TREATMENT by Hanna-Riikka Kuisma nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize!

We are very thrilled to announce that TREATMENT, by acclaimed and awarded Hanna-Riikka Kuisma, has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!

Hanna-Riikka Kuisma’s is known for exploring the darkness of the human mind and our contemporary society. She has published seven novels and a collection of short stories, which have been received with a critical acclaim. Her novel HIGH-RISE was nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Fiction in 2019, and she has received both the Satakunta Arts Council’s Art Prize and the Nortamo Prize for Literature. Her latest work TREATMENT has sold 4,000 copies and received critical success.

The jury praised the novel:

This work impressively depicts the protagonist’s internal confusion over the span of a few days. The view shifts from the present to the past, playing with the depiction of time to present a wide range of what kind of human trajectories could be hidden behind statistics. The gallery of characters is both recognisable and new in its humanity. The work’s relationship to its subject is analytical and empathetic.

Click here to download all materials for TREATMENT

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be chosen by Golden Globe-nominated actress Alma Pöysti, star of Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes-winning film Fallen Leaves. The announcement will take place on November 27.

TREATMENT

Hanna-Riikka Kuisma

A man’s life is shaken up when he hears news of his little sister, who disappeared decades ago. Will painful memories drag him back to the ruthless drug world of an industrial city, or will he manage to hold on to the new life he has worked so hard to build?

The novel, which takes place in two time frames, is an unstoppably realistic deep dive into the world of addiction, the shadows of our society and the stages of drug policy from the 1990s to the present day.

Publication Info:
Korvaushoito
Like, 2024, 348 pp.

Reading materials:
English synopsis
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Like (orig.)

About author


Hanna-Riikka Kuisma

Hanna-Riikka Kuisma (b. 1978) is a Pori-based writer, art critic and columnist. Kuisma is known for exploring the darkness of the human mind and our contemporary society. She has published seven novels and a collection of short stories. Her latest novel TREATMENT was nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction.

Kuisma's fifth novel, HIGH RISE, was nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Fiction in 2019, and in the same year she was awarded the Satakunta Arts Council's Art Prize. In 2021, she was awarded the Nortamo Prize for Literature.

Kuisma's debut collection of short stories, Elinkautinen, was published in 2005. Since then, she has published the novels Snake's Nest, Heart Shadow, White Light, Fifth Season, Apartment House, Guilty and Reparative Care. The Fifth Season was nominated for the Tiiliskivi Literary Prize.

The blackly intense atmosphere and surgical precision of Kuisma's works are counterbalanced by colourful visuals and poetic language. Her literary contemporaries include Juha Seppälä, Asko Sahlberg and Hanna Marjut Marttila.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

Treatment

Hanna-Riikka Kuisma


2019, Literary Fiction

High-Rise

Hanna-Riikka Kuisma

PINE BARK by Tommi Kinnunen nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize!

We are very thrilled to announce that PINE BARK, the latest title by acclaimed, award-winning author Tommi Kinnunen, has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!

Kinnunen’s bestselling novel, which has already sold over 30,000 copies, marks his sixth book and his fourth nomination for Finland’s most prestigious literary award. His works have been translated into 20 languages. and PINE BARK has been acquired by Varrak in Estonia and Shinchosha in Japan.

The jury praised the novel:

The book gives a voice to the forgotten victims of war, women and children, bypassing official war narratives. It describes, in a compact and carefully crafted manner, the impact of traumatic experiences on a person: what cannot be spoken of cannot be escaped; one must build a shield that also becomes a prison. Piece by piece, the work tensely unveils the tragedy that defines the characters’ lives and explores the multifaceted dimensions of the title motif.

Click here to download all materials for PINE BARK.

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be chosen by Golden Globe-nominated actress Alma Pöysti, star of Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes-winning film Fallen Leaves. The announcement will take place on November 27.

PINE BARK

Tommi Kinnunen

A densely atmospheric and arrestingly written novel about women’s fates in times of war, the difficulty of giving up, and how the proximity of death can change a person

A person cannot return to being who they once were without knowing who they have been.

In 2001, three siblings – Martti and twin sisters Eeva and Marja – meet in a small village in Northern Finland. Their mother Laina, an old woman who has been through the Second World War, is dying and the children have gathered to arrange the funeral. Even though the siblings have always been on good terms, Martti has always felt aloof, the odd man out. All of them reminisce about their childhood, but Martti remembers things slightly differently than the sisters.

As the novel progresses, the readers are transported through the decades and through Laina’s story, culminating in the Soviet partisan attack during the summer of 1944 that irrevocably changed Laina’s life. She has refused to recall the events and, at the same time, has denied her children the opportunity of remembering and recovering. “One can only talk about men’s war, as the women’s war is soundless and forbidden.”

As his mother’s death grows nearer, Martti reaches out to connect with his siblings and attempts to fill in the gaps in the story, but is it already too late?

Publication Info:
Kaarna
WSOY, April 2024, 204 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
ESTONIA: Varrak
JAPAN: Shinchosha

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
German sample
Finnish edition

About author


Tommi Kinnunen

Tommi Kinnunen (1973) was born in Kuusamo in northeastern Finland and currently lives in Turku, where he works as a teacher of Finnish language and literature. His works include novels, opera librettos, short stories, and a non-fiction title on the changes taking place in the Finnish school system.

Kinnunen’s novels give a voice to those whose stories have been kept untold. He made a stellar debut with Where Four Roads Meet (orig. Neljäntienristeys) which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and won the Young Aleksis Prize in 2015. The following novels The Light Behind the Eyes (orig. Lopotti), The Glass River (orig. Pintti), and Defiance (orig. Ei kertonut katuvansa) have been both critical and commercial successes. His books have been translated into 20 languages.

During his spare time, Kinnunen likes to refurbish old buildings.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

Pine Bark

Tommi Kinnunen


2022, Literary Fiction

Dark Moons

Tommi Kinnunen


2020, Literary Fiction

Defiance

Tommi Kinnunen


2018, Literary Fiction

The Glass River

Tommi Kinnunen


2016, Literary Fiction

The Light Behind the Eyes

Tommi Kinnunen


2014, Literary Fiction

Where Four Roads Meet

Tommi Kinnunen

HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER by Kaj Korkea-aho nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!

We are very thrilled to announce that HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER, an autobiographical novel by Kaj Korkea-aho, has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!

Kaj Korkea-aho is one of the most celebrated modern Finland-Swedish authors. His works have received both critical and commercial success and numerous accolades, including the Swedish Literature Society Prize, the Thank You for the Book Award, and nominations for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and the Finlandia Prize for children’s and YA literature. Kaj Korkea-aho’s works have been translated into 7 languages.

The jury praised the novel:

In this autofictional work, which challenges genre boundaries, the longing to become a parent is explored with raw honesty and an unforced style. The narrator contemplates what the moral lesson of the story could be: is it a tale of failure, or does hope find a happy ending? This creates a tension that is only released in the final lines. For the reader, the resolution of the protagonists’ journey offers a profound emotional experience, built upon strong empathy.

Click here to download all materials for HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be chosen by Golden Globe-nominated actress Alma Pöysti, star of Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes-winning film Fallen Leaves. The announcement will take place on November 27.

HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER

Kaj Korkea-aho

An autobiographical story about a gay couple’s journey to co-parenting

After eight years together, Kaj and Niko, living in Helsinki, decide to try to become parents. They start dating women, but the search for a co-parent seems impossible at first. What has to be right so that one could dare trust a complete stranger? Whose sperm cells should be used? How do you plan the future of a family that is outside the norms, in a society that is still coded heterosexually?

Kaj Korkea-aho’s autobiographical text about how three parents had a child is irresistibly touching, painful, and humorous. It bears traces of all forms of expression mastered by Korkea-aho – novel, podcast, blog, and drama – and can also be used as a kind of handbook for others in the same life situation. The book grabs the reader like a baby with its little hand and doesn’t let go until the book has been finished and the wonder of life has become a fact.

Publication Info:
Hur man möter en mamma
Förlaget, 2024, 240 pp.

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
Swedish edition (orig.)

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Otava (Finnish)

About author


Kaj Korkea-aho

Kaj Korkea-aho (b. 1983) is a writer, columnist and a comedian. Moreover, he has a career as an actor and a host in TV and radio. In his varied acting roles, he has often taken a stand for the rights of queer people, and his texts often discuss themes such as growing up, sexual minorities, religious revival communities and literature.

Korkea-aho has published four novels: Se till mig som liten är (God Who Holds The Little Dear) (2009), Gräset är mörkare på andra sidan (The Grass Is Darker on the Other Side) (2012), Onda boken (The Evil Book) (2015) which has been already translated into six languages and sold to Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, and now - Röda rummet (The Red Room) (2021). His books have attained wide readership in Finland and have scored several prizes, such as the The Swedish Literary Society’s prize in 2010 and 2013, the Thanks for the Book Award in 2016 and the Längmans Cultural Foundation’s prize in 2018. In 2017, Korkea-aho’s YA book Virala genier (Viral Geniuses) was nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize for children’s and young adult’s literature.

Since 2005, together with Ted Forsström, Korkea-aho has created comedy in Swedish for radio, TV and plays, whilst also writing the YA series Zoo! (the basis for the TV series Virala genier). Together, they also run the Ted & Kaj podcast, one of the biggest podcasts in Finland.

Kaj Korkea-aho was born and raised in the small town of Esse in Ostrobothnia, but now lives in Helsinki.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

How We Met Your Mother

Kaj Korkea-aho


2021, Literary Fiction

The Red Room

Kaj Korkea-aho

THE SECRET STAIRCASE by Salla Simukka and JP Ahonen nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize!

We are very thrilled to announce that THE SECRET STAIRCASE by award-winning and bestselling Salla Simukka and illustrator JP Ahonen has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Children’s and Youth Literature!

Salla Simukka is the multiple award-winning, internationally bestselling author of the Snow White trilogy, sold in 53 countries and Hollywood. JP Ahonen is a comic book artist and the illustrator of the cult classic Belzebubs project. A month ago, the Estonian rights for THE SECRET STAIRCASE were acquired by Ühinenud Ajakirjad.

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be announced on November 27.

The jury praised the title:

In this tantalisingly evocative fantasy, the text and vivid illustrations merge into a fine, polished whole. The story is about solving mysteries, making great friends and adapting to huge changes, whether it’s family or the vastness of dimensional boundaries. The narrative is engaging and the illustrations add delicious detail with a lightness of touch that encourages the novice reader to move forward.

About THE SECRET STAIRCASE

An exciting and touching novel about two boys, who live in the same house but in different realities. Can their friendship cross the border separating two worlds?

10-year-old Alexis’ family moves to a house where he gets the attic room. Another 10-year-old-boy, Max, moves to a house, where a great basement room is waiting for him. Soon the boys notice something weird in their houses: Alexis hears voices under the floor, even though they don’t have a basement. Max’s ears pick up someone playing an instrument from the attic, even though no one is there.

When the two boys finally meet, they realize that they can visit each other’s worlds at night time. But will their friendship endanger everything when the worlds start to blur into each other?

