Johan  Theorin’s crime novel The Darkest Room has been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger.

When Johan Theorin received the CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger in October 2009, he said, in accepting his award: “It's surreal to be standing here - it's like having a Swede win Wimbledon! ... Britain is home to most of the greatest mystery writers in the world, from Conan Doyle, Christie and Creasey and up to all the fine writers who are still alive and active today - and as a Swede I couldn’t dream of competing with them. But to my big surprise and honour, I guess I have.”

This year’s International Dagger will be awarded at the Harrogate Crime Festival on July 23^rd.

 

 

www.johantheorin.com

 

 

More about Johan Theorin and his books

 

 

 

Although still in the final stages of being polished and fact-checked, the debut novel Strindberg's Star by Swedish television reporter Jan Wallentin, has already garnered a huge amount of attention, and has been sold in 12 countries.

 

Hans Jürgen Balmes, Editor in Chief at S. Fischer Verlag, Germany, was one of the first to buy the book:

 

“We had heard about the project back in January and were electrified from the beginning. The promise was to square a circle: The creation of a literary novel with the virtue of a thriller: to transmit the vital energy of the genre into a novel which is European in scope and international in its achievement.

These promises where not fulfilled but surpassed. It is like if an watch-maker would have dismantled a timepiece, studied every component and detail, added precision, perfected it, and rebuilt it: but not as the same watch, but as something new. It is the first book I come across which really combines the virtue of a suspense-driven plot with the virtue of a true novel.”

 

STRINDBERG'S STAR is a multi-genre novel beginning in a flooded underground 18^th century mine outside Falun in Sweden where an ancient artifact is discovered, sparking a cross-European chase that weaves together the mysterious Andrée North Pole expedition of 1897, an underground German sect that may have ties to the Nazis, and the mysteries of the artifact itself that could reveal a breathtaking supernatural discovery.

 

My Life with Saddam by Parisoula Lampsos & Lena Katarina Swanberg (Mitt liv med Saddam, Forum Bokförlag) will be published in Sweden on April 28th. Even before publication the rights are sold to Denmark/JP Politiken, Finland/Otava, Greece/Psichogios, Italy/Rizzoli, Norway/Schibsted, Romania/Editura Trei, Russia/Ripol and The Netherlands/Mouria.

 

In the book My Life With Saddam, Parisoula Lampsos tells the whole dramatic story of her eventful life in the shadow of a feared dictator and the bloody conflicts in the Middle East. She met Saddam Hussein the first time as a 16-year old and from that day on, her destiny was linked to his for more than 30 years. She fled from Iraq in 2001; this was a very dramatic journey that was to take almost a year, ending under American protection in Thailand. She has lived in Sweden since 2003. 

 

The bestselling author Åsa Larsson has been awarded the Booksellers Prize in Bilbao, the Silver Pen, for her book Solstorm (Sunstorm in English and Aurora Boreal in Spanish). It has already amazingly reached the 23^rd edition published by Seix Barral. Solstorm is the first titles in the series about Rebecka Martinsson and the rights have been sold to 20 countries.