The best Nordic noir books

This Nordic Noir thriller follows a team of police investigators who try to catch a serial killer in the dark forests of Sandviken, Sweden, and it is the first book in a series of suspenseful novels set in the Far North.

During a hike, PhD student Alexander Nordin finds human remains. After discovering more bodies, the police realize they are looking for a serial killer. Inspectors Isa Lindström and her partner Magnus Wieland are assigned to the case. While their investigation soon leads to four families who spent their summer vacation together in the area, the search for the killer triggers a series of dramatic events with far-reaching consequences.

This Nordic Noir thriller follows a team of police investigators who try to catch a serial killer in the dark forests of Sandviken, Sweden, and it is the first book in a series of suspenseful novels set in the Far North.

During a hike, PhD student Alexander Nordin finds human remains. After discovering more bodies, the police realize they are looking for a serial killer. Inspectors Isa Lindström and her partner Magnus Wieland are assigned to the case. While their investigation soon leads to four families who spent their summer vacation together in the area, the search for the killer triggers a series of dramatic events with far-reaching consequences.

A trip to Iceland is a happy occasion for Jim Biersovich and his friends. His sportswriter buddy Freddie is getting married. This destination wedding is also an adventure outing for the matrimonial party, as the bride-to-be, future groom, and their attendants enjoy the splendors of this island nation. There’s cave exploration, a glacier trek, a boat ride in an icy lagoon, hiking to a waterfall, and other pleasurable outings. The fun ends when a member of the wedding party dies under strange circumstances. It soon becomes apparent he was a homicide victim. A second murder, of a native Icelander, seems somehow connected. Those events imperil the ceremony and entangle the Beers Detective Agency crew in an international investigation that they once again must help solve. 

In 1943, Sweden’s neutrality is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany is privy to ongoing discussions about German access to Swedish iron ore. When her former best friend and fellow classmate, Britta is discovered tortured and murdered, Laura becomes determined to find her killer. In the Swedish government, Jens Regnell, the secretary to the unpopular minister of foreign affairs, is becoming increasingly worried that his boss is secretly negotiating with the Reich. He is sent Britta’s PhD thesis on Scandinavian supremacy without understanding why. In Lapland, near the iron mine, Sami are mysteriously disappearing. Taneli, a young Sami boy, decides to investigate after his sister suddenly goes missing.

Together these three people will uncover a conspiracy that could topple their government and destroy their country’s identity – a conspiracy others are desperate to contain at any cost. 

Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.

But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow New York State investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses, and discover that murder is a family affair.

Paul Williams is an ex-SAS soldier who suffered physical and psychological injuries during an Afghanistan battle. After his wife Amanda leaves him, Williams begins a search to find and murder her. The army has trained him never to fail, never give up, and survive at all costs, and he's determined to succeed. Using disguises, Williams passes for 'normal,' but he strikes ruthlessly when he finds any woman who resembles Amanda because he's incapable of mercy.

Williams has quickly become the worst serial killer in the State's history, and Detective Inspector Dillon Bradley heads a task force to stop him. But Williams has his own agenda, to cause as much havoc as possible. He'll succeed in locating Amanda or die trying and take as many police officers as possible with him.

In 1943, Sweden’s neutrality is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany is privy to ongoing discussions about German access to Swedish iron ore. When her former best friend and fellow classmate, Britta is discovered tortured and murdered, Laura becomes determined to find her killer. In the Swedish government, Jens Regnell, the secretary to the unpopular minister of foreign affairs, is becoming increasingly worried that his boss is secretly negotiating with the Reich. He is sent Britta’s PhD thesis on Scandinavian supremacy without understanding why. In Lapland, near the iron mine, Sami are mysteriously disappearing. Taneli, a young Sami boy, decides to investigate after his sister suddenly goes missing.

Together these three people will uncover a conspiracy that could topple their government and destroy their country’s identity – a conspiracy others are desperate to contain at any cost. 

In 1943, Sweden’s neutrality is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany is privy to ongoing discussions about German access to Swedish iron ore. When her former best friend and fellow classmate, Britta is discovered tortured and murdered, Laura becomes determined to find her killer. In the Swedish government, Jens Regnell, the secretary to the unpopular minister of foreign affairs, is becoming increasingly worried that his boss is secretly negotiating with the Reich. He is sent Britta’s PhD thesis on Scandinavian supremacy without understanding why. In Lapland, near the iron mine, Sami are mysteriously disappearing. Taneli, a young Sami boy, decides to investigate after his sister suddenly goes missing.

Together these three people will uncover a conspiracy that could topple their government and destroy their country’s identity – a conspiracy others are desperate to contain at any cost. 

A guide to Iceland's rich literary heritage written by a book lover. Iceland is a fascinating island of multiple identities, of constant flux, just like its unruly volcanic ground. Its literary heritage is one of Europe's richest and oldest: from the captivating Norse myths, which continue to inspire contemporary authors such as A.S. Byatt, to gripping Scandinavian crime fiction and Game of Thrones, via Jules Verne and J.R.R Tolkien, W.H. Auden and Seamus Heaney, Iceland's influence has spread far beyond its frozen shores. Peopled by Norse maidens and witches, elves and outlaws and taking the reader and traveller around the island through its literature, this is an enthralling portrait of the Land of Ice and Fire where (almost) everyone is a writer or poet.