Download all reading materials for THE SECRET STAIRCASE HERE!

Publication Info:
Poika ullakolla, poika kellarissa, Tammi 2024, 200 pp, b&w illustrations

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ESTONIA: Ühinenud Ajakirjad

Rights still available in the US, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands…

Reading Material:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

About author


JP Ahonen

JP Ahonen (1981) is a comic book artist, illustrator, and the author of several newspaper strips in his native Finland. He is best known for his graphic novel SING NO EVIL and the critically acclaimed strip series BELZEBUBS, which has evolved from a humble webcomic into a unique cross-media project, interweaving comics, music and animation.

About author


Salla Simukka

Salla Simukka is the author of the international success story The Snow White Trilogy: rights are sold in 53 territories and in Hollywood. She has written several novels for young readers and her accolades include the Topelius Prize 2013 and the Finland Prize 2013. Simukka has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award  every year 2021–2024. Where It All Begins, published in 2022, is her first novel for adults and in 2024 she started a collaboration with JP Ahonen on a middle grade novel.

Previously Simukka has written book reviews for the newspapers, translated all kinds of texts into Finnish, worked as an editor at a literary magazine and as a screenwriter for a popular TV show for young audiences.  She has also been working on the programme of Turku Book Fair in 2017–2020.

THE DIGITAL SPELL by Perttu Pölönen nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction!

We are very thrilled to announce that THE DIGITAL SPELL by Perttu Pölönen has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction!

Perttu Pölönen is a futurist, inventor and an inspirational speaker. In the Finnish media, Perttu has been called a gentle highbrow and fearless inventor. Future Skills has been a bestseller in Finland – where Perttu has become one of the most sought-after speakers inspiring thousands of people in his lectures.

His previous book FUTURE SKILLS has been sold to 8 territories! He has studied future technologies at Singularity University think tank, based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, co-founded an edtech company in Myanmar and won EU’s biggest science competition for youth. In 2018, MIT Tech Review honored him among the 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe.

The jury praised the book (THE DIGITAL SPELL):

The book reveals what smart devices and social media are doing to us. Without succumbing to cynicism, it uncovers the “magician’s tricks” that technology uses to steer our thoughts and values. This engagingly written work sheds light on the path to a future internet built on human values.

Click here to download all materials for THE DIGITAL SPELL.

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be announced on November 27.

THE DIGITAL SPELL

Perttu Pölönen

The book that every social media user should read! The third book by popular speaker and sales success Perttu Pölönen!

Only a few dozen social media executives ultimately decide where the attention of billions of people will be directed. At the same time, a large part of the population is unable to explain how the internet works, even at a basic level. We have embarked on a massive human experiment with an alarmingly inadequate understanding.

Of the many consequences of the smartphones, only a few were desired, considered, and intentional. Smartphones have altered human behavior more profoundly in just two decades than any previous technology in the same timespan. We have allowed social media to alter our perception of the world, thinking, values, and behavior. The change has been unpredictable, imperceptible, and fundamental—mental health issues, shortened attention spans, polarization, and loneliness are just a few of the outcomes. Perhaps technology is not merely a neutral tool or a solution to our problems but rather a guide that reveals our real problems.

In his latest book, Perttu Pölönen asks what kind of technology we wish to use, who we want to develop it, whose interests it should serve, and what we use technology for. In the era of ChatGPT and generative AI, discussing design, values and ethics has become more crucial than ever. Billions of people are already “plugged into the system”—now we need to find answers to how that system should ideally work.

Saisinko huomiosi? Kirja, joka jokaisen somenkäyttäjän pitäisi lukea

Otava, 2024, 336 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
German sample
Finnish edition

About author


Perttu Pölönen

Perttu Pölönen is a futurist, inventor and an inspirational speaker. In the Finnish media, Perttu has been called a gentle highbrow and fearless inventor. Future Skills has been an instant bestseller in Finland – where Perttu has become one of the most sought-after speakers inspiring thousands of people in his lectures.

Bibliography


2023, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

The Digital Spell: The Hidden Power of Persuasive Technology

Perttu Pölönen


2021, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Future Identities

Perttu Pölönen


2020, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Future Skills

Perttu Pölönen

SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER by Salla Vuorikoski nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction!

We are very thrilled to announce that SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER by an award-winning journalist Salla Vuorikoski, has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction!

Vuorikoski’s bestselling book has already sold over 12,000 copies, just three weeks after its publication. An international edition will soon be available. Rights already sold to Estonia at auction.

The jury praised the book:

The smooth narrative grips the reader from start to finish, and the precise, analytical text articulates the heated political developments of recent years. This intelligent, engaging work seeks an explanation to the question that haunts the political audience: what happened to Sanna Marin?

Click here to access all reading materials for SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER!

Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be announced on November 27.

Sanna Marin: Finland’s Young Prime Minister

Salla Vuorikoski

Sanna Marin through the eyes of her inner circle: how did she become an international superstar with 1 million followers on Instagram

In December 2019, a dramatic government crisis catapulted Sanna Marin to become the youngest Prime Minister in the world. Soon she was to lead a country whose inner and outer security would be threatened by a serious pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The outspoken Prime Minister garnered both admiration and spite. For some, Marin’s unconventional stance towards the ministerial institution was too much to bear. At the end of her term, the young social democrat from Tampere had grown to become an international superstar for whom Finland was too small and stifling.

This biography details how Marin became a liberal symbol, an opponent of right-wing populism, and a role model for the world’s young women. Readers learn in-depth about her passionate support of Ukraine, along with a dive into the history of Finland’s former prime minister who joined a group of former leading politicians turned global consultants and speakers as part of an international network of leadership.

Salla Vuorikoski, a team lead of the investigative journalism unit at Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, has amassed an extensive amount of information and interviewed dozens of political insiders and individuals close to Marin.

This book tells the story of what happened behind closed doors. What kind of leader was Sanna Marin? How did she change during her tumultuous ministerial years, and how did she become an international superstar?

Publication Info:
Sanna Marin. Poikkeuksellinen pääministeri

WSOY, 2024, 467 pp.

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), ESTONIA: KAVA Kirjastus

Reading Materials:
English sample,
Table of contents and a summary of each chapter (international edition),
Full Finnish manuscript

About author


Salla Vuorikoski

Salla Vuorikoski is an accomplished journalist who currently works as the team lead of the investigative journalism unit at Finland's largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Vuorikoski is an experienced reporter known for handling tough subjects and has previously worked at MTV, the public broadcaster YLE and Suomen kuvalehti magazine. She has been awarded the Great Journalism Prize and the Lumilapio Award for investigative journalism.

Bibliography


2024, General Nonfiction

Sanna Marin: Finland's Young Prime Minister

Salla Vuorikoski

Two-book Italian deal for Hannu Laakso’s Animal Family series

Last week was busier than ever with deals, including a two-book Italian rights deal for Hannu Laakso’s MEET THE FOX FAMILY and MEET THE BEAR FAMILY, acquired by Editrice Il Castoro! This is our first deal for Hannu Laakso, our newest children’s book author and renowned award-winning photographer who mixes vibrant and intimate photographs with playful yet educational text from a baby animal’s point of view.

Il Castoro’s mission with children’s books is to “make readers passionate…and through the pleasure of reading kids can look at the world through curious and attentive eyes, and imagine the future.” Laakso’s Animal Family -series matches perfectly with this mission. As the author himself shares:

The purpose of these books is to inspire children to read and strengthen their connection to nature.

– Hannu Laakso

About MEET THE FOX FAMILY:

What does the fox family’s summer entail? Some quirky fun and playful lessons, for a start! Meet the Fox Family combines animal education with a fictional story to match. Readers will join these adorable foxes in their daily adventures, watching as the small pup grows up and becomes independent. At the same time, readers learn facts about foxes and their way of life. What do fox pups eat? What’s it like seeing the surrounding world through their eyes–literally? And why does a fox’s den smell?

This story presents the life of a seven-member fox family living on the outskirts of the city from spring to autumn. We see the joys and sometimes hardships, without forgetting the humor. Meet the Fox Family helps readers understand nature with an up-close view of these lovable foxes.

Download the fully photographed English PDF of MEET THE FOX FAMILY here!

 

About MEET THE BEAR FAMILY:

Meet the Bear Family describes the growth of a cute bear cub into adulthood and helps to understand the life of bears. The book combines information, stunning photographs and an engaging story in an unique way. How do bears prepare for winter? Why does a bear huddle against a tree trunk? What do a bear and a bogeyman have in common?

A lively and curious bear cub lives with his mother and siblings in a forest full of adventures. The mother tells him that bears are considered the kings of the forest. But even bears can be threatened by danger. Under her tutelage, the resourceful cubs learn important skills. The book follows a bear’s growth from the heady days of cubhood to the dawn of adulthood.

Download all reading materials for MEET THE BEAR FAMILY here!

Rights for the series are still available in France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands…

MEET THE FOX FAMILY

Publication Info:
Me Kettuset, Into 2020, 48 pp

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Into (orig.)
ITALY: Editrice Il Castoro

Reading Material:
Full English PDF, Finnish edition

 

MEET THE BEAR FAMILY

Publication Info:
Me Karhuset, Into 2021, 50 pp

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Into (orig.)
ITALY: Editrice Il Castoro

Reading Material:
Finnish edition

About author


Hannu Laakso

Hannu Laakso is a Finnish photographer and writer, who is fascinated by the purity of Nordic nature. He has won a Finnish state award for this children's Fun & Facts book series, which introduces us to urban and rural wildlife. He bought his first SLR camera in 1982. In 2014 he finally decided to start participating in international photography competitions. He has received 130 international photography awards, and well over 500 unique photos have been accepted to international photo exhibitions in more than 80 countries.

Bibliography


2024, Chapter Books (3-6 Years), Non-Fiction

Meet the Reindeer Family

Hannu Laakso


2023, Chapter Books (3-6 Years), Non-Fiction

Meet the Bird Family

Hannu Laakso


2022, Chapter Books (3-6 Years), Non-Fiction

Meet the Wolf Family

Hannu Laakso


2021, Picture Books (0-3 Years), Non-Fiction

Meet the Bear Family

Hannu Laakso


2020, Non-Fiction

Meet the Fox Family

Hannu Laakso

A SHORT HISTORY OF ETERNAL LIFE awarded with a Nonfiction Jury Award!

More award news: the Association of Finnish Nonfiction Writers, stated to be Finland’s biggest writers organization with over 3300 members, just awarded Tiina Raevaara’s A SHORT HISTORY OF ETERNAL LIFE! The award for Nonfiction Jury Award was presented at the Helsinki Book Fair.

About A SHORT HISTORY OF ETERNAL LIFE:

For fans of Yuval Noah Harari and Rutger Bregman.

Science is developing at an even faster pace, and people are living longer and longer. With what methods has humanity over time fought against aging and death, and what methods will be used in the future?

