Best Nordic Noir Books

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The best Nordic noir books: cold climates and colder crimes from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.

The ranking

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the brilliant, damaged hacker Lisbeth Salander investigate a wealthy family's decades-old disappearance. The first book of the Millennium series.

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Faceless Killers

by Henning Mankell

An elderly farming couple are murdered in the south of Sweden, and Inspector Kurt Wallander finds the case heating up with racial tensions. The first Wallander novel.

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Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

by Peter Høeg

Smilla Jaspersen, a Danish-Greenlandic woman living in Copenhagen, doubts that the death of a small Inuit boy was an accident, and begins her own investigation. A cold, atmospheric thriller.

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The Snowman

by Jo Nesbo

Oslo detective Harry Hole hunts a serial killer who leaves a snowman at the scene of each crime, in the early winter months when the first snow falls. A bestselling Nordic noir.

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The Redbreast

by Jo Nesbo

Harry Hole, a Norwegian detective with a drinking problem, tracks a hired killer and a conspiracy that reaches back to the Second World War. The second Harry Hole novel in English.

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Roseanna

by Maj Sjowall

The first of the Martin Beck novels: a young woman's body is found in a Swedish lake, and the police need weeks to learn who she was. The founding classic of Nordic crime fiction.

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Jar City

by Arnaldur Indridason

Inspector Erlendur investigates the murder of an old man in a Reykjavik flat, and the case leads back to a family's long-hidden secrets. Iceland's best-known crime novel, Jar City.

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Prepare for The Hypnotist to cast its spell In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is...

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The Keeper of Lost Causes

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Chief detective Carl Mørck, recovering from what he thought was a career-destroying gunshot wound, is relegated to cold cases and becomes immersed in the five-year disappearance of a politician.

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Best Nordic Noir Books

The ranking

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Faceless Killers

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

The Snowman

The Redbreast

Roseanna

Jar City

The Hypnotist

The Keeper of Lost Causes

Trending Books in Best Nordic Noir Books

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Faceless Killers

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

The Snowman

The Redbreast

Roseanna

Jar City

The Hypnotist

The Keeper of Lost Causes

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Best Nordic Noir Books

The ranking

Trending Books in Best Nordic Noir Books

Trending Mystery Booklists

Best Cozy Mystery Books

Best Handicapped Mystery Books

Best Culinary Mystery Books

Best Bumbling Detective Mystery Books

Best Caper Mystery Books

Best Suspense Mystery Books