Petrona 2022 Winner Announced

 

The winner of the 2022 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is: 

FATAL ISLES by Mariá Adolfsson, translated from the Swedish by Agnes Broomé and published by Zaffre.

Maria Adolfsson will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize.

The judges’ statement on FATAL ISLES:

This captivating winning novel is the first in a proposed trilogy featuring the beautifully flawed protagonist Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby, whose take on life and work make for a strong down-to-earth and modern heroine in the relicts of a man’s world.

Set in the fictional yet completely credible location of Doggerland, this three-islands archipelago in the North Sea, reflects Scandinavian, North European and British heritages. Doggerland is shaped and influenced by its geographical position; the atmospheric setting, akin to the wind- and history-swept Faroe and Shetland Islands, and Nordic climes, enhances the suspenseful and intriguing plot of a police procedural that combines detailed observations and thoughts on the human condition. A brutal murder sets in motion an investigation into layers of hidden secrets and of societal attitudes, and the interaction between the superbly portrayed characters creates a thrilling tension and believable environment. 

Comments from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Mariá Adolfsson (author):

I feel so honoured and want to send my warmest thanks to the Petrona Award jury. This appreciation for my work means a lot to me!

For me it is especially exciting that the British readers enjoy exploring Doggerland together with me. I’ve always been interested in what unites people in Scandinavia and the British Isles, how we are culturally linked, and what sets us apart. To me, Doggerland is - or at least might have been - the link between us. Or to quote Herman Melville: “It’s not down on any map; true places never are.”

Agnes Broomé (translator):

I am deeply honoured to receive the Petrona Award 2022. With such an impressive shortlist it is truly humbling to be chosen. I am grateful to the jury for their unswerving commitment to bringing Scandinavian crime literature to an English-speaking readership. My warmest thanks to everyone at Zaffre for their support along this journey and, above all, to Maria Adolfsson for introducing me to Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby. 

Zaffre (Publisher):

Many thanks to the jury for choosing Fatal Isles as the worthy winner of this year’s Petrona Award. It’s wonderful to see Maria’s brilliantly imaginative crime debut, expertly realised in English by Agnes Broomé, recognised for its excellence. DI Karen Eiken Hornby is a universally relatable character and Adolfsson’s vividly drawn island nation, Doggerland, is a perfectly picturesque place for the darkest deeds to occur. It is such a pleasure to publish this internationally bestselling series. 

The Petrona team would like to thank the following: firstly, David Hicks, for his generous sponsorship of the Petrona Award; secondly the co-creators and original judges of the Award: Barry Forshaw, Dr. Kat Hall and Sarah Ward and thirdly, Adrian Muller for his support via the CrimeFest platform.

Fatal Isles by Mariá Adolfsson (Published by Zaffre) Out Now

A remote island. A brutal murder. A secret hidden in the past . . . In the middle of the North Sea, between the UK and Denmark, lies the beautiful and rugged island nation of Doggerland. Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby has returned to the main island, Heimoe, after many years in London and has worked hard to become one of the few female police officers in Doggerland. So, when she wakes up in a hotel room next to her boss, Jounas Smeed, she knows she's made a big mistake. But things are about to get worse: later that day, Jounas's ex-wife is found brutally murdered. And Karen is the only one who can give him an alibi. The news sends shockwaves through the tight-knit island community, and with no leads and no obvious motive for the murder, Karen struggles to find the killer in a race against time. Soon she starts to suspect that the truth might lie in Doggerland's history. And the deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that even small islands can hide deadly secrets . . . 

An evening with Lynda La Plante - Ambassador for London Book & Screen Week

Lynda La Plante announced as Ambassador for London Book & Screen Week as festival unveils blockbuster 2020 line-up 

The sixth London Book & Screen Week (9- 15 March 2020) will celebrate 40 years of the iconic Yes Minister, the incredible career of Lynda La Plante, and national favourite Doctor Who, explore coming of age classics, poetry beyond the page, and serve up delicious meat free meals with ‘One Pound Chef’ Miguel Barclay. 

Produced by The London Book Fair, London Book & Screen Week is the capital’s biggest celebration of books and the films, TV programmes and virtual worlds they inspire, bringing together readers, writers, game, film and TV fans for events across the creative capital of the world. 

Heading up the 2020 programme as festival Ambassador, queen of crime drama Lynda La Plante will discuss her illustrious career across page, stage and screen. From early performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in The Sweeney and Bergerac, to writing scripts for BAFTA- winning shows including Prime Suspect and Widows, recently adapted for a second time by Steve McQueen. Lynda has also achieved international success as author of over 30 novels and, in this special event, will offer a preview of her forthcoming book Buried (Zaffre, April 2020), the first in an exciting new series. 

TUESDAY 10 MARCH 

AN EVENING WITH LYNDA LA PLANTE 

Venue: Groucho Club 

London Book & Screen Week are delighted to welcome you to an evening to celebrate one of the UK’s best-loved writers, queen of crime drama Lynda La Plante. 