Tiina Raevaara’s book weaves together the beginnings of scientific history, vampire stories, as well as the discoveries of stem cell treatment and gene editing. It dives into the cryotank and asks whether the vision of a lengthy life is still worth pursuing. If humanity accepted that they are part of all things organic – both living and dead – could we finally get rid of all the exhaustion, anxiety and need to rush?

Click here to download all materials for A SHORT HISTORY OF ETERNAL LIFE!

Publication Info:
Ikuisen elämän lyhyt historia, Otava/Like 2024, 318 p.

Rights still available in Japan, China, UK, US, Italy, France, the Netherlands…

Reading Material:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

About author


Tiina Raevaara

Tiina Raevaara (b. 1979) is a writer, science journalist, and biologist who received a PhD for her work in genetics. She received the State Award for Public Information and the Pro Scientia Prize from the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. She has published ten novels, five non-fiction books, and a novella collection which was awarded the Runeberg Prize. Her suspense novel Double Helix (2020), the opening chapter of a new thriller series, received the Laurin Kirja audio book award, and the second installment in the series, Polar Vortex (2021), has been widely praised.

Raevaara’s books combine grand perspectives of natural science with compelling literary expression. She draws inspiration from Nordic nature, the major questions of science, and the complexities of humanity.

Raevaara lives in Kerava, a small town in Southern Finland, and goes on daily walks in the forest with her two black dogs.

Bibliography


2024, Narrative Nonfiction

A Short History of Eternal Life

Tiina Raevaara


2022, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

Me, My Dog, and Humanity: A History of Coexistence Between Species

Tiina Raevaara

Latvian rights for PRANKENSTEIN acquired by Petergailis!

So much exciting deal news this week! We’re thrilled to announce that Petergailis has acquired Latvian rights for Prankenstein, the clever and hilarious book by Kaisa Paasto, with illustrations by Mari Ahokoivu.

The news couldn’t come for a better time. We’ve just received the cover for the sequel book, Bride of Prankenstein. Doesn’t it look fantastic? Tammi will publish the Finnish edition in May 2025 and we have a full English text for you to read.

Prankenstein doesn’t underestimate children with its choice of words; instead, it even offers a bit of a challenge. The result is a fun and smooth-flowing children’s book.
– Kirjavinkit

About PRANKENSTEIN:

For fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Fifth grader Elmeri has never seriously considered a career as a prankster. But he manages to do a superbly great prank – completely accidentally. Elmeri’s cousin Robin thinks his chance has come and becomes Elmeri’s Personal Prankster Trainer. With his coaching, Elmeri will be the amazing Prankenstein and his best prank will be remembered by future generations!

Elmeri also realizes that pranks may be a good opportunity to impress Mima, who lives on the same street and is quite OK. The pranks also help when Leo, the bully at school, needs to be dealt with. But when a planned prank involves a famous magician and the president of Finland, Elmeri has to ask himself: can you take it too far?

Click here to download the full English PDF of PRANKENSTEIN and the full English text of sequel

And now for a sneak peek at BRIDE OF PRANKENSTEIN…

The very popular Prankenstein is back! Well, not quite.

After the previous prank disaster, Elmeri has sworn off pranks for good. No more pranks. At all. Zilch. Until someone starts pulling pranks on Principal Ruustinen, making it look like Elmeri is behind it. And things just keep getting worse…

Elmeri is excited about the big trip to Stockholm with Mima (the girl next door who’s “pretty okay”) and the other members of the student council. But now Principal Ruustinen wants to punish Elmeri, and the whole trip is on the line!

It’s clear that Elmeri’s arch-nemesis Leo is behind all of this – or is he?

The original Prankenstein has to come out of retirement. He can’t just rest on his laurels when great deeds are waiting to be done.

 

Prankenstein’s strength lies in its straightforward portrayal of an ordinary family.
– Lastenkirjahylly

Publication Info:
Prankenstein, Tammi 2024, 112 pp, b&w illustrations

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi, LATVIA: Petergailis, POLAND: Greg, WORLD SPANISH (excl. Spain): VR EDITORAS Mexico

Reading Material:
Full English PDF

About author


Kaisa Paasto

Kaisa Paasto spent her childhood in the north of Finland and now lives in Espoo with her husband, two children and Saku the dog. Kaisa has a master’s degree in Comparative Literature and has previously worked as translator, content specialist and entrepreneur. Apart from the Anni books she has published psychological thrillers for adults by Storytel Original.

About author


Mari Ahokoivu

Mari Ahokoivu is a Finnish illustrator and a comics artist. She’s been drawing professionally for over 10 years, mainly drawing graphic novels and comics for children, including Sanni & Joonas and Lola Olifante. Ahokoivu loves everything cute and scary. She lives and works in Copenhagen. 

Mari Ahokoivu won the Puupäähattu Comic Book Award 2023, and together with Laura Ertimo, they won the Tieto-Lauri Award 2022 and were nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2021 for WHERE DID THE ANIMALS GO?!

Sara Al Husaini’s powerful and bestselling debut wins the Young Aleksis Award

Sara Al Husaini’s powerful debut, A Disobedient Girl, has won the Young Aleksis Award, an honor given to the best Finnish book published in the past year. Following the footsteps of last year’s winner, our very own Maria Turtschaninoff with her international bestseller Inherited Land, this year’s prize celebrates al Husaini’s captivating storytelling.

The award jury, comprising high school students, praised the novel for its bold societal stance and relatable themes.:

The winning work, Disobedient Girl, is both important and unique in its subject matter. The plot addresses a woman’s journey to independence and the importance of having a voice in a culture where this is not a given. The book takes a strong societal stance, serves as peer support, and changes the world.

The work is written with honesty and directness. The descriptions in the book are easily relatable. The fact that the book is based on reality is thought-provoking, as in today’s Western societies, freedoms are often taken for granted. There are still countries where women are under the control of men. These cultural differences are naturally woven into the story.
The Young Aleksis Award Jury

Based on the author’s own experiences, A Disobedient Girl takes a very close and visceral look at the normalized misogyny and oppression of women in conservative Islamic tradition and deals with themes such as liberty, womanhood, and self-determination. It also highlights how such traumas can be inherited through the generations and how these grievances can only be transcended with dialogue and the will to change.

Originally published June 2023, A Disobedient Girl was one of the most successful debut titles of 2023 in Finland. It has sold over 35,000 copies, it was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize of 2023 and the Savonia Prize of 2023, and it won the BookBeat Newcomer of the Year Award of 2023!

Click here to download all English reading materials for the ravishing and powerful debut.

A Disobedient Girl shows what kind of acts are needed to stop the circle of evil. What kind of books are needed to change the world. And Sara Al Husaini is a first-class example of an author capable of this.
– Savon Sanomat newspaper

Sara Al Husaini’s novel A Disobedient Girl should be on the reading list of as many people as possible. It is an eye-opening and hopefully heart-opening story – or rather a document of sorts – about how the right to, among others, one’s own body is not everyone’s privilege.
 Kaisa Koski, Hämeen Sanomat newspaper

 

A DISOBEDIENT GIRL

Sara Al Husaini

A mother is escorting her daughter, trembling with fear, to the wedding suite door. This is what she’s been raised for ever since she was little, kept in wrapping paper like a precious sweet. This is the reason why she was brought back from Finland to Iraq.

A Disobedient Girl is an astonishingly honest and authentic story about the history of subjugating and silencing women, about abandoning one’s faith, honor violence, forced marriage, Islamic morality, the price of freedom, and the desperate desire for the right to self-determination.

About author


Sara Al Husaini

Sara Al Husaini (1992) is a human rights activist, feminist, and linguist from Helsinki. She was born in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia and moved to Finland as a child. She has studied English philology at the University of Helsinki and has worked, among others, as an intern at the European Parliament. She is currently a board member in Amnesty Finland and member of the steering group for UN Women Finland. In 2021, Al Husaini was chosen as the Refugee Woman of the Year by the Finnish Refugee Council.

Her debut novel A Disobedient Girl (orig. Huono tyttö) is a deeply personal story of experiences for which there haven’t been words before. Al Husaini's writing delves into the human psyche, weaving a tale that unravels the threads of cultural expectations and the resilience of those who defy them. Through her storytelling, Al Husaini seeks to provoke thought, challenge stereotypes, and ignite conversations that lead to meaningful societal shifts.

Bibliography


2023, Literary Fiction

A Disobedient Girl

Sara Al Husaini

Max Seeck’s new MILO series secures a two-book deal!

Max Seeck’s MILO series is on fire, securing a two-book deal in Estonia! The Estonian rights for the recently published first installment and its upcoming sequel have been acquired by Pegasus. The deal was closed by Elina Ahlbäck and Julia Bogen.

The first book of the series has already been sold to Bastei Lübbe in GermanyAschehoug in NorwayMéra Editions in FranceLatvijas Medijii in Latvia and Piemme in Italy. Solar Films adapts the book to an international TV show for global distribution. Pegasus joins this impressive list of publishers and by being the first to acquire the sequel, solidifiying Milo’s status as an international must-read in crime fiction.

Pegasus is proud to continue its collaboration with Max, whose previous books have also been published by the imprint. With this latest addition, readers can expect more thrilling narratives that highlight Seeck’s touch for suspense. Pegasus is known for its impressive list of Scandinavian crime authors, already home to heavyweights such as Camilla Läckberg, Lars Kepler, Viveca Sten, and Jussi Adler-Olsen.

Max Seeck is a New York Times and Spiegel Bestselling Author, and with MILO, he begins a new crime series, with a complex and relatable main character. Selling over  30,000 copies in Finland, and for the first time Max Seeck has claimed the top spot in Finland’s bestseller charts across all formats (print, e-book & audio) and genres. Just recently Max confirmed his status as the most translated Finnish author between 2020 and 2024, with 96 translations.

Rights still available in the UK, Spain, Poland, Czechia, Iceland, Japan, China…

Click here to download all reading materials for MILO!

About MILO:
Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems with his wife Ronja. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.

Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

About MILO 2:
It’s early September in Helsinki, Finland. Ten months have passed since the events of the first book, and a lot has happened. Our hero Milo Perho, an art gallerist and a criminal profiler, has divorced and moved on with his life. While his marriage has fallen apart, he actually has gained some more confidence and is happier single. Milo has given up his dreams of becoming a father, and he tries to enjoy life as it is.

MILO
Merkitty – Tammi 2024 – 400 p.

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FRANCE: Mera Editions
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe
ITALY: Piemme / Mondadori Group
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji
NORWAY: Aschehoug
FILM & TV: Solar Films

Reading Materials:
50 p. English sample + synopsis, Finnish edition

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

Arttu Tuominen voted top crime author by The Finnish Whodunnit Society!

For the 40th anniversary of the Finnish Whodunnit Society, the organization held a popular vote for favorite crime author, and out of 1,137 authors, #1 was Arttu Tuominen! The Finnish Whodunnit Society, founded in 1984, brings together crime fiction and detective stories enthusiasts. Their purpose is to promote crime literature. Their magazine publishes four times a year, and they often host talks and events with author guests like our very own Max Seeck and Martta Kaukonen!

