Some UK-available Nordic Noir/Eurocrime in translation markdowns:
@ £0.99 each:
- Nightblind by Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson, translated by British author Quentin Bates (SYKM), himself the writer of an Iceland-based series which I've liked so far, from Euro crime specialty imprint Orenda Books @ Amazon UK (not discounted at Kobo, but you can do the request a price-match after purchase). This is the 2nd in his Dark Iceland series of crime thrillers; #1 was a previously a £0.99 special, but has gone back up to £2.99.
The rest of the series is couponable @ Kobo using the OPEN50 50% off code for the UK which expires today. This series is not available in North America (although going from my local library's listings, the 1st book has been translated into Korean) slated for release next year by St. Martin's Minotaur Press, with a pre-order price of $14 CAD for the first book. Also available in French translation in Canada.
- #1-3 (couponable) in Norwegian author Thomas Enger's (SYKM, Wikipedia NO) Henning Juul series starring an investigative crime reporter in Oslo, out from Faber. This has been nominated for some sort of minor crime literature award, according to his Wikipedia page. I've started reading these, and so far it's been a slow but entertaining build which goes in-depth into the character of the sleuth before getting into the crime, and has a satirical deadpan sense of humour about the media industry (Enger is himself a journalist).
For comparison, the North American-available versions are priced at $17 CAD each, non-couponable from Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint. (for some reason which I suspect is a glitch, Scarred is available from Faber at $2 CAD at Kobo CA)
@ £1.99 each (couponable):
Closed for Winter &
The Caveman by Norwegian author Jørn Lier Horst (
SYKM,
Wikipedia), out from mystery/crime specialty small publisher Sandstone Press. These are #7 & #8 in his William Wisting series starring a Chief Inspector in Larvik; #1-5 have not been translated into English yet. The series has garnered a bunch of Scandinavian crime writing prizes, according to his Wikipedia page.
@ £2.50 each (couponable)
- Blind Goddess & Punishment by Norwegian author Anne Holt (SYKM, Wikipedia), who is apparently known as the Norwegian "Queen of Crime". These are the respective #1 for her Hanne Wilhelmsen series starring a lesbian police officer in Oslo, and her Johanne Vik series starring a psychology professor, also in Oslo, out from Corvus/Atlantic. I started reading the 1st Vik novel a while ago when I picked it up during a previous sale, before I got sidetracked onto something else, and so far it was pretty decent, though not as engaging as the Enger Juul book.
The Vik series has not yet been made available in North America, but IIRC some HarperCollins imprint has the Wilhelmsen series and prices them at $17 now dropped to $8 CAD each (although I did get #1 & #2 when they dropped to $1.99 on sale). Incidentally, the latest book in the Wilhelmsen series garnered 3 Best Novel nominations in translation, according to SYKM.
- Dark Branches by Norwegian author Nik Frobenius, out from Sandstone Press. Apparently a standalone suspense thriller with horror-ish elements.
@ £3.99 (couponable):
Chilling Tales: 3-book Crime Thriller Collection by German author Sebastian Fitzek (
Wikipedia), an omnibus edition of 3 of his novels (
The Eye Collector,
Splinter, and
Therapy), which also happen to be individually marked down to £1.99 each, but are cheaper in this collected edition from Atlantic/Corvus.
These don't seem to be available in English translation in North America, but apparently this author has the widest spread of foreign-language versions I've seen at Kobo (and was popular enough in French translation to merit a minor spotlight in the 70% off thrillers sale at Kobo CA).