Karin Alvtegen: Shame

Now available in mass-market paperback:

Shame
Karin Alvtegen
Penguin Canada
ISBN 978-0-14-305353-8
29 December 2009
Translated from the Swedish by Steven T. Murray

See also: trade paperback edition
En français : Honteuse

Two women are trapped by a past that won’t let go. At first sight, Monika and Maj-Britt are as different as two people can be. They have nothing in common but the determination to obliterate their memories. But then a tragic car accident briefly brings them face to face and forces them to confront the emotional voids and secret sadnesses they have been trying to bury. A suspenseful, psychological thriller, Shame reveals the ordinary days of the odd and lonely as they twist into self-destruction—and holds out a glimmering hope of redemption and acceptance.

Stieg Larsson: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Millennium 3: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Stieg Larsson
Viking Canada
ISBN 978-0-670-06903-3
25 May 2010
$32.00 in Canada

En français : La reine dans le palais des courants d’air

Curiously, the title for the British edition that came out in October is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (hornets, plural), whereas this forthcoming North American edition from Random House USA & Penguin Canada is entitled The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (hornet, singular). Not sure what to make of this…

In the third volume in the explosive trilogy that has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, Lisbeth Salander confronts political corruption from her hospital bed while a killer lurks next door.

From the Canadian edition:

As The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest opens, Lisbeth Salander—the heart and soul of Larsson’s two previous novels—is under close supervision in the intensive care unit of a provincial Swedish city hospital. And she’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: when she’s well enough, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for a triple murder. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will have to prove her innocence, and identify and denounce the corrupt politicians who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to become victims of abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot her revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now, Lisbeth Salander is ready to fight back.

From the British edition:

Salander is plotting her revenge – against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release.

With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.

From the American edition:

Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—is under close supervision in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: when she’s well enough, she’ll stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will have to prove her innocence, and to identify the corrupt politicians who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse. And, on her own, she will plot her revenge—against the man who tried to kill her and the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Lisbeth Salander is ready to fight back.

Camilla Läckberg: The Preacher (‘B’ format UK paperback)

Forthcoming in ‘B’ format UK paperback:

The Preacher
Camilla Läckberg
HarperCollins
ISBN 978-0-00-725394-4
15 April 2010
$17.95 in Canada

See also: previous ‘C’ format UK hardback and paperback editions
En français : Le prédicateur

In the fishing community of Fjallbacka‚ life is remote‚ peaceful − and for some‚ tragically short.

Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young holidaymakers in the area. Now a young boy out playing has confirmed this grim truth. Their remains‚ discovered with those of a fresh victim‚ send the town into shock.

Local detective Patrik Hedstrom‚ expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica‚ can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing‚ Hedstrom′s attention focuses on the Hults‚ a feuding clan of misfits‚ relgious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short − which of this family′s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?

Henning Mankell: The Pyramid (paperback)

Forthcoming paperback release:

The Pyramid: The Origins of Kurt Wallander
Henning Mankell
Vintage
ISBN 978-0-307-39835-2
6 October 2009
$21.00 in Canada

See also: hardback edition

Translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg, Laurie Thompson & Steven T. Murray

Now available for the first time in paperback from Vintage Canada, this international bestseller is the missing piece of the critically acclaimed Kurt Wallander mystery series: the story of Wallander’s beginnings.

The Pyramid is the prequel to the bestselling Kurt Wallander series, and reintroduces readers to a character they thought they knew everything about. Here, we see Wallander as a twenty-one-year-old patrolman, as a young father facing an unexpected danger on Christmas Eve, as a budding detective on the brink of middle age solving a case of poisoning, as an investigator solving the murder of a local photographer, and finally as a veteran detective discovering unexpected connections between a downed mystery plane and the assassination of a pair of spinster sisters. Watching this fascinating character come into his own and develop his signature methodical and instinctive work style, makes for riveting reading.

The Pyramid is vintage Mankell, and a must-have for his many fans.

Camilla Läckberg: The Stone Cutter

The Stone Cutter
Camilla Läckberg
HarperCollins

UK ‘C’ format hardback:
ISBN 978-0-00-730593-3
15 April 2010
$34.95 in Canada

UK ‘C’ format trade paperback:
ISBN 978-0-00-725398-2
15 April 2010
$22.95 in Canada

En français : Le tailleur de pierre

The remote resort of Fjallbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman’s net. But the post-mortem reveals that this is no accidental drowning! Local detective Patrik Hedstrom has just become a father. It is his grim task to discover who could be behind the methodical murder of a child both he and his partner, Erica, knew well. He knows the solution lies with finding a motive for this terrible crime. What he does not know is how this case will reach into the dark heart of Fjallbacka and tear aside its idyllic facade, perhaps forever.