Featured praise for Book 6 of the River Delta series: THE STAGER

The Stager is a top-notch showcase by an experienced, yet anything-but-predictable writer, demonstrating that when you have the skill, you can do anything. The book’s tension builds moment by moment toward the anticipated final bang…
–Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset

About THE STAGER:

A serial killer wants to be a director. You too can end up on stage. In Arttu Tuominen’s chilling detective story, the curtain is a guillotine.

A family – father, mother and primary school-age daughter – is watching TV together on a remote forest farm. The dog is lounging peacefully on the carpet at the family’s feet. What could be more idyllic? Except that they have all been killed and embalmed.

Soon another family is found, equally immortalized. Henrik Oksman, Jari Paloviita and Linda Toivonen of the Pori criminal police unit, under the leadership of Susanna Manner, quickly realize there’s a serial killer on the move who finds the presentation of the victims more important than the murders themselves.

The police will find out they too have roles written for them in this cruel play. Will everyone make it to the end of the show?

Can be read as a standalone!

Click here to download all materials for THE STAGER and the rest of the RIVER DELTA series.

Publication Info:
Lavastaja, WSOY 2024, 320 p.

Rights Sold (THE STAGER):
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), DENMARK: Modtryk, GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe, NETHERLANDS: De Fontein, STAGE: Pori Theatre

Reading Material:
English synopsis, Finnish edition, River Delta Series presentation

About author


Arttu Tuominen

Arttu Tuominen lives in Pori and works as  an environmental inspector. During the evenings, he writes dark and tough crime novels. Tuominen is skilled at giving a strong voice to both sides of the law, a humane and a recognisable voice.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

The Stager

Arttu Tuominen


2023, Crime & Suspense

The Liberator

Arttu Tuominen


2022, Crime & Suspense

Shamed

Arttu Tuominen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Silenced

Arttu Tuominen


2020, Crime & Suspense

Jeopardy

Arttu Tuominen


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Oath

Arttu Tuominen

Estonian rights to LITTLE MOUSE WELCOMES SPRING acquired by Rahva Raamat!

So soon after acquiring the eighth LITTLE MOUSE title by Riikka Jäntti, Rahva Raamat just acquired rights for book 9, LITTLE MOUSE WELCOMES SPRING! We are so proud of our Little Mouse, who is consistently a #1 bestseller in Estonia!

About LITTLE MOUSE WELCOMES SPRING:

Spring is here and Little Mouse has a lot to wonder about!

The ninth Little Mouse-title tells about the miracles of spring.

It’s so light in the evenings that Little Mouse cannot sleep. It’s spring. In the park and walking in the forest Little Mouse observes all kinds of things: the first butterfly of spring and a lizard. The ants that live in the cracks of stairs prove to be the most interesting, though.

There are some little worries with spring too as Grandpa Mouse has to go to the hospital. Little Mouse and Mummy Mouse visit him and Little Mouse thinks it’s a bit scary. Will Grandpa be okay?

Easter gets closer and the Easter Bunny brings Little Mouse a chocolate egg which is great fun to hunt after Mummy hides it. Will Little Mouse find the egg?

Click here to download all English reading materials for the LITTLE MOUSE series!

Publication Info:
Pikku Hiiri ja hiirenkorvat, Tammi 2023, 48pp

Rights sold for LITTLE MOUSE WELCOMES SPRING:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FRANCE: Cambourakis
POLAND: Filia
ROMANIA: Editura Paralera 45

Reading Materials:
Fully illustrated English PDF, French edition, Finnish edition

About author


Riikka Jäntti

Riikka Jäntti, a 2003 graduate of University of Industrial Art of Helsinki, now part of Aalto University, is a Helsinki-based illustrator and author who has created art for both nonfiction and fairy tale books for children. Her first children’s book was published in 2005. Jäntti is best known for the adorable Little Mouse series that has publishers in 20 territories, including Australia, Nepal, and China!

In her illustrations, she uses pen and ink as well as watercolor and gouache. In 2009 Jäntti won the first-ever Tieto-Lauri, an award for children’s and juvenile non-fiction, for her illustrations in Viidakkotanssi (Jungle Dance). The book was written by Markku Löytönen about the explorer Rafael Karsten in Ecuador.

Bibliography


2024, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

Little Mouse's School Picture Day

Riikka Jäntti


2024, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes on a Cruise

Riikka Jäntti


2023, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Welcomes Spring

Riikka Jäntti


2023, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes to the Museum

Riikka Jäntti


2022, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Fables

Riikka Jäntti


2022, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse and the Birthday Present

Riikka Jäntti


2021, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes Camping

Riikka Jäntti


2020, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Summer

Riikka Jäntti


2019, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Winter

Riikka Jäntti


2018, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Holiday

Riikka Jäntti


2017, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Christmas

Riikka Jäntti


2016, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Helps Out

Riikka Jäntti


2015, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse

Riikka Jäntti

PINE BARK by Tommi Kinnunen nominated for Botnia Literature Prize!

More award news: Tommi Kinnunen’s PINE BARK has been nominated for the Botnia Literature Prize! The Botnia is worth 15,000 EUR and goes to one selected literary novel published by a commercial publisher, with the writer coming from North Ostrobothnia. PINE BARK, published by one of the biggest houses in Finland, certainly qualifies.

PINE BARK was nominated from a record number of 99 other works and will compete with 7 others. This year the biggest factor for nomination was, in the jury’s words, strong narrative “that moved and carried me away” and that this is “a year of writing about wounds”. Like all of Tommi Kinnunen’s work, PINE BARK gives a voice to women and others who have historically suffered in silence.

Praise for PINE BARK on Mun Oulu media’s website:

Tommi Kinnunen’s characteristic sensory descriptions and polished expression form a lifelike and touching whole that does not let the reader go easy. PINE BARK kicks the legs out from under you and knocks the wind from your lungs.”

The winner will be chosen on November 9th 2024 – lots of onnea to Tommi Kinnunen!

Click here to download all materials for PINE BARK.

About PINE BARK:

A person cannot return to being who they once were without knowing who they have been.

In 2001, three siblings – Martti and twin sisters Eeva and Marja – meet in a small village in Northern Finland. Their mother Laina, an old woman who has been through the Second World War, is dying and the children have gathered to arrange the funeral. Even though the siblings have always been on good terms, Martti has always felt aloof, the odd man out. All of them reminisce about their childhood, but Martti remembers things slightly differently than the sisters.

As the novel progresses, the readers are transported through the decades and through Laina’s story, culminating in the Soviet partisan attack during the summer of 1944 that irrevocably changed Laina’s life. She has refused to recall the events and, at the same time, has denied her children the opportunity of remembering and recovering. “One can only talk about men’s war, as the women’s war is soundless and forbidden.”

As his mother’s death grows nearer, Martti reaches out to connect with his siblings and attempts to fill in the gaps in the story, but is it already too late?

Kaarna
WSOY, April 2024, 204 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
ESTONIA: Varrak
JAPAN: Shinchosha

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
German sample
Finnish edition

About author


Tommi Kinnunen

Tommi Kinnunen (1973) was born in Kuusamo in northeastern Finland and currently lives in Turku, where he works as a teacher of Finnish language and literature. His works include novels, opera librettos, short stories, and a non-fiction title on the changes taking place in the Finnish school system.

Kinnunen’s novels give a voice to those whose stories have been kept untold. He made a stellar debut with Where Four Roads Meet (orig. Neljäntienristeys) which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and won the Young Aleksis Prize in 2015. The following novels The Light Behind the Eyes (orig. Lopotti), The Glass River (orig. Pintti), and Defiance (orig. Ei kertonut katuvansa) have been both critical and commercial successes. His books have been translated into 20 languages.

During his spare time, Kinnunen likes to refurbish old buildings.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

Pine Bark

Tommi Kinnunen


2022, Literary Fiction

Dark Moons

Tommi Kinnunen


2020, Literary Fiction

Defiance

Tommi Kinnunen


2018, Literary Fiction

The Glass River

Tommi Kinnunen


2016, Literary Fiction

The Light Behind the Eyes

Tommi Kinnunen


2014, Literary Fiction

Where Four Roads Meet

Tommi Kinnunen

S. K. Rostedt wins the Best Book of the Year 2024 Award in fiction and interviewed by big Finnish broadcaster Yle!

We’re so proud of S. K. Rostedt who just won the Best Book of the Year Award for her debut romantasy, DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS! The award is by Finland’s biggest bookstore chain Suomalainen Kirjakauppa. Daughter of Two Bloods is already a bestseller, a debut novel with sales closer to 4,000 copies in one month!

The author was discovered on TikTok after gathering tons of hype for her book, which is the first Finnish romantasy. Unique to DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS is the influence of Finnish mythology, such as settings and characters from the Kalevala.

She was recently interviewed by the broadcasting company Yle, termed “the BBC of Finland” for her bestseller status and the way she caught the eye of Otava, one of Finland’s biggest publishers. An instant bestseller, DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS!

(Second featured photo: Thomas Hagström/Yle)

YLE pierces to the heart of the story, with the praise:
“The discrimination experienced by Moorna mirrors the bullying and culture of discrimination visible in society. On the other hand, Rostedt’s work wants to offer a moment’s escape from reality.”

Featured Praise for DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS:

This is a fast-reading and engaging fantasy where the pages turn almost by themselves. The world, and especially its demons, are wonderfully imaginative and the description is adequate. There is just the right ratio of gloom and humor. There are many tough topics and events, such as all kinds of violence, death and inequality, but also banter and silly situations. Of course, that romance is also present to an appropriate extent.
Kirjahullun Päiväkirja book blog

Daughter of Two Bloods is a wonderful novel for lovers of more entertaining fantasy, and I hope that its success will create even more space for romantasy in the Finnish literary scene.
Siniset helmet book blog

An addictive and titillating domestic fantasy novel that is just as good as all the hype suggests. Smooth storytelling, with just the right amount of plot twists and surprises. This book is on your mind when you can’t read it and you get sucked in as soon as you pick it up.
– Kirjoihin kadonnut bookstagram

About DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS

A debut enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel oozing with fae, demons, and hot romance for fans of  Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard, and Jennifer L. Armentrout…

Remena is a land where humans and fae coexist, seemingly on equal terms. Moorna is a 21-year-old half-blood whose life as an escort to the capital’s aristocracy is harrowing. She wants to pay off her escort debt as quickly as possible and return home with her friend Malkra to live a life free from discrimination. When Moorna accidentally stumbles upon the annoyingly handsome fae, Caidas, she is torn from all that is familiar and safe, and quickly learns that nothing is as it seems.

Click here to access all reading materials for DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS!

Publication Info:
Kahden veren tytär, Otava 2024, 509 pp

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Rights for DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS still available in Germany, France, Italy…

Reading Materials:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

About author


S. K. Rostedt

S.K. Rostedt aka Saara Rostedt (1993) is an author and marketing professional who grew up in Finland's book capital Sastamala. Now based in Helsinki, she is an avid romantasy reader who loves to spend time in nature and at her summer cabin. She has popular BookTok and Bookstagram social channels, where she talks about her writing and reading experiences. S.K. Rostedt, who gave up reading as a teenager, rediscovered the world of books in her twenties with the help of romantasy, Saara is known in social media as @skrostedt.

