Tapani Bagge
Tapani Bagge (born 1962) has written over twenty children’s and teenage books, over fifty Jerry Cottons, a few television series, radio plays, TV screenplays, and comic scripts – over 70 books in total. Among them, there are nine crime novels, hard-boiled and noir, with plenty of black comedy. His closest counterparts are Dashiell Hammett, Donald Westlake, Elmore Leonard and Chester Himes, with a bit of Jim Thompson thrown in. At the moment there are six Hämeenlinna Noir crime novels where Bagge depicts the cops and cons of his home town with dark irony and warm humour. Bagge’s historical crime series of Detective Sergeant Mujunen of the State Police started out in 2009 with Valkoinen hehku (White Heat), where several assassins are plotting a hit against Minister Kekkonen in 1938. The next book in the series, Sininen aave (The Blue Phantom), is situated in 1940, just after the Winter War, and will come out in 2011.
For the children Bagge writes adventure and other stories with warm and sometimes absurd humor. He has written about Tahvo and Bella (Bud and Bella), Kaisa’s (Chloe) spirited shenanigans and the adventures of the Black Dog Detective Agency, with translations to Chinese under way.
Bagge has received multiple awards, most recently the Clew of the Year Award of The Finnish Whodunnit Society in 2007 for his novel Musta taivas (Black Sky). Musta taivas was also the Finnish candidate for the Nordic Glass Key Award in 2008. Tapani Bagge’s children’s book Maalla was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2010.
Rights sold to Germany (Godfathers’s Funeral, 2008, and Black Sky, 2006)
Praise:
“Bagge is a great writer, who really knows how to put together a good plot.”
– Forssan Lehti
Links:
Crime Fiction
Written by Tapani Bagge
Black Whirlpool
The black whirlpools of fate spin Mujunen from Helsinki to East Karelia.
The time is late summer, 1942, and the offensive phase of the Finnish Continuation War has bogged down in trench warfare. Former State Police Senior Detective Mujunen thinks his life is over, but then two femmes fatale and a nighttime air raid draw him back to work.
Communist prisoners escape from Riihimäki, north of the capital, and, soon after, a time bomb goes off in an antiaircraft ammunition depot in West Helsinki. One of the perpetrators is apprehended, but he escapes. One of these saboteurs, now disguised as a military lieutenant, is on the loose in Helsinki, as is the German Reichsführer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, whose life Mujunen is obliged to protect. At the same time, Mujunen experiences a torrid romance with a co-worker and does his best to save the Jewish refugees whom the leadership of the State Police intend to expel to Germany – meaning certain death. Himmler offers the same fate for all of Finland’s Jews.
On the trail of vandals and murderers, Mujunen ends up in Finnish-occupied Petrozavodsk, which has been rechristened Äänislinna, in the Finnish concentration camp and the Karhumäki amusement park set up near the front for the troops. He finally finds the truth in Berlin, but whose truth? Can a counter-espionage agent maintain his humanity during wartime, or is that just an unnecessary luxury?
Tapani Bagge has outdone himself again. Strong period description and precise character development combine in a fast-paced, exciting story that will also move you.
Written by Tapani Bagge
The Blue Phantom
Finnish crime fiction has a new, humane protagonist.
The year is 1940. Detective Sergeant Mujunen, familiar to readers of White Heat, is swept up in a new, more poignant chain of events. Mujunen, in mourning for the death of his wife, meets the Lithuanian dancer Ilse Anders at the cemetery, and his heart skips a beat. But his troubles are far from over.
A Finnish commuter plane vanishes after taking off from Tallinn, a bank is robbed in Kerava, and riots flare in Helsinki, the protesters demanding peace and brotherhood between Finland and the Soviet Union. Also involved is a big time gangster, Finnish-American Bill Kovanen, arrived too late to take part in the Winter War. Crime journalist Ossi Koho and photographer Sanna Rytkönen suspect a conspiracy: what if everything is connected with the accident where actress Sirkka Sari fell into the chimney of the Aulanko Hotel? The last act is played out on the windy shore of the Ice Sea, where Mujunen’s faith in mankind is put to the test.