Karin Alvtegen: Shadow

Shadow
Karin Alvtegen
Canongate Books
ISBN 978-1-84767-478-4
Canadian publication March 2010

Translated from the Swedish by McKinley Burnett

En français : Ténébreuses

In a nondescript apartment block in Stockholm, most of the residents are elderly. Usually a death is a sad but straightforward event. But sometimes a resident will die and there are no friends or family to contact. This is when Marianne Folkesson arrives, employed by the state to close up a life with dignity and respect. Gerda Persson has lain dead in her apartment for three days before Marianne is called. When she arrives, she finds the apartment tidy and ordered. Gerda’s life seems to have been quite ordinary. Until Marianne opens the freezer and finds it full of books, neatly stacked and wrapped in clingfilm, a thick layer of ice covering them. They are all by Axel Ragnerfeldt, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, with handwritten dedications to Gerda from the author. What story do these books have to tell, about Gerda, and more importantly about Ragnerfeldt, a man whose fame is without precedent in the nation’s cultural life, but seldom gives interviews?

Shadow is an utterly compelling novel about the lengths and depths people can be driven in order to achieve fame and acclaim, and the effect that this has on those closest to them. It is a story of dark family secrets, and the power of writing, involving murder, betrayal and the holocaust, which will keep readers gripped until its final thrilling revelations.

Henning Mankell: The Eye of the Leopard (Paperback)

Forthcoming paperback release:

The Eye of the Leopard
Henning Mankell
Vintage
ISBN 978-0-307-39784-3
14 April 2009
$21.00 in Canada

See also: hardback edition

Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell’s deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for over twenty years.

Hans Olofson lived through a tough childhood. His father drank himself into oblivion, and his mother was completely absent, only faded photographs offered Olofson any hint of what she may have been like. His adolescence was just as trying, and when his best friend and lover, Janine, tragically dies, he flees to Africa to carry out Janine’s only real dream in life — to visit the grave of a legendary missionary in isolated Northern Zambia. Upon his arrival in Zambia, Olofson is stunned. He finds it beautiful and mysterious, so he decides to stay and make it his home, eventually taking control of a small farm. It is there that Olofson discovers the fragile truce between the rich newcomers and black natives of the recently independent state . . . a truce that could rupture at any moment.

Alternating between Olofson’s years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement, a study in contrasts — black and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europe — and an exploration of the challenges and responsibilities that come with freedom.

Henning Mankell: The Pyramid

The Pyramid and Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries
Henning Mankell
The New Press
ISBN 978-1-56584-994-5
23 September 2008
$29.95 in Canada

See also: paperback edition

At last, a key addition to the Kurt Wallander mystery series: the book of short mysteries that takes us back to the beginning. Here we meet Wallander the twenty-one-year-old patrolman on his first criminal investigation, Wallander the young father facing an unexpected danger on Christmas Eve, Wallander on the brink of middle age solving a case of poisoning, the newly separated Wallander investigating the murder of a local photographer, and Wallander the veteran detective discovering unexpected connections between a downed mystery plane and the assassination of a pair of spinster sisters. Over the course of these five mysteries, he comes into his own as a murder detective, defined by his simultaneously methodical and instinctive work, and is increasingly haunted from witnessing the worst aspects of an atomized society.

Written from the unique perspective of an author looking back upon his own creation to discover his origins, these mysteries are vintage Mankell. Essential reading for all Wallander fans, The Pyramid is also a wonderful showcase for Mankell’s powers as a writer.

Henning Mankell: The Eye of the Leopard

The Eye of the Leopard
Henning Mankell
The New Press
ISBN 978-1-59558-077-1
30 April 2008
$29.95 in Canada

See also: paperback edition

Interweaving past and present, Sweden and Zambia, The Eye of the Leopard draws on bestselling author Henning Mankell’s deep understanding of the two worlds he has inhabited for more than twenty years.

Hans Olofson arrives in Zambia not long after independence, hoping to fulfill the missionary dream of his friend Janice. He is also fleeing the traumas of his motherless childhood: his father’s alcoholism, his best friend’s terrible accident, Janice’s death, his fear of an ordinary and stifled fate. Africa is a terrible shock, yet he stays and makes it his home. But he never fully comes to understand his place as a mzungu, a wealthy white man among native blacks, and the fragile truce between them. Rumors of an underground army of revolutionaries wearing leopard skins warn him that the truce is in danger of rupturing.

Alternating between Hans’s years in Africa and those in Sweden, The Eye of the Leopard is a bravura achievement and a study in contrasts—black and white, poor and wealthy, Africa and Europe—both sinister and elegiac.

Karin Alvtegen: Shame

Shame
Karin Alvtegen
Penguin
ISBN 978-0-14-305352-1
3 June 2008
$18.00 in Canada

Original Title: Skam
See also: mass-market paperback edition
En français : Honteuse

Two women are trapped by a past that won’t let go. At first sight, Monika and Maj-Britt are as different as two people can possibly be—they have nothing in common but the determination to obliterate their memories and be left alone. But when a tragic accident brings them face to face, the emotional voids at the centre of their lives threaten to engulf them and they are forced to confront the secrets and the sadness they had hoped to bury. A suspenseful psychological thriller, Shame reveals the ordinary days of the odd and the lonely as they twist into selfdestruction—and holds out a glimmering hope for redemption and acceptance.