Bibliography


2024, Romance, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Daughter of Two Bloods

S. K. Rostedt

Estonian rights to SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER sold at an auction!

We hope everyone had a great FBF! Just as the fair wound down, we have more auction news: Estonian rights to Salla Vuorikoski’s SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER sold to the highest bidder, KAVA Kirjastus! The book is making waves in Finnish news outlets – in fact, it shot up to instant bestseller status within a week of release! Within the first week the book sold 6,000 copies in all formats!

An international edition will soon be available.

We are thrilled to share a praise from Valdo Randpere, co-owner of Kava Kirjastus:

KAVA Kirjastus is known in Estonia as the publisher of such international hits as Catherine Belton’s “Putin’s People“, Owen Matthews’ “Overreach“, Sylvie Kauffmann’s “Les Aveuglés” and Simon Shuster’s “Showman“.  We are very happy that Salla Vuorikoski’s book “Sanna Marin. An extraordinary prime minister” is soon to be added to this list.

Sanna Marin is, of course, a well-known Finnish politician to Estonians, who to all Estonians will always be the prime minister who brought Finland into NATO. We are sure that the book about her will open many more interesting and so far unknown aspects of Sanna Marin’s life and political activities to Estonian readers.

We would like to express our special thanks to the Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency, whose professionalism and promptness in reaching an agreement between us has been completely unprecedented.

We truly appreciate such kind words, we are excited to collaborate with KAVA Kirjastus!

Featured praise:

“The end result is a high-quality non-fiction book”
– Oskari Onninen, Helsingin Sanomat

“In the final part of the book, Vuorikoski lets herself go. She gives an interesting and comprehensive assessment of Marin’s transformation from prime minister and left-wing democrat to international celebrity with a huge social media following.”
– Heikki Vento, Suomen Kuvalehti

ABOUT SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER:

In December 2019, a dramatic government crisis catapulted Sanna Marin to become the youngest Prime Minister in the world. Soon she was to lead a country whose inner and outer security would be threatened by a serious pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The outspoken Prime Minister garnered both admiration and spite. For some, Marin’s unconventional stance towards the ministerial institution was too much to bear. At the end of her term, the young social democrat from Tampere had grown to become an international superstar for whom Finland was too small and stifling.

This biography details how Marin became a liberal symbol, an opponent of right-wing populism, and a role model for the world’s young women. Readers learn in-depth about her passionate support of Ukraine, along with a dive into the history of Finland’s former prime minister who joined a group of former leading politicians turned global consultants and speakers as part of an international network of leadership.

Salla Vuorikoski, a team lead of the investigative journalism unit at Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, has amassed an extensive amount of information and interviewed dozens of political insiders and individuals close to Marin.

Click here to access all reading materials for SANNA MARIN: FINLAND’S YOUNG PRIME MINISTER!

Publication Info:
Sanna Marin. Poikkeuksellinen pääministeri – WSOY 2024 – 467 p.

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), ESTONIA: KAVA Kirjastus

Rights still available in the UK, Germany, France, Scandinavian territories…

Reading Materials:
English sample,
Table of contents and a summary of each chapter (international edition),
Full Finnish manuscript

About author


Salla Vuorikoski

Salla Vuorikoski is an accomplished journalist who currently works as the team lead of the investigative journalism unit at Finland's largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Vuorikoski is an experienced reporter known for handling tough subjects and has previously worked at MTV, the public broadcaster YLE and Suomen kuvalehti magazine. She has been awarded the Great Journalism Prize and the Lumilapio Award for investigative journalism.

Bibliography


2024, General Nonfiction

Sanna Marin: Finland's Young Prime Minister

Salla Vuorikoski

Ukrainian rights for THE MANTICORE acquired by The Black Sheep, and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nomination!

How is everyone’s FBF going? Amidst the buzz, we have a mid-fair rights deal! Ukrainian rights to THE MANTICORE by Maria Turtschaninoff and illustrator Peter Bergting have sold to The Black Sheep, an imprint of V. Books – XXI. In the publisher’s words, the imprint “focuses on books with social and psychological topics as well as those addressing problems of emotional intelligence and social responsibility. It also creates bilingual editions to help Ukrainian children learn foreign languages.”

About THE MANTICORE:

The Manticore is told from the perspective of a young girl called Li, who starts suspecting that her stepmother is in fact a Manticore, an ancient monster intending on devouring the protagonist and her baby brother. She realizes that no one can help her because no one would believe her. So as the Manticore starts fattening up the children, the protagonist hunts for a way to defeat her. She soon realizes that the only way to kill a Manticore is with a mythical object: the horn of a unicorn. But where can she possibly find one?

Maria Turtschaninoff is a multiple award-winning fantasy author, published in 30 countries, and Peter Bergting is the author and/or illustrator of over 50 books of fantasy, sci-fi and horror.

Check out our fully illustrated English PDF of THE MANTICORE here!

And with perfect coincidental timing, THE MANTICORE’s author, Maria Turtschaninoff, along with our other talent: author Salla Simukka and author/illustrator Sanna Pelliccioni have been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, one of the most prestigious children’s literature awards that picks nominees from all over the world! Among the international talent, they are joined by big name children’s authors like Kate DiCamillo and Gene Luen Yang. The winner will receive 5 million Swedish kronor along with an illustrated diploma hand-lettered by a calligrapher. The laureate will be announced April 1 2025, meaning one person, at least, will have a happy April Fool’s Day.

Best of luck to Maria, Salla, and Sanna!!!

Publication Info:
Raben &Sjögren/Förlaget, 2024, 96 pp, 4c illustrations

Reading Material:
Fully illustrated English PDF & Swedish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Raben &Sjögren/Förlaget (Swedish), Tammi (Finnish)
DENMARK: Bogoo
UKRAINE: V. Books – XXI/The Black Sheep

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, winner of the Swedish YLE Literature Prize, winner of the Thank You for the Book Award, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2020-2024), and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. In 2024, Maria Turtschaninoff won the Eeva Joenpelto Literary Prize (10,000 euro award) for her literary masterpiece Inherited Land.

Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages, while her first adult novel Inherited Land has been sold to 23 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

About author


Peter Bergting

Peter Bergting is one of Sweden’s most renowned comic book artists and fantasy and children book illustrators. His career began in the late ’80s, providing art for games such as Mutant Chronicles, Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire, and Shadowrun. In 2006 he released his first comic book for Image Comics, followed by a run on Strange Girl with Rick Remender. After several graphic novels for IDW, working with Richard Morgan, Alex Irvine, and Joe R. Lansdale, Peter landed his first job for Dark Horse Comics, providing artwork for the Hellboy Roleplaying Game.

Since 2013, Peter has been working with Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden on various titles in the Mignolaverse, such as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Frankenstein – to date, more than 44 comic books and eight graphic novels. Peter is the author and/or artist of more than 50 books, including 20 graphic novels. In addition, Peter has provided hundreds of comics, children's, and fantasy books with covers and interior artwork for authors such as Clive Barker, Philip Pullman, J. R. R. Tolkien, Michelle Paver, and Frank Frazetta. For Swedish publisher Semic, Peter has written and illustrated a total of eleven fantasy novels and artbooks.

Peter has been nominated for the August award twice, for “Kråkorna”, and “Vi kommer snart hem igen”. In addition, he has won the Adamson statuette.

MILO Italian rights sold at auction to PIEMME/MONDADORI GROUP!

Max Seeck’s MILO is on fire, with another deal – this time rights were acquired in Italy at auction, conducted and closed by Elina Ahlback and Julia Bogen. The Italian rights to Max Seeck’s brand new series MILO has gone to his previous publisher Piemme/Mondadori Group. Solar Films adapts Milo to an international TV show for global distribution. Rights were previously sold to Bastei Lübbe in Germany, Aschehoug in Norway, Mera Éditions in France and Latvijas Medijii in Latvia. Huge congratulations, Max!

Max Seeck is a New York Times and Spiegel Bestselling Author, and MILO is currently Finland’s #1 Bestseller!! MILO has sold over 25,000 copies since publication in September! MILO begins a new crime series, with a complex and relatable main character, criminal profiler and art gallerist Milo Perho. Bodies with chess pieces in their mouth – Milo needs to understand the game of chess in order to catch a killer.

Praise for MILO:  

Milo is a slightly different Seeck detective story and as such a quality piece of work. More than that, it’s an outright masterpiece  (…)  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

About MILO:
Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems with his wife Ronja. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.

Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

Rights still available in the UK, Spain, Poland, Czechia, Iceland, Japan, China…

Click here to download all reading materials for MILO!

MILO
Merkitty – Tammi 2024 – 400 p.

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), FRANCE: Mera Editions, GERMANY: Bastei Luebbe, ITALY: Piemme/Mondadori Group, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, NORWAY: Aschehoug, FILM & TV: Solar Films

Reading Materials:
50 p. English sample + synopsis, Finnish edition

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

FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY nominated for Viktor Crime Award!

Exciting news! First up, FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY by Martta Kaukonen has been nominated for the Viktor Crime Award, a prestigious prize hosted by Germany’s most successful thriller author Sebastian Fitzek. Congratulations Martta!

Follow the Butterfly, aka “Therapiert”, was published by Heyne Verlag in February 2023 and it hit the Spiegel Bestseller list. The sequel, Meet Me in the Darkness (Traumatisiert), will be published in Spring 2025.

More information about the Viktor Crime Award in the organizer’s words:

 “The prize is awarded in the categories “international” and “national” and honors new, successful voices who have achieved the best debut in the genre of thriller literature in the last two years on the German-language market and who are also expected to achieve further success in the future. The prize is endowed with EUR 6,666 (EUR 3,333 per category).”

The book is on the shortlist with two other nominees in the international category. The winner will be announced on November 1st, at Europe’s biggest international Crime fiction festival, Mord am Hellweg.

Also…

Last Spring Martta Kaukonen was also nominated for the prestigious Glass Key Award!

The Glass Key Award (Glasnyckeln/Glasnøglen) is an award by the Scandinavian Crime Novel Society and is given out to a book written by a Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian or Swedish author each year. Previous winners include Henning Mankell, Peter Høeg, Jo Nesbø, Stieg Larsson, Karin Fossum, and last year Max Seeck! FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY has been sold to 16 territories. In Denmark, the title has been published by Falco in 2023 as Hvad ser du, translated by René Semberlund Jensen, which was the edition read by the international jury.

“A tense, unsettling, gripping serial killer narrative that takes some very unexpected turns… Such a clever book that juxataposes serial killing with some very profound points – my favourite kind of crime fiction. Highly recommended!'”
– Harriet Tyce

Finally, we’re excited to talk about Martta Kaukonen’s international press campaign! While details aren’t finalized yet for the other countries, we can talk about the book bloggers meet happening in Hungary.

