It may seem premature to think about the contenders for this award, but my fellow bloggers are well advanced in reviewing books that are setting a high standard for the 2012 short list. Even I, at my slower reading pace, have read one and half really brilliant books that should challenge for that short list.
These are Trackers by Deon Meyer translated from the Afrikaans by Laura Seeger, and thanks to Maxine of Petrona an ARC of The Unlucky Lottery by Hakan Nesser, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson, which although I am only half way in has had me laughing out loud at the author’s irreverent treatment of the standard police procedural.
The main contenders will probably be books from authors who have won, or at least been nominated previously, but from my sneak peeks at other bloggers reviews, and opinions, there may be some dark horses.
You can visit Karen’s encyclopedic Euro Crime website for a full list of the eligible books, but I am going to select just a dozen hopefuls and see how close I can get to next year’s short list. At this stage most of this will be pure guess work as I haven’t read eleven and a half of the novels yet.
Trackers: Deon Meyer [South Africa]
The Unlucky Lottery: Hakan Nesser [Sweden]
Outrage: Arnaldur Indridason [Iceland]
The Quarry: Johan Theorin [Sweden]
The Boy in the Suitcase: Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis [Denmark]
Until Thy Wrath Be Past: Asa Larsson [Sweden]
Dregs: Jorn Lier Horst [Norway]
The Bat Man: Jo Nesbo [Norway]
Sweet Money: Ernesto Mallo [Argentina]
Temporary Perfections: Gianrico Carofiglio [Italy]
Last Will: Liza Marklund [Sweden]
Disgrace: Jussi Adler-Olsen [Denmark]
These fairly wild guesses are a first draft, and as I read through the contenders, and Karen adds more eligible titles, I will revise and modify my long list, trying eventually to predict the winner. [The photo shows some Norwegian contenders for the International Dagger]
Giving opinions about books I haven’t read and know virtually nothing about makes me feel almost like a politician or a journalist, so do feel free to criticize my selections if you have read any of these books, or even if you haven’t. 😉
CRIME SCRAPS REVIEW 
Norman – I wouldn’t call these wild guesses. I’ll confess to not having read all of them, so I can’t make any judgements based on knowledge. But knowing the high quality of these authors and of your judgement I’d bet you’re not far off.
Norm, I make this mistake and have to check, but it’s ‘Temporary Perfections’ for the Carofiglio – which I am reading at the mo, as it happens.
Enjoy your reading! As you know, I don’t get much time for the translated stuff these days…
Thanks Margot. I thought it would be fun to make an early selection and see how imperfect that was next year. Of course getting a book title wrong doesn’t help.
Thanks for putting me right, Rhian.
I was concentrating so hard on spelling Carofiglio correctly and as you know men can’t multitask. Are you enjoying Temporary Perfections?
Only a couple of pages in at the mo as got sidetracked. This will need to be corrected pronto.
Your list looks like most of my coming reading list. Just finished Kjell Eriksson’s The Hand that Trembles, and am reading now Mercy or The Keeper of Lost Causes over here, which is quite good, which all of you across the pond already know. Did it just miss getting nominated for the 2011 prize or not get submitted by the publisher? The wit is just right, fits the main character well.
But I can’t believe we’re already thinking about the Dagger. That’s reading with pressure.
I’m glad to see that the Hakan Nesser book is funny. I’ve read two of these series and I swear that I sometimes stop in amazement when I’m reading and think, “Did he just say that”? And I laugh out loud in shock and awe. He really hits the nail on the head so to speak.
Well, I can see lots of good reading coming up if the books would arrive here and be stocked in my library or else the budget will explode again.
Make that Temporary Imperfections!
I agree it is an amazing set of possibilities this year, just from the ones I’ve read so far I could not choose between books by Asa Larsson, Johan Theorin, Thomas Enger, Jan Lier Horst, Deon Meyer, Arnaldur Indridason, plus several others just a tiny shade behind eg S Gakos, K Fossum and E Mallo. And there are about 6 months left to go for books to be published (let alone read!). At least Misterioso is not eligible as it is a US translation/publication. I don’t envy the judges this year!
Ooops, sorry, you are right, Temporary Perfections it is (should be arriving here later today).
Kathy, I don’t think Mercy was submitted by the publishers. This latest Hakan Nesser is fun and definitely lightening my mood a little. I hope you get a chance to read some of these.
Maxine, that was a confusing title rather like An Uncertain Place. The sequel to Temporary Perfections is probably Permanent Imperfections. It looks like the judges already have a difficult task for 2012, but it means some good reading for us.
From the novel:
“The world was teeming with endless possibilities in that warm and unexpected Roman February, as I teetered between the no-longer of my life as a child and the not-yet of my life as a man. It was a brief, euphoric, temporary moment in time. It was wonderful to stand, poised, in that moment. And only what is temporary can be perfect.”
[…] Posted on 2011/09/26 by Jose Ignacio I won’t argue with Norman about his post HERE, but I also think it’s fun to make some wild guesses for next year CWA International Dagger and […]
No guesses at all, but though I don´t care very much about daggers (when they are not used as lethal weapons), I´ll keep my fingers crossed for my countrywomen this year.
[…] Other recent posts speculating on the 2012 Dagger can be read at The Game’s Afoot and Crime Scraps. […]