THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #1: Revenge

Kaisu Tuokko

Original title: Kosto

Author: Kaisu Tuokko

Published: 2023

Publisher: Otava

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 298

Part of a series: The Kristinestad Murders

Reading material:

Full English translation, Swedish Edition, Finnish Edition, Series presentation

The peace of the idyllic seaside town Kristinestad is broken in the first installment of an addictive new crime series. Nordic Noir with heart — and consequences.

✓  Swedish and German rights sold! Full English translation available!

✓  For fans of Viveca Sten’s The Sandhamn Murders, Camilla Läckberg, Mari Jungstedt and Åsa Larsson!

✓  Crimance at its best: where crime fiction meets emotional intelligence all set against the haunting beauty of Finland’s west coast. Suspenseful, raw, and unforgettable.

✓  Bestselling series – over 50,000 copies sold, nominated for BookBeat’s Newcomer Of The Year Award 2023!

The body of a young man is discovered in the sea, and the criminal investigator Mats Bergholm is responsible for the case. At the same time, journalist Eevi Manner is sent to dig out a scoop of the event for the local newspaper. Both are surprised to find each other on the grim beach: the two have a past together – a past which they now need to set aside to solve the case.

Eevi is contacted by a young woman, and it becomes clear that the death is just one link in a chain of events unfitting the picturesque town. The full picture becomes clearer and clearer, although the secrets of the locals are buried deep. Social media and recordings can offer help in solving the case, but the lies and muddy memories of the people involved cast doubts in every direction.

Kristinestad, a postcard-perfect Finnish coastal town where guilt simmers beneath the calm. Tight-knit, bilingual, and built on silence, it's a place where people disappear — emotionally and literally.

“While I'm anxiously waiting for something to be written in the style of, or comparable to The Sandhamn Murders, the drama series based on Viveca Sten's books, so that Kristinestad will be put on the murder map, a novel by Kaisu Tuokko comes out. (…) There are rumors about interest for adapting Kaisu Tuokko's crime series into a TV series and after reading it, I understand why. This is not a Nordic noir of the cruelest kind, but it has flow, and cozy factors interleave with current themes such as social media, youth problems, drugs and crime related to gangs on the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia.”

– Gunnar Högnäs, Nya Argus newspaper

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), Förlaget (Finnish-Swedish)
GERMANY: Aufbau Verlagsgruppe
SWEDEN: Förlaget

Foreign covers

About author

Kaisu Tuokko

Kaisu Tuokko is a bestselling Finnish crime author and publishing professional whose fresh, emotionally intelligent voice is reshaping what Nordic Noir can be. With a strong background in the book industry, she understands not only how to craft a compelling novel, but how to build a lasting literary brand.

Her stories don’t just ask “whodunnit,” but “why do we stay silent?” Crimes are never just plot points; they’re rooted in empathy, social fault lines, and the moral complexity of everyday life.

Set against the eerie beauty of small-town Finland, her Kristinestad Murders series explores what lies beneath idyllic surfaces: buried secrets, fractured families, and relationships haunted by longing, silence, and shame. At its core is the idea that we may never truly know the people closest to us — and that some secrets are more dangerous than others.

Tuokko lives in Helsinki, loves rainy autumn evenings, small-town mysteries, and Swedish language, and named her unforgettable lead characters after her grandparents.

Photo credit: Maria Metsäranta

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Kaisu Tuokko

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #3: Lies


2024, Crime & Suspense

Kaisu Tuokko

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #2: Alone


2023, Crime & Suspense

Kaisu Tuokko

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #1: Revenge