Thanks to the lovely people at Martta’s Hungarian publisher Partvonal for helping us organize and setting up the event! This online chat will be conducted in English, happening October 17th 2024 at 16.00-17.00 CET.

Click here for event details and registration on Facebook!

For any of you who aren’t familiar with FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY, here’s a little bit about the book:

Ira, 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 Ira 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.

Click here to download all reading materials for FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY!

Publication Info:
Terapiassa, WSOY 2021, 407 p.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.) CROATIA: Znanje, CZECHIA: Albatros Media, DENMARK: Forlaget Falco, ESTONIA: Hea Lugu, FILM & TV: Legendary Tobis TV, GERMANY: Heyne, GREECE: Psichogios,  HUNGARY: Partvonal Kiadó, ITALY: Longanesi, LATVIA: Jumava, LITHUANIA: Obuolys, POLAND: Czarna Owca, WORLD ARABIC: Al Arabi, WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press, Audible (audio)

Rights for FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY still available in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway…

Reading Materials:
Full English manuscript and German edition

About author


Martta Kaukonen

Martta Kaukonen (1976) lives in Helsinki. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a film critic, whose reviews have been published in both Finland’s biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and a popular women’s weekly magazine Me Naiset. Martta has a master’s degree in arts. She has interviewed the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Justin Bieber. Martta met her husband at his second hand bookshop and fell in love. Alongside writing, Martta loves psychological thrillers, film noir, flea markets, abandoned houses and travelling. Martta’s debut novel FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY was published in March 2021. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY is an Instagram sensation in Finland, and the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper released a highly-praising review of it. During the first two months, the audiobook was listened to an awe-inspiring 2000 times and over. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY  has been compared to Gillian Flynn’s novel ‘Gone Girl’. 

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

Free

Martta Kaukonen


2023, Crime & Suspense

Meet Me in the Darkness

Martta Kaukonen


2022, Crime & Suspense

In Your Shadow

Martta Kaukonen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Follow the Butterfly

Martta Kaukonen

Danish 3-book pre-empt for THE LAST WORD series!

Great news from Denmark!

Cicero / Gyldendal pre-empted a three-book deal of the “Helsinki Noir” trilogy by Anne Hietanen and Michaela von Kügelgen, acquiring book 1: THE LAST WORD and its sequels DEEP WATER (working title) and DEADLY CONTRACT (working title).The print edition will be published by Cicero / Gyldendal in Denmark, while the audio and e-book rights in Denmark are handled by Word Audio Publishing Denmark. The deal was closed by Martti Berner.

Here’s what Mette Bentholm, Commissioning Editor, at Wapi and Cicero/Gyldendal had to say:

We are so happy to add Anne Hietanen and Michaela von Kügelgen’s captivating, well written and intelligent crime novels to our list. The Last Word will definitely appeal to the many readers and fans of Nordic crime novels in Denmark. The writing is sharp with believable characters in an atmospheric setting. We look forward to publishing the series and welcoming Anne Hietanen and Michaela von Kügelgen to the Gyldendal family.

The series attracted lots of buzz after the Gothenburg book fair a couple weeks ago, so we invite you to download all the reading materials for THE LAST WORD and the Helsinki Noir trilogy here.

Here is a little bit about book 1:

THE LAST WORD:
During the Helsinki Book Fair, author David Berglund is found dead in the Helsinki harbour – the same day he was set to receive a literary prize. His wife Aurora is almost due to have their first child, and the family idyll he always dreamed of would finally become a reality.

Philip Koski, a national hockey hero whose career was cut short by an injury, just joined the Helsinki Police Department and is assigned to the case. Philip struggles to cope with his new job, along with the fact people see him as nothing more than a has-been.

At the same time, cultural journalist Tilde Björkqvist digs into David’s story. The last person to interview him, encountering a man whose words of joy and gratitude did not match his desperate revelation. At work, Tilde struggles against antiquated hierarchies – why are they impeding her investigation of the young writer?

Meanwhile, Åsa Stråhle, head of the Bohre Foundation, is beside herself with grief. After years of trying to conceive, she is still childless. David and his twin brother Adam are the closest thing to a family she has, but she lost contact with Adam after he immersed himself in society’s dark underbelly. Åsa tries to keep up her façade while everything around her is falling apart.

 

Publication info:
SISTA ORDET
Swedish original manuscript, 82,000 words.

Rights sold:
DENMARK: Cicero / Gyldendal (print), Word Audio Publishing Denmark (audio & e-book)
All other rights available

Reading material:
Swedish manuscript
English sample & synopsis
Synopses of Book 2 & Book 3

About author


Anne Hietanen

Anne Hietanen (1974) is a well-known journalist with a prominent role at Svenska Yle, a public broadcasting service. Anne has built a diverse career, working as both a host and producer in radio, as well as in television, including on the talk show An Evening with Anne and Hannah. Currently, she hosts the popular podcast Sällskapet. Anne has long been an advocate for raising awareness about eating disorders, speaking extensively in schools and media. Her series Behandlingshemmet (Rehab) is a deeply personal account of her own journey to overcoming binge eating disorder. Throughout her career, Anne has written widely read articles and produced several audio series for Svenska Yle. She holds a master’s degree in literature and has studied philosophy in London. In addition to writing, Anne has a passion for grindcore music, values kindness, and enjoys laughing as much as possible.

About author


Michaela von Kügelgen

Michaela "Kugge" von Kügelgen (1986) has three published titles under her belt. Her debut novel, Vad heter ångest på spanska?, was published in 2017. Her most recent work, Kickstarta ditt skrivande, is a non-fiction guide to writing. Since 2020, Kugge offers highly regarded online writing courses, which have attracted participants from both Sweden and Finland. Kugge has a master’s degree in communication and has been a freelance journalist for over 10 years. Her newsletters on writing and entrepreneurship have over 1,800 subscribers. In the newsletters she shares her journey, offering encouragement to others while candidly discussing her own challenges and triumphs. In addition to her writing career, Kugge plays handball, has recently developed a passion for second-hand fashion, and slow travels to Berlin whenever she can — after having lived there for two years.

MILO #1 bestselling book in September

Great news for MILO by our international bestselling author Max Seeck. The book was #1 bestselling book in Finland in September. Congratulations Max!

Since its publication in early September the newest book by the NY Times bestselling author has sold over 25 000 copies and continues to dominate the top charts in print, e-book, and audio formats.

For those who don’t know, Max Seeck is one of Finland’s top selling crime authors, with over 400,000 copies sold. His popular Jessica Niemi series has sold in 40 territories and Hollywood, where Stampede Ventures is developing The Witch Hunter an international TV series. Solar Films is develeloping a feature film targeted towards an international audience.

MILO is following in the footsteps of Seeck’s previous successes, captivating readers!

About MILO:

Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems with his wife Ronja. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.

Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

Join the success all Max Seeck publishers around the world! And for our other Hot Frankfurt crime & thriller titles browse our rights guide here.

The rights are still available for Poland, Italy, the UK/US etc.. Get in touch with us and acquire your next bestseller!

Click here to access all reading materials for MILO!

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

Fantastic new praise for MILO, WOLF CUB, and OUR LAST GAME!

To round off the week, we have some fantastic praise for our hot titles: MILO by NY Times bestseller Max Seeck, our wilderness noir WOLF CUB by award-winning author Johanna Holmström, and OUR LAST GAME by Finland’s literary favorite Riikka Pulkkinen!

MILO

“I found Seeck’s choice to deal with infertility from a male perspective particularly commendable. In the book, a child is precisely Milo’s dream, and when that dream doesn’t come true, it leads to many unexpected consequences.”

– Amman lukuhetki blog

*****

“The most important thing for a detective story is, of course, a well-rolling, addictive plot that reveals just the right amount: not too much, not too little. (-) As before, Seeck draws both the characters and the milieu with such force that everything can be seen as a film before your eyes. Not surprisingly, a TV series is already in the pipeline.”

– Amman lukuhetki blog

You can download materials for MILO here!

WOLF CUB

“We end up in the middle of the primeval forest, the wilderness. The best writers create their own genre. Like Johanna Holmström. Understanding half of what Johanna Holmström means and wants is enough to think that “Vargens unge” is a really good novel, even the best Swedish-language detective, crime, police and suspense novel of the year. A crime novel and novel critical of civilization.

– Bengt Eriksson, Opulens magazine, Sweden

*****

“Johanna Holmström succeeds in telling a strong story about lost and lonely people, about children who are both loved and hurt, about living both inside and outside society, and also makes strong contemporary events such as the pandemic and the Ukrainian war into thought-provoking parts of the story. At the same time, she also writes a classic crime novel with police investigation, suspense and unexpected disputes. The mix of all this makes “The Wolf’s Cub” a great read for everyone, whether you like crime fiction or not.”

– Nerikes Allehanda newspaper, Örebro, Sweden

You can download materials for WOLF CUB here!

OUR LAST GAME

Pulkkinen masters the distinctive voices of the characters, right down to the narrator. The work poses ethical and philosophical questions through the mouths of its numerous characters… OUR LAST GAME asks how much of what was broken in childhood can be repaired with medicine. Above all, it asks what is ultimately broken in us and what is the fabric of life itself.

– Maija Alander, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

*****

Riikka Pulkkinen’s OUR LAST GAME is a masterpiece of psychiatric power. It is a stunningly beautiful cry for help for the mentally broken. The novel has the makings of a Finlandia nominee.

– Maaseudun Tulevaisuus newspaper, Finland

You can download materials for OUR LAST GAME here!

MILO
Merkitty – Tammi 2024 – 400 p.
Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), FRANCE: Mera Editions, GERMANY: Bastei Luebbe, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, NORWAY: Aschehoug, FILM & TV: Solar Films
Reading Materials: 50 p. English sample + synopsis, Finnish edition

WOLF CUB
Vargens unge – Albert Bonniers Förlag 2024 – 428 p.
Rights Sold:
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag (orig.), FINLAND: Förlaget (Swedish) & Otava (Finnish)
Reading Materials: English sample & 27-page synopsis, Swedish edition, Finnish edition

OUR LAST GAME
Viimeinen yhteinen leikki – Otava 2024 – 411 p.
Reading Materials: English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

About author


Johanna Holmström

Johanna Holmström is one of the most successful Finnish-Swedish writers of her generation. Her works have been published in over 10 countries.

She made her debut at 21 years old with the short story collection Inlåst och andra noveller in 2003, and was nominated for Sveriges Radio’s award. She had her literary breakthrough in 2009 with her fourth book, the short story collection Camera Obscura, which received both Svenska Dagbladet's literature prize in Sweden and Svenska YLE's literature prize in Finland.

Her novel Asfaltsänglar (2013) has been published in seven countries.  With Själarnas ö (2017), her acclaimed novel centered around women in a mental hospital in the Finnish archipelago from the late 1800s-1962, Holmström was nominated for the prestigious Runeberg Prize in 2018. Her short story collection Handbok i klardrömmar (2022) was the first Finnish-Swedish title to receive the Karin Boye prize in Sweden. Vargens unge (2024) is published by Albert Bonniers.

