MILO by Max Seeck published in France!

We are so excited about the French publication of Milo, Échec et Mat, by our internationally bestselling author Max Seeck at Méra éditions! Milo is out as an e-book already and the physical book will be published February 14th! Milo has also been sold to Bastei Lübbe in Germany and Kodansha in Japan and many more. The German edition, BLINDSPIEL, will be published in June 2025.

Download the materials for Milo here!

Milo

✓ FINLAND’S NO. 1 BESTSELLER! Total sales 45,000 copies! 

✓ Solar Films will adapt Milo to an international TV series for global distribution, with development starting in 2024 and a planned release in 2026!

✓ Rights to Milo have been sold to Bastei Lübbe in Germany, Aschehoug in Norway, Mera Éditions in France, Latvijas Medijii in Latvia, Piemme/Mondadori in Italy, Pegasus in Estonia!

✓ Max Seeck won the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for The Last Grudge!

✓ Max Seeck’s books have sold over 400,000 copies in Finland! Big Hollywood news coming!

The game has only just begun.

On a cold November evening, a body is discovered on the shore of Seurasaari. The victim’s skin is covered with a thick layer of white paint, and during the autopsy, a chess piece is found lodged in its throat.

The police are baffled. Why would the murderer go to such lengths to disguise the body? And why wasn’t there any attempt to hide it?

Milo Perho, an art gallery owner specializing in profiling killers, is called in to assist. What follows is a nerve-wracking game where every move costs a life, and no one wants it to end in checkmate.

MILO is the gripping debut of the Milo series by internationally acclaimed author Max Seeck. Even before its release, the book’s translation rights were sold to numerous countries, and a TV series adaptation is already in the works.

“We are very honored to introduce the highly popular Max Seeck from Finland to Japan. Nordic mysteries is one of the most popular genre of crime fictions among Japanese readers, and we are very much looking forward to their reactions!”

— Yutaro Ichikawa, Editor at Kodansha, Japan

MILO
Merkitty – Tammi 2024 – 400 p.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FILM & TV: Solar Films
FRANCE: Mera Editions
GERMANY: Bastei Luebbe
ITALY: Piemme
JAPAN: Kodansha Ltd.
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji
NORWAY: Aschehoug

Reading Materials:
50 p. English sample + long synopsis, Finnish edition, synopsis of book 2

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck - New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Big Hollywood film & TV news coming soon!

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! 2024 will see the release of his independent novel MILO, which is already creating buzz internationally with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

Three new Children’s deals to Denmark!

We are thrilled to announce three new deals to Denmark for our children’s authors!

The Danish publishing house Bogoo acquired the Danish rights for DAD MAN AND THE EVIL LITTLE BROTHER, the second title in the bestselling DAD MAN middle grade series by Arttu Unkari and Kai Vaalio. This series is a huge bestseller in Finland, with over 200,000 copies sold! The German rights have been sold in a two-book deal to Mixtvision, who will publish both of the books in February

Bogoo also acquired the Danish rights to BENJAMIN BATEMAN AND THE WORST DAY OF SCHOOL, the third volume in the BENJAMIN BATEMAN series by Hannele Lampela and Pasi Pitkänen. Fourth book in the series will be published this summer!

And that’s not all. In addition to these two titles, Bogoo also acquired the rights to the third title in PET AGENTS series by Sami & Riina Kaarla, PET AGENTS 3: CHARGING AHEAD. 

The deals were closed by Martti Berner.

Request materials for the DAD MAN series here!

Request materials for the BENJAMIN BATEMAN series here!

Request materials for the PET AGENTS series here!

 

The Dad Man series:
Arttu Unkari, illustrated by Kai Vaalio

#1 Dad Man and the Exploding Poop
#2 Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother
#3 Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis
#4 Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp
#5 Dad Man and the Doppelgänger Disaster

The quirkiest cop in town! The Dad Man Series offers fast-paced adventures and humour for all ages – especially lower middle grade.

  over 200,000 copies sold in Finland!

  German and Danish rights sold! (Books 1-2)

  For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

  A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

  Books in the series have been nominated for the Storytel awards 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Best children’s audiobook), Best Newcomer of the Year 2020, and the Runeberg Prize 2023!

  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

  5 books available and more to come, work as standalones and can be read in any order!

Dad Man is a dad, and a policeman – but he also has a superpower! Too bad his superpower is one shared by almost all dads – an unwavering belief in himself and his own abilities. Dad Man truly believes he knows everything and can do anything, but as it goes with most dads, the reality is quite different. And it follows that Dad Man’s nine-year-old daughter Oona needs to solve all of the issues herself.

The Benjamin Bateman series:
Hannele Lampela, illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen

#1 Benjamin Bateman – Super Embarrassed Superhero
#2 Benjamin Bateman and The Curse of the Mind-popping Pranks
#3 Benjamin Bateman and The Worst Day of School

What if your superhero costume looked like a butterfly and your only superpowers would be having a good heart and a lively imagination? Welcome to the embarrassing life of Benjamin Bateman!

3 books available and more to come, fourth to be published in summer 2025!

 Film in development!

  Nominee for the Arvid Lydecken Award 2023

  Rights sold to Denmark!

The wholly hilarious and thrilling adventures of a super embarrassing superhero for middle-graders!

Benjamin Bateman is stunned when he finds out that he is part of a family of superheroes. Who would’ve believed that about poor Benjamin?

Benjamin’s superhero costume is quite embarrassing though – a butterfly. And his superpower is even more mortifying – having a good heart and great imagination! But when Benjamin must battle the terrifying Mortem, his imagination will come in handy.

