Scandinavian crime fiction

Since reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (by the late Swedish writer Stieg Larsson) and the other books in that series, I've been completely enthralled with the literary genre known as Scandinavian (or Nordic) crime fiction. I found out about Larsson's trilogy in the summer of 2008 when I was living in Europe. It was a huge seller over there, and my Swedish friend Katarina gave me a copy of the first book. I had no idea that one book would blow my mind so much and create such an interest in crime fiction and also this region of the world, but it has. Since then, I've discovered so many wonderful authors whose works (or at least some of their works) have been translated into English, including:

• Karin Fossum (Norway)
• Camilla Läckberg (Sweden)
• Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland)
• Jo Nesbø (Norway)
• Arnaldur Indridason (Iceland) 
• Liza Marklund (Sweden)
• Håkan Nesser (Sweden)

These are just the tip of the iceberg, hehehe. There are lots more authors from the region whose stuff I haven't read yet, but can't wait to read. Such as:

• Kjell Eriksson (Sweden)
• Anne Holt (Norway)
• Johan Theorin (Sweden)
• Henning Mankell (Sweden)
• Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark)
• Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström (Sweden)

Reading books set in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland (the one I'm reading now is set there) makes me want to travel to these places. (I haven't read a Danish author yet, but I will soon and I'm sure that will make me want to go to Denmark!) Hopefully someday, I'll be able to visit one or more of these countries. Reading about this part of the world is also a good way to keep cool when you live in a place that's had 30+ days of 100F (37C) temps this summer. :-) I can't tell you how many times lately I've let my mind go to a special place (e.g., northern Norway in the month of January). 

Check out what I've been reading over at Mariandy's Book Blog. And check out the Scandinavians next time you're in a bookstore, library, or online. 

P.S. Apologies to anyone whose name I spelled wrong by not having the right diacritics on my English language-centric computer. :-o