In her writing, Johanna Holmström explores the darker sides of human nature in a psychologically credible way. She writes about relationships and power structures within the family and society. Holmström is one of Finland's most skilled at environmental portrayal, and for her the environment is at least as central as the characters when it comes to creating drama. She has a narrative drive that few can match, without forgetting to maintain a top class and wayward language.

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.

About author


Riikka Pulkkinen

Riikka Pulkkinen (b. 1980) is one of the top names in Finnish literature. Her debut novel The Limit (2006) gained wide attention, was a bestseller, and was adapted into a play and a TV series in Finland. Her international breakthrough came with her second novel, True (2010), which was the one novel everyone was talking about that year at the Frankfurt book fair. The novel has been published in 17 countries to date.

Pulkkinen’s novels are characterized by the precision with which she describes the psychology of the characters, and the philosophical themes that reflect from the characters into the refined structure of the novels and culminate on the level of the plot. The main questions she explores in her novels concern power, responsibility, and justice.

Pulkkinen has an M.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Helsinki, and she lives in Helsinki with her husband and her two children. She enjoys dancing and running in the forest or by the seaside. If she weren’t a writer, she would be a psychologist or a baker.

For her works, Riikka Pulkkinen has received the Kaarle award in 2007, the Laila Hirvisaari Fund stipend in 2007, the Veijo Meri Award in 2019, and her novel True was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2010. Her acclaimed novel Enchantment (Otava, 2022) will be published in English by Scribe in 2026, and her new novel Our Last Game (Otava, 2024) published in Finland in August 2024 is gaining starred reviews.

FILI Grants Fall 2024 open from now until November 1st!

The FILI Fall 2024 grant application period is now open and will last until November 1st 2024! Now is the perfect time to acquire your Finnish bestseller and award-winner! Check out our Fall Catalogue here:  Ahlback Agency Fall 2024 – and latest news here: Ahlback Agency News

FILI offers grants to support the translation of Finnish literature. These grants are intended for publishers outside Finland and are to be applied towards the translator’s fee. Grants are awarded for translating works of fiction and general non-fiction, children’s and young adult (YA) books, and comics and graphic novels from the Finnish, Finland-Swedish and Sámi languages. Grants are awarded to cover part of the translation cost, on average, 50 to 70 per cent. Grants are also available for printing costs for comics and graphic novels and for children’s picture books. Read more here: APPLY FOR FILI GRANTS

Good news for German publishers: there is an extra guarantee of a 70% grant for German publishers.

FILI grants can be applied for all Ahlback Agency titles. Below are some picks of our bestsellers, award-winners & new titles. We look forward to spreading Finnish literature together!

 

Wolf Cub

Johanna Holmström

“Finland-Swedish Holmström’s suspense debut is unusually literary, also atmospheric, dense and unpredictable. In an instant, the mood can change from calming to unsafe. Whether it’s due to nature’s whims, threatening people or unkempt things that we suddenly imagine. Johanna Holmström manages to capture that. She is even more skilled at the relationships between people, when trust is there and when it is lacking. When everything breaks down.”

– Bella Stenberg, Ystads Allehanda newspaper, Sweden

“Vargens unge” is a really good novel, even the best Swedish-language detective, crime, police and suspense novel of the year. A crime novel and novel critical of civilization.

– Bengt Eriksson, Opulens magazine, Sweden

 

Our Last Game

Riikka Pulkkinen

“Pulkkinen masters the distinctive voices of the characters, right down to the narrator. The work poses ethical and philosophical questions through the mouths of its numerous characters… OUR LAST GAME asks how much of what was broken in childhood can be repaired with medicine. Above all, it asks what is ultimately broken in us and what is the fabric of life itself.”

– Maija Alander, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

 

Daughter of Two Bloods

 S. K. Rostedt

“An addictive and titillating domestic fantasy novel that is just as good as all the hype suggests. Smooth storytelling, with just the right amount of plot twists and surprises. This book is on your mind when you can’t read it and you get sucked in as soon as you pick it up.”

– Kirjoihin kadonnut bookstagram

 

The Kristinestad Murders #1: Revenge

 Kaisu Tuokko

”Will Kaisu Tuokko’s Kristinestad be Finland’s equivalent to Camilla Läckberg’s Fjällbacka or Mari Jungstedt’s Visby? Tuokko has taken a model from another classic author, namely Agatha Christie. The reader has no real chance to identify the killer, although clearly the most important question is ”who dunnit”. The key thing is that Tuokko succeeds in creating excitement and suspense by bringing up current social phenomena against an idyllic setting.”

– Taika Dahlbom, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

 

The Kristinestad Murders #2: Alone

 Kaisu Tuokko

“Kaisu Tuokko perfectly balances the combination of a gorgeous, atmospheric setting and the aftermath of a terrible crime that exposes the eerie underbelly below the shiny surface of lovely Kristinestad. Mats and Eevi, a police investigator and a journalist, complement each other so well because one of them can always keep digging where the other one reaches their limits. Her investigative team is capable and likeable – what more could you ask for?”

– Sarah Mainke, Editor, Aufbau Verlage, Germany

 

Milo

Max Seeck

“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
“The most important thing for a detective story is, of course, a well-rolling, addictive plot that reveals just the right amount: not too much, not too little. (-) As before, Seeck draws both the characters and the milieu with such force that everything can be seen as a film before your eyes. Not surprisingly, a TV series is already in the pipeline.”

– Amman lukuhetki blog

WOLF CUB
Vargens Unge
Albert Bonniers, 2024, 428 p.
Rights sold:
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag (orig.)
FINLAND: Förlaget (Swedish) & Otava (Finnish)
Reading materials:
English sample & 27-page synopsis
Swedish edition
Finnish edition

OUR LAST GAME
Viimeinen yhteinen leikki
Otava, 2024, 411 p.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish edition

DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS
Kahden veren tytär
Otava, 2024, 509 p.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish edition

Kristinestad Murders 1: REVENGE
Kosto
Otava 2023, 298 p.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
Full English translation
English sample and synopsis; series presentation

Kristinestad Murders 2: ALONE
Yksin
Otava, 2024, 300 p.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
Reading materials:
English synopsis and series presentation
Finnish edition

MILO
Merkitty
Tammi, September 2024, 400 p.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), FRANCE: Mera Editions, GERMANY: Bastei Luebbe, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, NORWAY: Aschehoug, FILM & TV: Solar Films
Reading materials:
Longer English sample + synopsis
Finnish edition

About author


Johanna Holmström

Johanna Holmström is one of the most successful Finnish-Swedish writers of her generation. Her works have been published in over 10 countries.

She made her debut at 21 years old with the short story collection Inlåst och andra noveller in 2003, and was nominated for Sveriges Radio’s award. She had her literary breakthrough in 2009 with her fourth book, the short story collection Camera Obscura, which received both Svenska Dagbladet's literature prize in Sweden and Svenska YLE's literature prize in Finland.

Her novel Asfaltsänglar (2013) has been published in seven countries.  With Själarnas ö (2017), her acclaimed novel centered around women in a mental hospital in the Finnish archipelago from the late 1800s-1962, Holmström was nominated for the prestigious Runeberg Prize in 2018. Her short story collection Handbok i klardrömmar (2022) was the first Finnish-Swedish title to receive the Karin Boye prize in Sweden. Vargens unge (2024) is published by Albert Bonniers.

In her writing, Johanna Holmström explores the darker sides of human nature in a psychologically credible way. She writes about relationships and power structures within the family and society. Holmström is one of Finland's most skilled at environmental portrayal, and for her the environment is at least as central as the characters when it comes to creating drama. She has a narrative drive that few can match, without forgetting to maintain a top class and wayward language.

About author


Kaisu Tuokko

Kaisu Tuokko’s aim is to create a series where interpersonal relationships and the idyll of a small town are mixed with cruel events – using psychological tension to build stories about how badly we know the families or friends of our neighbors, of our loved ones. Everyone has secrets, but some of them are more dangerous than others.

Tuokko loves the stories of strangers, secrets of small towns, rainy autumn evenings, and the Swedish language. She lives in Helsinki, and has named her main character after her grandparents.

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.

About author


Riikka Pulkkinen

Riikka Pulkkinen (b. 1980) is one of the top names in Finnish literature. Her debut novel The Limit (2006) gained wide attention, was a bestseller, and was adapted into a play and a TV series in Finland. Her international breakthrough came with her second novel, True (2010), which was the one novel everyone was talking about that year at the Frankfurt book fair. The novel has been published in 17 countries to date.

Pulkkinen’s novels are characterized by the precision with which she describes the psychology of the characters, and the philosophical themes that reflect from the characters into the refined structure of the novels and culminate on the level of the plot. The main questions she explores in her novels concern power, responsibility, and justice.

Pulkkinen has an M.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Helsinki, and she lives in Helsinki with her husband and her two children. She enjoys dancing and running in the forest or by the seaside. If she weren’t a writer, she would be a psychologist or a baker.

For her works, Riikka Pulkkinen has received the Kaarle award in 2007, the Laila Hirvisaari Fund stipend in 2007, the Veijo Meri Award in 2019, and her novel True was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2010. Her acclaimed novel Enchantment (Otava, 2022) will be published in English by Scribe in 2026, and her new novel Our Last Game (Otava, 2024) published in Finland in August 2024 is gaining starred reviews.

About author


S. K. Rostedt

S.K. Rostedt aka Saara Rostedt (1993) is an author and marketing professional who grew up in Finland's book capital Sastamala. Now based in Helsinki, she is an avid romantasy reader who loves to spend time in nature and at her summer cabin. She has popular BookTok and Bookstagram social channels, where she talks about her writing and reading experiences. S.K. Rostedt, who gave up reading as a teenager, rediscovered the world of books in her twenties with the help of romantasy, Saara is known in social media as @skrostedt.

Two more Ahlback Agency titles nominated for Young Aleksis Award!

Recently, we announced the good news that THE INVISIBLES by Sanna Isto was nominated for the Young Aleksis Award, and now we are pleased to report that ØRJA by Riikka Sandberg and A DISOBEDIENT GIRL by Sara Al Husaini have also been nominated!

The Young Aleksis Award jury is made up of young adults. So while these titles are literary fiction, we highly recommend them for young adult readers.

ØRJA is a fateful novel about friendship, passion and secrets buried in the sea from the end of the occupation of Norway till the 1970s.

1952. A gigantesque mail carrier lives on the island of Ørja with her boat-building father. His last boat is left unfinished, and the daughter takes on the task. The boat is sold to an island-dweller who is the subject of many chilling rumors.

1976. Tine arrives in Ørja to put up a traveling cinema. But what is even more interesting than the projector, is the wire recorder she finds in the shed. It talks of a tragic past that the island community has kept silent about.

A rebel. A spouse. A savior. A friend. A lover. How many lives can one person live? What happens when they collide?

Click here to access all reading materials for ØRJA!

 

A DISOBEDIENT GIRL is the winner of the BookBeat Newcomer of the Year Award, a novel that shakes the reader to their core.

