Petrona Award 2024 Longlist

Ten crime novels from Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal, tr. Alice Menzies (Sweden, Faber & Faber)

The Collector by Anne Mette Hancock, tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Snow Fall by Jørn Lier Horst, tr. Anne Bruce (Norway, Michael Joseph)

Stigma by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, tr. Megan E Turney (Norway, Orenda Books)

The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indriðason, tr. Philip Roughton (Iceland, Harvill Secker)

Dead Men Dancing by Jógvan Isaksen, tr. Marita Thomsen (Faroe Islands (Denmark), Norvik Press)

The Sins of our Fathers by Åsa Larsson, tr. Frank Perry (Sweden, MacLehose Press)

White as Snow by Lilja Sigurðardottir, tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)

The Prey by Yrsa Sigurðardottir, tr. Victoria Cribb (Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff, tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, MacLehose Press)

The long list contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners, Jørn Lier Horst and Yrsa Sigurðardottir.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Orenda Books and MacLehose Press both having two entries, and the breakdown by country is Iceland (3), Sweden (3), Denmark (2) and Norway (2).

The shortlist will be announced on 10 October 2024.

The Petrona Award 2024 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller/Area Commercial Support for a major book chain in the UK and Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE, with additional help from Sarah Ward, author, former Petrona Award judge and current CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger judge.

The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

The Petrona team would like to thank both our sponsor, David Hicks, for his continuing support of the Petrona Award and the CWA, in particular Maxim Jakubowski, for allowing Sarah to step in following the very unexpected death of our much missed judge and friend Miriam Owen.

MacLehose Press unveils New Dragon Tattoo Title, The Girl in the Eagles Talons

 

Maclehose Press have announced that the English-language title for the much-anticipated 7^th novel in the Millennium series by Swedish author Karin Smirnoff will be The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons. It will be translated by Sarah Death, the award-winning translator of Selma Lagerlöf and Tove Jansson. Total sales figures for all six Millennium books, by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz, have hit over 100 million copies worldwide across all editions and languages.

In a huge global event, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talon will be published simultaneously on 29 August 2023 by MacLehose Press and in Hachette UK’s international territories, and by Knopf PRH in the US and Penguin Random House in Canada.

The Swedish hardback edition was published as Havsörnens Skrik on 4 November to huge fanfare and rave reviews. Karin Smirnoff was interviewed on live TV and radio and the novel immediately hit the coveted no.1 slots on Sweden’s major online bookselling platforms, including Ad Libris and Bokustoppen. In the first five sales days, Swedish bookshops have sold over 7000 copies of the book (in a country of 10 million). In an innovative move by Swedish publisher Polaris, the e-book and audio releases of the Swedish editions will take place a month after hardback release, on 1 December 2022.

Karin Smirnoff’s take on the Lisbeth Salander story moves the plot from Stockholm to northern Sweden, an area vast and beautiful, but also dealing with economic and social problems and the effects of climate change and environmental exploitation. Karin Smirnoff and Stieg Larsson were both born in the northern county of Västerbotten, and both writers were shaped by the stark and empty landscapes of their birthplace.

The first Swedish press reviews for Havsörnens Skrik (The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons) have poured in and are extremely positive:

Svenska Dagbladet said: “We more than approve of Smirnoff's debut as a crime novelist … what impresses is the thrilling plot, the environmental depiction, and above all the unexpected and poignant relationship between Lisbeth and [her young protégé] Svala. Something tells me that the dark tale of Millennium will continue for a long time.”

Skånska Dagbladet, one of the largest daily newspapers in Sweden, emphasised the strong feminist angle to Karin Smirnoff’s new take on the Millennium series: “A really, really good crime novel. It is also a serious and successful attempt to keep Stieg Larsson’s commitment alive and let commercial literature speak serious truths about our time.”

Nya Tidning said that “letting Karin Smirnoff take over the baton from David Lagercrantz is a stroke of genius. It is hard to believe anyone could have done it better than Smirnoff. Apart from Stieg Larsson himself”.

Västerbottenskuriren said “The connections to Smirnoff's previous books become clear. This is as it should be, as there is the feminist anger, the fundamental connection that unites her with Stieg Larsson. A connection that is, quite literally, carried through smoke and shell fire by Lisbeth and Svala together.”

The Return of Lisbeth Salander

LISBETH SALANDER AND THE ‘DRAGON TATTOO’ SERIES GIVEN NEW LIFE BY ONE OF SWEDEN’S MOST SUCCESSFUL NOVELISTS

Karin Smirnoff lives on a farm in northern Sweden, just a short car journey away from Stieg Larsson’s birth place. She is a bestselling author whose novels have sold over 700,000 copies in her home country, has a black belt in karate, and enjoys spending time with her mother and kids. But now, her life is due to change completely as she is about to become one of the world’s most famous novelists after taking on the Stieg Larsson mantel to write about one of Sweden’s most iconic women, Lisbeth Salander. With approval of the Stieg Larsson estate, Karin Smirnoff has taken on the monumental task of writing the next three books in the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ series. The first novel (number 7 in the series) is due to be published in the UK on 31 August 2023. 

Karin was born in Umeå in the north of Sweden, grew up in Stockholm, and left school at 17 to travel. Now, she has returned to her birthplace and lives on a farm which has been in her family for many decades. Karin has hinted in interviews that the main storyline for Millennium 7 (as the as-yet-untitled novel is called) will move from Stockholm and the south to the wild expanses of northern Sweden that are so familiar to her. She read the Millennium novels when the first three books came out and is familiar with the universe created by Larsson and continued by fellow Swede David Lagercrantz.

With Karin Smirnoff as the new writer of the series, and its acquisition by Katharina Bielenberg of the MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus Books, the series – which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide – will have a female author and publisher, with a female translator also being lined up. 

Karin Smirnoff says, “It feels almost solemn to write the sequel to Millennium. I said yes to the project without hesitation, even though it postpones my own ideas for new novels. It’s an exciting opportunity to independently create and make something new based on a unique fictional universe that is known worldwide. The Millennium books are classics in their genre, where the combination of unforgettable characters and the strong political and societal engagement still fascinates readers. I will continue to build on Stieg Larsson's core themes, such as violence, abuse of power, and contemporary political currents.” 

Katharina Bielenberg says, “The Millennium series has been a constant at MacLehose Press and
Quercus since Christopher MacLehose acquired Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo back in 2008. Everything we know about Karin Smirnoff and her work tells us she has the perfect sensibility not only to continue on from David Lagercrantz’s trilogy with great drive and imagination, but also to make the series her own. And it feels just right that Lisbeth Salander’s universe should now be brought to life by a woman. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Karin on these next instalments.”

Jon Butler, MD at Quercus Books, says, “The Millennium series – ‘the Dragon Tattoo books’ to most people in the English-speaking world – of course constitute one of the biggest publishing stories of the last twenty years, selling over 100 million copies worldwide. Stieg Larsson’s iconic creation, and the brilliant sequels written by David Lagercrantz, reached people who rarely buy books, which is the holy grail for any publisher. So, we couldn’t be more excited to announce a new trilogy; except that I probably am more excited. Karin Smirnoff is a literary talent of the highest order, and a huge bestseller in her native Sweden. We can’t wait to launch her creation to the widest possible English-language readership next year.”

The trailer for the Millennium 7 can be watched below.

For further information, please contact Corinna Zifko, corinna.zifko@quercusbooks.co.uk / 07917 158 986.