 

PET AGENTS series:
Riina Kaarla, Sami Kaarla & Anders Vacklin

KATI-E is an independent girl who loves animals just as much as electronics and coding. TI-BOT is the flying robot Kati-e built. Together they are the PET AGENTS, and their mission is to solve pet problems!

✓ A delightfully illustrated series for robot fans and animal lovers alike!
Over 60,000 copies sold in Finland
✓ Series already sold in 8 territories!
✓ 10 books published, and more to come!

The Pet Agents series is a delightful series about friendship and pet care, filled with adventures. Each book – which can be read in any order – features new characters, locations, and pets from miniature pigs to virtual dinosaurs. Engaging, full of humour, and dealing with animal issues in a child friendly way, the series has charmed readers in Finland and internationally.

Available titles:
#1: New Pets & New Friends!
#2: Tracking a Thief
#3: Charging Ahead
#4: Lost in the Game
#5: In Deep Water
#6: Snowed In
#7: Wild City
#8: Mission on the Moon
#9: Masters of the Jungle
#10: The Hobby Horse Whisperer

PRAISE:

Children’s books about animals often train their readers to treat animals with respect. In the Pet Agents series, children interested in pets and other domestic animals also learn about their care and behaviour. The strength of the Pet Agents series lies in (…) its event-rich storytelling and abundant, colourful illustrations. The children in the series are active, energetic and have a wide network of friends.
– Lastenkirjahylly blog, Finland

Publication info the DAD MAN series: 

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), DENMARK: Bogoo (books 1-2), GERMANY: Mixtvision (books 1-2)

Reading Material:
English synopses, Series presentation, Finnish pdf

Publication info the BENJAMIN BATEMAN series: 

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), DENMARK: Bogoo (books 1-3)

Reading Material:
English synopses (books 1-3), English sample (book 1), Finnish editions

Publication info the PET AGENTS series: 

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
CZECHIA: Grada (books 1-4, 6)
DENMARK: Bogoo (books 1-3)
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat (books 1-2, 4)
POLAND: Media Rodzina (books 1-4, 6)
RUSSIA: Eksmo (books 1-4, 6)
SLOVAKIA: IKAR (books 1-2, 4)
UKRAINE: Ridna Mova (books 1-2, 4)

Reading Material:
English synopses, Series presentation, Finnish text

About author


Arttu Unkari

Arttu Unkari is a teacher from Helsinki and a Master of Education (University of Helsinki, 2015) who majored in ethics and philosophy.  He combines his educational background and experience as a teacher in his books – his stories are anarchist and zany, but at the same time the humour often revolves around profound and intriguing concepts such as honesty, obedience, and morality in ways that speak to children in their own language. His books are enjoyed by adults as well because they contain layers that open up differently to readers of all ages. This is one of the reasons Dad Man is such a great series for the whole family.

As an author Unkari is a Runeberg prize nominee 2023 for the third instalment of the Dadman series: Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis (Isämies ja hyytävä hypnoosi, Otava 2022). The Runeberg Prize is a literary prize awarded by the newspaper Uusimaa, the City of Porvoo, the Finnish Writers' Union, the Finnish Critics' Association and the Finland’s-Swedish Writer’s Association. The prize was established in 1986 and it is awarded annually in Porvoo on 5th February, the day when Finland celebrates their national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.  All of his previous books (Dad Man and the Exploding poop, Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother,  Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis and Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Finnish Storytel awards. He’s also participated in making a Finnish language schoolbook (Loikka 3, Otava 2022).

Unkari is a sought after inspirational speaker in his home country. He’s visited schools all over Finland advocating for the importance of reading.

About author


Hannele Lampela

Hannele Lampela's lovable works have been praised above all for their rich humor and ability to truly show the world from a child's perspective. She has the ability to enchant her readers, and that is why both children and adults love her stories. Lampela's works have been dramatized for example by the Finnish National Theater, Kuopio City Theater and YLE's radio plays. She has been awarded the prestigious Kaarina Helakisa Prize for her work and she has been nominated for Runeberg Junior award in 2019 and for Storytel Award, and Arvid Lydecken Award four times, most recently in 2023.

In addition to her fictional works, Lampela has written and created  a world of stories for the next national ABC book of Finnish schools. First graders across the country will learn to read through Hannele’s texts. Lampela lives in a small wooden house in the middle of apple trees with her family, and spends her days not only writing, but also pampering herself and others on a regular basis.

About author


Kai Vaalio

Kai Vaalio (b. 1986) is an illustrator, comic artist, and a bit of a cosmopolitan as well. He’s written and illustrated underground comic books for adults about his travels in South-East Asia and Latin America — the latter won Mondo magazine’s Travel book of the year award back in 2014. Recently he’s ventured into the world of illustrating children’s books mainly with Arttu Unkari’s Dad Man Series. Together they’ve made several books about this goofy detective and his clever little posse. The Dad Man Series has received Storytel Awards and Runeberg Junior 2023 award nominations. Vaalio’s been on and off in the graphic industry since 2005 when he graduated as a graphic designer from Lahti College of Arts and Crafts. In 2018 he got his bachelor’s degree from Lahti University of Applied Science.

About author


Pasi Pitkänen

Pasi Pitkänen has become known for his richly detailed illustrative work on several children’s books such as the extremely popular Monster Nanny trilogy by Tuutikki Tolonen. He has also worked at Rovio Entertainment as an illustrator, character designer, and graphic designer. Pitkänen is the illustrator of the popular Kepler62 series and the author of two Children's titles Monster Tournament and The Island of Lost Animals.

Among Pitkänen’s hobbies are quantum physics, people-watching, B-movies, insects and baking.