Author Description

Scandinavian writing has been dominating the global crime fiction landscape, and this volume offers a delicious, devious sampling. “The latest entry in the publisher’s series (41 and counting) proves the resilience of, and market for, these locale noirs. Editor Bo Tao Michaëlis, a Danish book critic, is both scholarly and insightful in the introduction and outlines how the stories reflect the greed and ennui of modern Denmark in contrast to the Danish idyll depicted in tourist brochures. [... ] Although some stories veer from noir orthodoxy, there are fine examples of lyrical writing, noir sensibilities, and insight into the current Danish psyche. Overall, a very impressive anthology.” —Library Journal “The indefatigable noir series of anthologies (Orange County Noir, Trinidad Noir, Brooklyn Noir 3, etc.) focuses in its 43rd volume on the home of Hans Christian Andersen. [... ] Based on this collection, Copenhagen may be a great place to visit, but nobody seems to live there, at least not well or long.” —Kirkus Reviews Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book. Brand-new stories by: Naja Marie Aidt, Jonas T. Bengtsson, Helle Helle, Christian Dorph & Simon Pasternak, Susanne Staun, Lene Kaaberbøl & Agente Friis, Klaus Rifbjerg, Gretelise Holm, Georg Ursin, Kristian Lundberg, Kristina Stoltz, Seyit Öztürk, Benn Q. Holm, and Gunnar Staalesen. From the introduction by Bo Tao Michaëlis: “Copenhagen: the Little Mermaid, H.C. Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, and Karen Blixen, a big city that perhaps more than any other is the absolute capital, origin, and center of northern European romanticism of the 1800s. Denmark’s Copenhagen, with its ramparts and moats forming the shell of the city and suburbs, has retained a glint of back then, that world of yesterday..