Nordic Noir Books

THE HISTORY of Nordic Noir:

A sub-genre of thrillers and mystery's that likely came about around the 1990's. Henning Mankell is accredited as the father of the genre. I would say in the US, Stieg Larsson, is the Author who really made this genre in the mainstream audience. Today authors such as Jo Nebo and Lars Kepler have taken the forefront.

WHAT IS Nordic Noir:

Scandinavian crime fiction that involves solving horrific crimes. They take place in dark urban settings with environments spanning out to more desolute areas. The investigators are far from perfect who struggle with their own moral compass. Involved are violent crimes these police officers investigate and try to capture and stop the perpetrators. They often feature flaws in society, misogyny, welfare state issues, immigration and politics.

Steig Larsson - The Millennium Trilogy

Steig Larsson's books embodied all that's nordic noir. They were published posthumously. His Millinium series was a hit for good reason, they are excellent!

“Salander was the woman who hated men who hate women.” ― Stieg Larsson,

The Millennium Trilogy

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" Excellent!

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" Excellent!

"The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" Excellent!

Jo Nesbo - Harry Hole Series

Jo Nesbo is one of the best. His Harry Hole series are all great reads. He also has other books not in the series that are very good.

“Did you know that darkness has a taste, Grandma?” ― Jo Nesbø, The Snowman

Harry Hole series

The Bat (1997)

Cockroaches (1998)

The Redbreast (2000) Sharpshooter with evil historical background

Nemesis (2002) Highly recommend.

The Devil's Star (2003) Highly recommend.

The Redeemer (2005)

The Snowman (2007) One of the top favorites. Highly recommend.

The Leopard (2009) Excellent.

Phantom (2011) Highly recommend.

Police (2013)

The Thirst (2017) Highly recommend.

Knife (2019) Recommend.

Killing Moon (2023) Looking forward to reading this one soon!

Lars Kepler

“.... it wasn´t the people who were buried who were being punished, but those left behind.” ― Lars Kepler, Sandman

Lars Kepler is a synonym from the husband and wife, Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril. They make Lars Kepler is my favorite author of Nordic Noir. Their books are incredibly intricate and well written into short breaks between chapters making these books unique in their style Somehow the duo pulls it off!

Joona Linna series

The Hypnotist - Hypnotisören (2009)

The Nightmare - Paganinikontraktet (2010)

The Fire Witness - Eldvittnet (2011)

The Sandman - Sandmannen (2012) The Best, you'll want to continue with more after this.

Stalker - Stalker (2014)

The Rabbit Hunter - Kaninjägaren (2016) Highly recommended

Lazarus - Lazarus (2018) Read Sandman first

The Mirror Man - Spegelmannen (2022) Will read soon!

The Spider (2023) Will read soon!

There is so much more to be added here and I just stared.

Please leave a comment on Nordic Noir below, I'd love to hear of your favorites, receommendations and insight you have into this special genre.

Nordic Noir Comments / Favorite Books

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