Who Wanders in the Dark

Elina Backman

Original title: Kuka pimeässä kulkee

Author: Elina Backman

Published: 2025

Publisher: Otava

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 380

Part of a series: Saana Havas series

The fifth novel by the world-conquering Finnish crime novel queen is atmospheric suspense at its best!

The shared summer holiday of journalist Saana Havas and crime investigator Jan Leino is interrupted when the body of a 40-year-old man is found in the Katri Vala park in Helsinki. Next to the body is a letter addressed to Jani. When another body with another note is found in the Sofianlehto park, Jani is forced to confront his past mistakes.

Saana travels to the old industrial village of Mathildedal to be a dog sitter for her childhood friend. The villagers are shocked by the appearance of a sign bearing the name of a young woman who disappeared in the village a few years ago. Who has left the sign and what do they know about the missing girl?

“The author manages to tell a well-woven, modern and varied story. The flashbacks to 1989, in particular, give the book depth and rhythm. The characters are worked out wonderfully and they are all Finnish weird in their own sympathetic way. As with any good read, you don't want to put the book down at the end [---]. Looking forward to more...”

– E.Fischer on lovelybook.de

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

About author

Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Saana Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 100 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1955. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

Who Wanders in the Dark


2024, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

How to Face Death


2022, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

Before the Polar Night Falls


2022, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo


2021, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

Still Waters Run Deep


2020, Crime & Suspense

Elina Backman

All the King's Men