Praise:
“The Blue Phantom is a high-quality, fast-paced thriller, which any friend of detective novels is sure to enjoy.” – Pertti Ehrnrooth, Keskisuomalainen newspaper
Written by Tapani Bagge
White Heat
A coup in Finland in 1938? This mosaiclike crime novel reveals what might have happened. In August 1938, Soviet Captain Helander is awaiting execution in the courtyard of a Spanish monastery. A familiar white heat, which Helander has seen before, appears in the eyes of the leader of the detachment. A moment later, a bullet flings him backwards into the mass grave. In Finland, Minister of the Interior Kekkonen is preparing to receive the Independence Day commemorative parade, but under the surface, things are boiling. Several assassins are plotting a hit against Kekkonen. Mujunen, the chief inspector of the State Police is hunting down the private secretary of a German arms dealer and secret documents. And banker Vähämäki’s new chauffeur looks oddly familiar. He is seeking the sparkling white plunder he lost in Spain, and is concurrently struggling to return to the past and avenge his father’s death.
Praise:
“The narrative is dynamic ––The many characters are vividly described, with humour blossoming even in the midst of sobering issues.”
– Umami
Written by Tapani Bagge
The Face in the Gutter
The Face in the Gutter (Kasvot katuojassa) is Tapani Bagge’s thirteenth crime novel, filled with wry humour, a devious plot, amusing metaphors, and even some skilfully sketched human relationships. The protagonist, Onni Syrjänen, has previously appeared in numerous short stories (e.g. in the collection The Face in the Concrete, 2007). A comic book is also in the works. Bagge has received several prizes for his over 50 published fiction and children’s books.
Bud and Bella books, Tammenterho (Acorn) -series
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Salla Savolainen
Bud and Bella in a Peasouper
to be completed soon
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Salla Savolainen
Bud and Bella in the Whirlwind
to be completed soon
Chloe books
A wonderful, warm series for children learning to read on their own. Easy-to-read, but linguistically insightful stories entice the fledgling reader to take a journey in the world of books.
Chloe is a the energetic daughter of a single dad and lives in the same apartment building as “the boys”, also known as Patrick and Peter. All the adventures of everyday life are just around the corner when these three set off. One could almost include Mr. Lewis, the janitor of the building, as the fourth member of the gang.
Alongside her silly games with the boys and Mr. Lewis, Chloe also has to deal with more serious issues, such as her parents’ divorce, missing her mother, meeting Dad’s new girlfriend and losing her grandmother.
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Hannamari Ruohonen
In the Country
Nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2010
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Katja Tukiainen
On a Visit
to be completed soon
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Katja Tukiainen
In Town
to be completed soon
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Katja Tukiainen
At Night
to be completed soon
Written by Tapani Bagge | Illustrated by Katja Tukiainen
Outdoors
to be completed soon
Black Dog Detective Agency
Written by Tapani Bagge
The Mystery of the Screaming Scull
The detective agency’s adventure begins mysteriously in a flea market. Deborah purchases a skull pendant, which is immediately stolen from her. Deborah, Sisko, Veli, and Osku track the thief across the city and find clues about a big jewel heist. But Inspector Migraine, who is investigating the incident, doesn’t have time for the youngsters. However, the thieves take them perfectly seriously!
Tapani Bagge weaves humour into his fast-paced plot. He leads the reader to extraordinary places where even the skulls scream. The Black Dog gang solves its third spine-tingling mystery in the streets and catacombs of Paris. Addictive excitement for children nine and up.
Written by Tapani Bagge
The Mystery of the Flaming Lizard
to be completed soon
Written by Tapani Bagge
The Mystery of the Headless Monk
to be completed soon
Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency Oy Ltd.
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