Scandi-noir: A (biased) list

It’s dark, bleak and lonely. The protagonists are often flawed, fractured characters with damaged souls. These are some of the ingredients of Scandinavian-noir, a sub-genre of crime writing popularised by writers such as Stieg Larsson (Swedish), Jo Nesbo (Norwegian) and Henning Mankell (Swedish).

My first encounter with Scandi-noir was via the author Asa Larsson, who I mistakenly borrowed in the place of Stieg in the prime of his popularity. Larsson continues to be a favourite of mine in the genre, her sparse prose borders on the poetic, and the atmosphere she creates of Kiruna in far-North Sweden is visceral and raw. Asa Larsson and the other writers on this list may be lesser known, but they are no less powerful.

Note: This list contains both writers of stand-alone novels and writers of series. It is also not an exhaustive list but rather those I most recommend.
 
Alvtegen, Karin (Swedish)

Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic)

Blaedel, Sara (Danish)

Bohman, Therese (Swedish)

Edwardson, Åke (Swedish)

Enger, Thomas (Norwegian)

Eriksson, Kjell (Swedish)

Fossum, Karin (Norwegian)

Heivoll, Gaute (Norwegian)

Hjorth, Michael (Swedish)

Høeg, Peter (Danish)

Holt, Anne (Swedish)

Jungstedt, Mari (Swedish)

Kallentoft, Mons (Swedish)

Kepler, Lars (Swedish)

Larsson, Asa (Swedish)

Nesser, Håkan (Swedish)

Ohlsson, Kristina (Swedish)

Persson, Leif G. W. (Swedish)

Roslund, Anders (Swedish)

Tursten, Helene (Swedish)

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (Icelandic)

Let us know what you think of these writers or of Scandi-noir in general!
(Dasha - Cronulla library)