The Lynx Factor

Brand new crime novel by Finland’s besteselling female crime author! A new standalone sequel in the Bodyguard series!

The fifth title in the Bodyguard series by Finland’s bestselling female crime write deals with secrets of the super-rich in a claustrophobic space in Lapland.

Hilja Ilveskero is hired for a secret nature holiday center for the super-rich in Eastern Lapland called Ilvesvaara. The owner of the place fears the worst security threat is coming from the inside.

Arriving in Ilvesvaara, Hilja notices that this is not just an ordinary spa hotel, but a luxurious theme park, which is only accessible to eight guests at a time and where wildlife roams freely. Millionaire Aku Rautio will also appear soon. Hilja is already familiar with the man, as she has spent one hectic night with him. When Aku then mysteriously disappears, everyone in the resort comes under suspicion, including Hilja. Why doesn’t Aku’s wife want to report the disappearance to the police? Why did so many people in Ilvesvaara know Aku?

Leena Lehtolainen’s fifth Hilja Ilveskero novel is a dense mystery of an enclosed space that shows that even a lavish setting and the latest technology cannot protect people from unpredictable nature.


The Last Grudge

The third installment in the NYT-bestselling series – Published in the US on February 7, 2023!

A prominent business executive Eliel Zetterborg is found brutally murdered in his home in Helsinki. The company he led has just announced drastic cutbacks and Zetterborg gained hundreds of enemies and death threats in the process.

But the murder motive become less clear, when the police finds out that the murderer had other targets as well. The only clue the police has is a photo of Zetterborg with three other men, whose faces are all scratched off. Who are the faceless men, and why can’t the police identify them? Are they other victims? Or something more sinister?

While Jessica Niemi suffers from a mental breakdown after her encounter with the witch coven, Jusuf gets a chance to lead the investigations and prove his skills as a police officer, while helping Jessica battle her demons that seem to come closer and closer…


The Italian Game

“The heart of darkness is in the human mind.”

The Greater Milan area lives in fear. A mysterious stalker is terrorizing people, and a serial killer called the Harlequin is picking their victims, branding them with jewellery. Are the two cases connected?

Salla Kotka, starting her career as a forensic psychologist, gets pulled into the threatening chain of events as she begins working for a defense attorney. Their client is the suspected serial killer, and Salla needs to help the defense uncover the truth. But, in the end, does truth carry any value in the courtroom?

To make matters worse, her new job as a profiler seems like a battlefield, mined by suspicious colleagues and hostile clients. While Salla has to examine the darkest sides in others, she is also trying to come to terms with her own past. Can she trust anyone, even herself?


The Ice Coven

Standalone sequel to New York Times Best Seller, Faithful Reader aka The Witch Hunter – rights sold to 40 countries and Hollywood!

Jessica Niemi has another mystery on her hands: Two famous Instagram bloggers go missing, and a strange picture is uploaded
on both of their accounts. It’s a picture of an old lighthouse on a rocky island. And underneath there’s a poem. A poem that describes their deaths…

Jessica starts to investigate the disappearances and soon she finds out that the two bloggers have been sharing a secret that got them involved in something very mystical and dark.

“The heroine’s personal problems provide a fascinating counterpoint to a disturbing tale of murder and madness. — A desperate hunt for what may be a gang of serial killers flushes out a policewoman’s haunting past in Finnish author Seeck’s first English translation.” -Kirkus Review


Forever With You

A fast-paced and intensive psychological thriller that takes a deep dive into the brutal world of the music industry. A black, snowless winter hides a mystery on the bleak streets of Helsinki where rock music, obsession and evil love become entwined.

Janne Kallamaa is a struggling musician at the lowest point of his popularity, a major Finnish rock star of the 90s who is rejected by his record company. Soon after, the CEO of said company is found dead. Is it suicide or murder?

Meanwhile, Janne is tormented by a faceless stalker whose threatening messages hide more than meets the eye. It’s as if the stalker knows everything about the former star’s life, even his darkest secrets.

Is there a connection between the stalker and a violent crime in Stockholm? How much is a human life worth when compared to immortal music? Janne feels the net starting to tighten around him and the city of shadows, hiding behind Helsinki’s facade and breathing the threat of violence, does not grant him mercy.

This dark debut thriller asks what we are willing to sacrifice for art.


Follow the Butterfly

An addictive psychological thriller in the spirit of Gillian Flynn

Ida, 20, a serial killer who was abducted as a child, starts therapy with celebrity therapist Clarissa. Only one of them knows that they share a mutual secret from the past. Will the other one realize it before she gets murdered?

Clarissa is a middle-aged psychotherapist, the best in her field. She is familiar to everyone from her TV appearances and from glossy magazines. For her, every patient is a princess. And someone only she can save. Or can she? Clarissa already has one suicide to answer for; a teenage boy’s death never seizes to haunt her.

When Ida becomes Clarissa’s patient, a cat-and-mouse game begins in which rules are followed by no one. The kind of game that never ends well.


Cargo

The first installment in a fast-paced and addictive series.

A cargo container is found in Helsinki with a dead body inside.The property where the container is discovered, belongs to one of the most notorious businessmen in Finland. As Police Commissioner Paula Pihlaja begins to investigate the case, traces lead back to the businessman’s family, revealing decades of suspicious business ventures in Namibia.

Meanwhile, Paula’s own personal life is shaken by old memories that are now surfacing following recent events.When she was younger, she had to give her baby up for adoption. The boy, her son, is now in his twenties and facing a murder charge. Not only is Paula tormented by her own guilt about the adoption, she is also worried about what will become of her son.


Before the Polar Night Falls

The past and the present intertwine in this arresting novel with unforgettable characters!

A woman working for a law firm approaches Saana Havas to help with the mystery of her sister’s death. Her sister was found dead in a swamp near the Angeli village in Northern Lapland in 1998, and the murderer has never been caught. The police have given up on the case, and no witnesses were ever found in an area of Lapland that covers hundreds of kilometers. Saana promises to help her and receives all the material the client has collected. Part of this is a manuscript the woman wrote while investigating the case herself years ago.

Saana travels to the North and investigates as the winter and polar night keep creeping closer. As Saana investigates the old case, she also finds time to ponder her own roots. An old photograph shows her parents in love at the top of the Saana fell. By the time Saana was born, they all lived in Helsinki, and as the years passed her father returned to the North and her mother stayed in the South. Her mother, who has since passed away, never spoke about her father’s family or roots. Saana interviews the locals and soon finds out unexpected secrets.

Things take a threatening turn when another girl is found dead in Inari. What happened in the North all those years ago? Has the murderer come back after all these years? Who is trustworthy? Who has been carrying secrets inside themselves all this time? Set in both Helsinki and Lapland, this book is both a fascinating thriller and a detective novel about love, secrets, the magic of Lapland and nature, which acts as a silent witness.

Though part of the Havas-series, it’s not necessary to have read the previous installments in the series.