Swedish shortlists

Nu avslöjar Svenska Deckarakademin vilka som är 2011 års fem bästa svenska kriminalromaner respektive de fem bästa till svenska översatta kriminalromanerna. 
Vilka som erövrar priserna avslöjas vid Deckarakademins höstmöte i Eskilstuna lördagen den 19 november.

Svenska:
Karin Alfredsson: Pojken i hiss 54 (Damm)
Arne Dahl: Viskleken (Bonniers)
Lars Kepler: Eldvittnet (Bonniers)
Hans Koppel: Kommer aldrig mer igen (Telegram bokförlag)
Kristina Ohlsson: Änglavakter (Piratförlaget)

Översatta:
Belinda Bauer: Mörk jord (”Blacklands”, översättning: Ulla Danielsson, Modernista)
Deon Meyer: Tretton timmar (”Thirteen hours”, översättning: Mia Gahne, Weyler förlag)
Denise Mina: Getingsommar (”The end of the wasp season ”, översättning: Boel Unnerstad, Minotaur)
Peter Temple: Sanning (”Thruth”, översättning: Johan Nilsson, Kabusa)
Domingo Villar : Nattens mörka toner: Ett fall för kommissarie Leo Caldas (” Ollos de auga/Ojos de agua”, översättning: Lena E Heyman, Ekholm & Tegebjer)

Unfortunately my Swedish isn’t good enough to translate this news about the Best Swedish crime novel shortlist [won last year by Leif G.W. Persson] and the Best Translated crime novel, the Martin Beck award, shortlist [won last year by Deon Meyer]. But even I can work out that the battle for the Martin Beck award will be interesting with nominees from England, South Africa, Scotland, Australia and Spain. My money is on Australia’s Peter Temple for Truth. 

Reading the CWA Ellis Peters shortlist: R.N. Morris

I have started reading the next book in my personal challenge to read the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Award shortlist. This is The Cleansing Flames by R.N.Morris, and looking back to my review of A Razor Wrapped in Silk, his previous book in the St Petersburg mystery series featuring Porfiry Petrovich- the investigator from Crime and Punishment, I noted that at that time [March 2010] I was struggling with a shattered kneecap. I became so engrossed in the book and for a while forgot about the pain. Perhaps the handfuls of delicious codeine tablets helped as well.

The Cleansing Flames is set in Tsarist Russia in 1872, during a long period of revolutionary turmoil that culminated in the events of 1917. I am particularly interested in this part of Russian history, because my great grandparents and grandparents had the good sense to decide that frequent pogroms and providing cannon fodder for the Tsar’s wars was not a future they wanted for their descendants, and emigrated en masse to the UK. It was a sad irony that the family’s first child born in England [my uncle] was to die fighting in a British uniform in the September 1918 assault on the Hindenburg Line. 

I was a little surprised to find that this is the first time Roger Morris has been shortlisted for the award, although he did get  special mentions for A Vengeful Longing in 2008, and A Razor Wrapped in Silk last year. Hopefully this shortlisting will bring a lot more readers to this intelligent series.  

Last year Roger Morris was kind enough to submit to my online interviews which gave us some fascinating insights into the series. Here are the links to that interview, his own website and the reviews of his books.

The website of  Roger Morris. 

Part One of the Roger Morris interview 

Part Two

Part Three

Final part       

M is for Morris. 

Crimeficreader’s review of A Gentle Axe, the first book in the Porfiry Petrovich series.

My review of A Vengeful Longing at Eurocrime.

My review of A Razor Wrapped in Silk