramotswe!

• TV Series in development
• Death in Sunset Grove is Finnish Miss Marple!
• An international hit! Rights sold in 14 territories!
• For readers of “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman.

#1 Death in Sunset Grove

Who could imagine that anything illegal – whether it be suspicious deaths, thefts or the covert trading of medications – could happen in Sunset Grove retirement home? Its 90-year-old residents Siiri and Irma certainly can’t.

The lives of Siiri, Irma, and other Sunset Grove inhabitants are filled mostly with empty time punctuated by glasses of red wine, tram rides and funerals. Investigating the sudden strange occurrences at Sunset Grove, however, proves to be a more interesting pastime than playing cards with the ambassador and the woman in the wide-brimmed hat – not to mention the never-ending arts and crafts sessions, gym classes or accordion evenings (which the residents of the house attend mostly out of pity towards the employees).

#2 Escape from Sunset Grove

Sunset Grove retirement home turns into a kind of hell when it is taken over by foreign construction workers cursing fluently in Finnish. The noise is deafening, a hole appears in the wall, things disappear and residents have to use a portable toilet.

Residents Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90, decide to move into a shared apartment in the exotic neighbourhood of Hakaniemi. All three have their own habits and quirks, and life together isn’t entirely free of friction. The women also learn about the sad differences in quality with at-home assistance, and are forced to become familiar with terminal care and questions surrounding euthanasia.

Our heroes also can’t help looking into the suspicious plumbing project at Sunset Grove. As the mystery unfolds, they begin to find out that few people in this world have a fully clean record.

#3 The End of Sunset Grove

The final part of the trilogy marks a return to the retirement community. But the place no longer feels like home, and has turned into a state-funded, technology-driven pilot project in elderly care. The conclusion brings together characters lost along the way, and murky details are brought to light. Legal justice is also served – in unexpected ways. A natural, long-awaited death finally collects some, but still not all, of our main characters.

PRAISE:

Lindgren perfectly captures the universal confusions (Siiri and Irma attend the funeral of the wrong person) and uncertainties of old age (how many of their friends will still be alive in a week to attend a reunion luncheon?) in the service of a captivating plot. Readers will eagerly await the sequel.
– Publishers Weekly, United States

Death in Sunset Grove is a feel-good novel that makes you think. Lindgren writes about serious matters, like the care of the elderly, using satirical humour to great effect and in Death in Sunset Grove she manages to produce a very funny detective story starring two elderly ladies with the combined age of about 180 and Miss Marple-esque tendency to solve crimes.– Dublin Literary Award longlist, Ireland

Facelift

by Miika Nousiainen

Tragicomic tale of life’s biggest questions and their surprisingly simple answers.

• Finland’s most beloved and best-selling humor writer!
• Over 95.000 copies sold in Finland!
• Miika Nousiainen’s books have sold to date 0,5 million copies in Finland!

Sami has a dream: he desperately wants to be a father. His biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts. But it’s not so easy to become a father. First of all, you need to find a suitable future mother candidate.

But when Sami’s latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sini, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

PRAISE:

“Reading a novel by Nousiainen is like a scenic ride in a ropeway: a comfortable, entertaining spectacle while looking into deep abysses. I can’t wait to read more, start laughing and at the same time having this awkward and thrilling feeling of facing existential questions.” – Patrick Sielemann, Editor, Kein & Aber, Germany 

“Facelift is a perfect feel-good novel. It meets the high expectations that we have learned to expect from Nousiainen: it’s funny, dark, entertaining and very timely.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

“Fast, funny and heartwarming! (4 stars)” – Kulttuuritoimitus magazine