Join Lynda for a gin cocktail at this special event as the writer discusses her illustrious career across page, stage and screen and offers a preview of her forthcoming book Buried (Zaffre, April 2020), the first in an exciting new series from the author. 

Born and raised in Liverpool, La Plante trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and worked with the National Theatre and RSC before becoming a television actress starring in notable productions including Z-Cars, The Sweeney, The Professionals and Bergerac. 

She then turned to writing and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful Widows, recently adapted for a second time by Steve McQueen. Her original script for the much-acclaimed Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren) won awards from BAFTA, Emmy, British Broadcasting and Royal Television society, as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Award. 

Lynda has produced over 170 hours of international television and is one of only three screenwriters to have been made an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute. She was awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Best Writer Award in 2000. 

In addition to work as an actress and screenwriter, Lynda is the author of over 30 novels, all of which have been international bestsellers. In 2008 she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and Charity. 

Ticket includes a complimentary drink. Attendees will also receive an exclusive first extract from Lynda’s new novel and first in a brand new series, Buried, before it publishes in hardback, eBook & Audio on 2nd April 2020. 

Ticket: £20 | 6:30pm | bit.ly/LBSW20-lyndalaplante 

Fled by Meg Keneally

It’s an odd thing about historical fiction – the most outrageous, outlandish elements of a story are often the ones which are based on fact.

There’s the Flying Pieman, who dispensed philosophy along with his pies and engaged in “feats of pedestrianism” including outrunning the mail coach between Sydney and Windsor. The political prisoner who nearly managed to escape on a whaler sent to Van Dieman’s Land especially for him from America. The newspaper editor continually arrested for criminal libel, who calmly edited his paper from prison.

The people who inspired the characters actually existed, and I have gleefully fictionalised all of them. Yet as extraordinary as they are, none of them have anything on First Fleet convict Mary Bryant, the woman behind one of history’s greatest escapes.

It’s my first non-crime novel, but in a way it’s all about crime – the crimes which propelled 1,500 people, convicts and their guards, to an impossibly distant, unknown shore in one of history’s largest mass migrations.

It’s a cliché, in Australia at least, to talk about convicts who stole food for starving families. But it’s also the truth – the vast majority of crimes committed by convicts sent to Australia (including my great-great grandmother, who stole clothing in Limerick) were survival crimes.

Mary’s case, though, was a little more interesting. With two other girls, she robbed and assaulted a woman who was walking from the Plymouth ferry.

In other words, she was a highwaywoman.

She found herself transported alongside a range of other convicts, from those convicted of petty theft to embezzlers, prostitutes, smugglers and animal rustlers.

Mary eventually became part of a group of convicts who stole the governor’s cutter. She sailed it with her husband, children and nine other convicts from Sydney to West Timor, passing herself off as a shipwreck survivor before her luck ran out and her identity was revealed.

I first heard Mary’s story from my father, on long road trips in the days before iPads. I assumed he was making it up. Dead-of-night escapes? Sea chases? Survival against impossible odds? Surely such things didn’t happen.

But when I returned to the story as an adult, I was amazed to find he’d actually been quite restrained.

Mary’s story (and that of Jenny Trelawney, her fictional counterpart in Fled) contains so many twists and coincidences (lucky and unlucky), so many poignant and painful moments, that any writer who made it up out of whole cloth would be accused of melodrama. 

Her tale reads like fiction. 

A female highway robber, living in the forest and bailing people up while dressed in breeches, sent for her crime to the other side of the world.

An almost impossible voyage in a small, stolen open boat, over 5,000 kilometres, with the last 2,000 or so in uncharted waters, gripping onto two young children while facing monstrous seas and the constant threat of capsize, starvation and death from thirst.

Salvation, betrayal, recapture, and eventually a possible affair with one of the most famous men of the age, James Boswell.

One of the focal points of Mary’s tale, and of the novel, is of course the escape itself. But so many stars needed to align for it to happen at all.

Mary and the other escapees needed knowledge of the local conditions, tides and currents. This they got from Bennelong and other Aboriginals with whom they were friendly, with Mary’s husband Will taking Bennelong’s family out to fish in government boats.

They needed a destination, and a means of navigating there. Fortunately for them, Governor Arthur Phillip had a blazing row with a visiting Dutch sea captain, Detmer Smit. The Bryants befriended Smit, and eventually learned from him of the Dutch colony of Coepang (Kupang, West Timor). Crucially, he also gave them a quadrant and a chart. If he had not visited Sydney Cove, or if he had been on better terms with Phillip, the convicts would have had nowhere to go.

And they needed darkness. They got this on the night of March 28, 1791 – a new moon. That day, Detmer Smit’s ship had left, and the last remaining English ship had recently been sent to Batavia for provisions. Suddenly, there was no ship capable of pursuing them, just when the sky was at its blackest.

