Nordic Noir

I came across the phrase "Nordic Noir" in a review today and felt compelled to use the phrase, especially since there have been some interesting titles out lately that fit the phrase (that apparently all share the same color scheme). Here are a few:

Jar City: A Reykjavik Murder Mystery by Arnuldar Indridason (Iceland)
The American debut of the winner of the 2002 Nordic Crime Novel Award. Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson heads up the investigation into the killing of a solitary man, found murdered in his Reykjavik apartment, only to discover that the victim has only two friends, one in prison and one missing for twenty-five years, and that the dead man had been accused but not convicted of a rape forty years earlier.


The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson (Sweden)
When a jogger stumbles upon the mutilated body of the local reformed troublemaker and tropical fish expert during a morning run, Inspector Ann Lindell takes time off from maternity leave to uncover the killer and is drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a vicious murderer.



Lang by Kjell Westo (Finland)
Unable to resist his passion for a beautiful and secretive woman, Lang, a famous novelist and television show host, finds himself caught in a sinister love triangle that includes the woman's psychotic former husband, a situation that becomes increasingly violent.