But while the details of Mary’s story are fascinating, the main reason she refused to leave me alone until I wrote about her was her character – her resourcefulness, her courage, and her refusal to be cowed. Since childhood, I’ve been captivated by the tale of a woman (and a convict at that) who navigated her way through a male-dominated world, and dragged her children to safety (at least for a while) across an angry sea.  

Fled by Meg Keneally (published by Zaffre Books) £7.99

She will do anything for freedom, but at what cost? Jenny Trelawney is no ordinary thief. Forced by poverty to live in the Devon forest, she becomes a successful highwaywoman - until her luck runs out. Transported to Australia, Jenny must tackle new challenges and growing responsibilities. And when famine hits the new colony, Jenny becomes convinced that those she most cares about will not survive. She becomes the leader in a grand plot of escape, but is survival any more certain in a small open boat on an unknown ocean?

All Falls Down Behind the Book By Sheena Kamal

The places that leave an impression on my imagination are not usually the ones I’d expect. They’re not your average vacation hot spots, all-inclusive resorts with endless buffets or even famed cities steeped in history. They’re not necessarily the places I want to return to (though I’d never turn my nose up at a free trip, either.)

Detroit is one of those cities that caught my attention for no particularly good reason. I know as well as anyone else it’s not a city that you’d expect or desire to be moved by. However, my first time driving through Detroit some years ago, on my way to a concert, there it was. Like a feather passed along my nerve endings, a jolt of awareness. There’s something for me here, I thought. At the time, I didn’t quite know what, but I filed the impression away and knew I’d somehow come back to it. 

It took a few years, though. In the meantime, I’d moved from Toronto to Vancouver to write a suspense novel (Eyes Like Mine) about a damaged but very resilient woman named Nora Watts. When Nora’s story began to take shape as a series, I knew that for the second book I wanted her to hunt down the clues to her past in an American city. That’s when I remembered Detroit. It was perfect. I have strong feelings about it, firstly, and it also has an incredible music scene. Nora has a powerful connection with music, so it seemed like the ideal location. It’s also very different from Vancouver and I thought that juxtaposition would be interesting to examine.

The events of this sequel would take place over a relatively short period of time, and I knew I had to approach it differently from how I write Vancouver. I wanted my Detroit experience to be short and immersive, a shock to my system and Nora’s, so I planned five days there and contacted a private investigator to show me the ropes. 

There was a snag almost immediately. 

The private investigator was so busy he foisted me off on his friend. Given Detroit’s reputation, I was suspicious of this “friend,” but it was coming down to the wire and I needed someone. I said, what the hell, and agreed to let a stranger pick me up from the bus station when I arrived in from Toronto. 

I’m quite impulsive when it comes to travel, but even I had reservations about the wisdom of this plan. 

However, luck was on my side. My private investigator was not a murderous psychopath, as I’d feared. He was an active police investigator named Ira Todd who genuinely enjoyed talking to writers. (I promise I’m not making this up!) 

When he picked me up, he said, “My task force just broke a 2-year old case and I’ve got to get back to headquarters to interview a witness. Want to come along?”

Did I ever! Instead of depositing me at reception, which is what I’d expected, he took me to meet the other members of the homicide task force and allowed me to watch the interview take place on a live feed. It was incredible to see this seasoned interviewer talk to a witness just as a case was breaking. I’d never seen anything like it.  

I spent five days with Ira, riding in his undercover vehicle, getting to know this city he’d lived in his entire life, the streets he’d patrolled and worked his butt off to keep safe. I learned how, when the city crumbled and became the punchline of a nasty joke, the people who could leave did and everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. I talked to everyone I could. Some people loved this broken city and others hated it. No matter what their views were, just about everybody had a strong opinion they were eager to share—and share at length. 

At the end of my brief trip, I said goodbye to my guardian angel Ira, who’d gone out of his way to show me that Detroit isn’t good or bad. Like everywhere else, it’s a bit of both, and everything in between. It’s the perfect city for this part of Nora’s journey because you can’t go there without feeling something. I hope I was able to put some of that feeling into the book. If it didn’t come through, it’s entirely my fault. The city of Detroit, as always, gave me one hell of a ride. 

It All Falls Down by Sheena Kamal (Published by Zaffre Books)

Nora Watts is being hunted . . . When Nora Watts is approached by a man claiming to know her late father, she is thrown into turmoil. Struggling with the imminent death, from cancer, of her friend and mentor Sebastian Crow, she is unprepared for the memories that this encounter brings back. What happened to her father that made him kill himself and abandon Nora and her sister? Heading to Detroit to try and find some answers about his life there, Nora expects to discover a reason behind his suicide. Instead, she finds more questions than answers. But trouble always follows Nora, and it's found her in Detroit, a city that is as broken as she is.

More  information about the author and her books can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @sheena_kamal.   You can also find her on Facebook.