A mother is escorting her daughter, trembling with fear, to the wedding suite door. This is what she’s been raised for ever since she was little, kept in wrapping paper like a precious sweet. This is the reason why she was brought back from Finland to Iraq.

A Disobedient Girl is an astonishingly honest and authentic story about the history of subjugating and silencing women, about abandoning one’s faith, honor violence, forced marriage, Islamic morality, the price of freedom, and the desperate desire for the right to self-determination.

Click here to access all reading materials for A DISOBEDIENT GIRL!

ØRJA

Publication Info:
Ørja, Otava 2023, 395 p.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig), SWEDEN: Norstedts

Rights to ØRJA still available in Germany, Norway, Denmark…

Reading Materials:
English sample and synopsis, Finnish and Swedish editions

 

A DISOBEDIENT GIRL

Publication Info:
Huono tyttö, Like 2023, 295 p.

Rights to A DISOBEDIENT GIRL still available in the US/UK, Poland, France

Reading Materials:
English sample, Finnish edition

About author


Riikka Sandberg

Riikka Sandberg (b. 1989) is a Finnish author who grew up in the midst of boatsheds and the sea breeze. She studied Finnish and creative writing at the University of Turku and currently teaches at the University of Helsinki. Sandberg’s debut book Ørja was published in February 2023 and has been described as a thoughtfully constructed novel in which the fjords and the churning sea set a grand stage.

Sandberg is inspired by the Nordic languages, history and nature, and the fictional isles in her debut novel Ørja were inspired by a small and rugged Norwegian island to where she retreated alone to write. Eventually she carried out research for her novel in Norway, the Faroe Islands and the Finnish Lapland and archipelago. Sandberg considers it important to write about women who are, for one reason or another, cast out or have themselves left the society or their community, and about those who have forgotten to live their own truth.

About author


Sara Al Husaini

Sara Al Husaini (1992) is a human rights activist, feminist, and linguist from Helsinki. She was born in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia and moved to Finland as a child. She has studied English philology at the University of Helsinki and has worked, among others, as an intern at the European Parliament. She is currently a board member in Amnesty Finland and member of the steering group for UN Women Finland. In 2021, Al Husaini was chosen as the Refugee Woman of the Year by the Finnish Refugee Council.

Her debut novel A Disobedient Girl (orig. Huono tyttö) is a deeply personal story of experiences for which there haven’t been words before. Al Husaini's writing delves into the human psyche, weaving a tale that unravels the threads of cultural expectations and the resilience of those who defy them. Through her storytelling, Al Husaini seeks to provoke thought, challenge stereotypes, and ignite conversations that lead to meaningful societal shifts.

Estonian rights to THE SECRET STAIRCASE by Salla Simukka and illus. JP Ahonen sold to Ühinenud Ajakirjad!

We are starting the week off by announcing that Estonian rights for THE SECRET STAIRCASE by Salla Simukka and illustrator JP Ahonen have been acquired by Ühinenud Ajakirjad! This deal was closed by Julia Bogen.

Salla Simukka is the multiple award-winning, internationally bestselling author of the Snow White trilogy, and JP Ahonen is a comic book artist and the illustrator of the cult classic Belzebubs project.

You can watch the book trailer below:

For fans of Michael Ende and Maria Gripe, THE SECRET STAIRCASE is an exciting and touching novel about two boys, who live in the same house but in different realities. Can their friendship cross the border separating two worlds?

10-year-old Alexis’ family moves to a house where he gets the attic room. Another 10-year-old-boy, Max, moves to a house, where a great basement room is waiting for him. Soon the boys notice something weird in their houses: Alexis hears voices under the floor, even though they don’t have a basement. Max’s ears pick up someone playing an instrument from the attic, even though no one is there.

When the two boys finally meet, they realize that they can visit each other’s worlds at night time. But will their friendship endanger everything when the worlds start to blur into each other?

Rights still available in France, Germany, Holland…

Click here to download all reading materials for THE SECRET STAIRCASE!

POIKA ULLAKOLLA, POIKA KELLARISSA
Tammi, March 2024, 200 pp., b&w illustrations

Reading material:
English sample with illustrations
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ESTONIA: Ühinenud Ajakirjad

About author


JP Ahonen

JP Ahonen (1981) is a comic book artist, illustrator, and the author of several newspaper strips in his native Finland. He is best known for his graphic novel SING NO EVIL and the critically acclaimed strip series BELZEBUBS, which has evolved from a humble webcomic into a unique cross-media project, interweaving comics, music and animation.

About author


Salla Simukka

Salla Simukka is the author of the international success story The Snow White Trilogy: rights are sold in 53 territories and in Hollywood. She has written several novels for young readers and her accolades include the Topelius Prize 2013 and the Finland Prize 2013. Simukka has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award  every year 2021–2024. Where It All Begins, published in 2022, is her first novel for adults and in 2024 she started a collaboration with JP Ahonen on a middle grade novel.

Previously Simukka has written book reviews for the newspapers, translated all kinds of texts into Finnish, worked as an editor at a literary magazine and as a screenwriter for a popular TV show for young audiences.  She has also been working on the programme of Turku Book Fair in 2017–2020.

Stage play rights for THE STAGER by Arttu Tuominen acquired by Pori Theatre!

An unusual but fun rights deal is for Arttu Tuominen’s book 6 of the RIVER DELTA series: THE STAGER. While we’re used to TV and film, this time stage play rights were acquired by Pori Theatre! This deal was closed by Elina Ahlbäck.

As it happens, Pori Theatre is where the climax of the book takes place–and Pori is also the author’s hometown, making this extra fun for RIVER DELTA fans.

Read more about THE STAGER below:

Henning Mankell meets Stephen King.

A serial killer wants to be a director. You too can end up on stage. In Arttu Tuominen’s chilling detective story, the curtain is a guillotine.

A family – father, mother and primary school-age daughter – is watching TV together on a remote forest farm. The dog is lounging peacefully on the carpet at the family’s feet. What could be more idyllic? Except that they have all been killed and embalmed.

Soon another family is found, equally immortalized. Henrik Oksman, Jari Paloviita and Linda Toivonen of the Pori criminal police unit, under the leadership of Susanna Manner, quickly realize there’s a serial killer on the move who finds the presentation of the victims more important than the murders themselves.

The police will find out they too have roles written for them in this cruel play. Will everyone make it to the end of the show?

The RIVER DELTA Series has sold over 200,000 copies, and the best thing about it is that each book in the series can be read as standalones or out-of-order!

Rights still available in: France, Italy, Sweden…

Click here to access all reading materials for the RIVER DELTA series!

Publication Info:
Lavastaja, WSOY 2024, 320 p.

Rights Sold (THE STAGER):
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), DENMARK: Modtryk, GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe, NETHERLANDS: De Fontein, STAGE: Pori Theatre

Reading Material:
English synopsis, Finnish edition, River Delta Series presentation

About author


Arttu Tuominen

Arttu Tuominen lives in Pori and works as  an environmental inspector. During the evenings, he writes dark and tough crime novels. Tuominen is skilled at giving a strong voice to both sides of the law, a humane and a recognisable voice.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

The Stager

Arttu Tuominen


2023, Crime & Suspense

The Liberator

Arttu Tuominen


2022, Crime & Suspense

Shamed

Arttu Tuominen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Silenced

Arttu Tuominen


2020, Crime & Suspense

Jeopardy

Arttu Tuominen


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Oath

Arttu Tuominen

20,000 copies sold for Milo and Latvian deal!

Since its publication, MILO by crime superstar Max Seeck has sold over 20,000 copies in Finland! Considering the international success of New York Times Bestseller Seeck’s Jessica Niemi series, however, we can’t say we’re surprised. It’s also the #1 bestseller in audio and e-book!

Adding on to the good news: the Latvian publisher for the Jessica Niemi series Latvijas Mediji has acquired Latvian rights to Milo, in a deal closed by Elina Ahlbäck and Julia Bogen! This is the 5th territory Milo has sold too, including TV rights with Solar Films.

About MILO:

Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems with his wife Ronja. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.

Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

Join the success all Max Seeck publishers around the world! And for our other Hot Frankfurt crime & thriller titles browse our rights guide here.

Click here to access all reading materials for MILO!

This week you can meet us at Gothenburg Book Fair, at IRC table K-A07 – see you there!

Publication Info:
Merkitty, Tammi Sep 2024, 400 p.

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), FRANCE: Mera Editions, GERMANY: Bastei Luebbe, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, NORWAY: Aschehoug, FILM & TV: Solar Films

Reading Materials:
Long English sample + synopsis, original Finnish edition

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

THE INVISIBLES by Sanna Isto nominated for the Young Aleksis Award!

More good children’s book award news: THE INVISIBLES by Sanna Isto has been nominated for the Young Aleksis (Nuori Aleksis) Award this year in the middle grade category!

The candidates and winner of the award is chosen by young readers and its purpose is “to inspire young people to read and discuss literature, and to find their own favorite books.” The prize will be awarded this October at the Turku Book Fair.

THE INVISIBLES was previously nominated for the Finlandia Prize and Topelius prize.

 

About THE INVISIBLES:

A haunted house. An Invisible boy. A summer of mystery and self-discovery

Spending her vacation away from the city and her friends was not what Pii had in mind for the summer she had been eagerly waiting for. And then even the holiday house turns out to be strange and peculiar. Who is the boy who moves around the house as if it were his own, and why can’t anyone else see him?

Pii’s experience of being an outsider turns into a strength, because she sees things that others don’t notice. Soon she finds herself in the middle of a secret that overshadows the sunny idyll of the small village. Are the thefts of vacation homes and the unsolved death that happened half a year ago related? And what does the mysterious boy in the green cap have to do with all this?

Pii has to look for answers deep below the surface, and while diving for them, she also has to face herself. A vacation Pii expected to be boring turns into a journey of self-discovery, and in the end nothing – not even the ghosts – is what it seemed at first.

Rights still available in: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US/UK…

Click here to download all reading materials for THE INVISIBLES!

Publication Info:
Näkymättömät, Tammi 2024, 293p.

Reading material:
English sample, synopsis, and praise sheet
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

About author


Sanna Isto

Sanna Isto is a Berlin based children’s and YA author with a master´s degree from the university of Helsinki. Her stories, rooted in everyday life, are often combined with something strange and out of the ordinary, which allows us to contemplate the world  from a new and intriguing angle.

Bibliography


2024, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Invisibles

Sanna Isto

Lots of French praise for ALL THE KING’S MEN by Elina Backman!

Following our great news about Elina Backman’s Saana Havas series continuing with HarperCollins France, we have a ton of praise for the French edition of book 1: ALL THE KING’S MEN from media outlets all over France.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Very finely constructed. All the King’s Men is a very promising discovery. – Midi Libre newspaper

2. The author has concocted a pair of highly engaging investigators: Saana is an energetic, intelligent woman; Jan, a reserved detective who drowns in his work. With this whodunit perfect for summer, Finland won’t seem so peaceful any more! – Page des Libraires

3. Welcome to Finland, with its landscapes and folklore. A story that takes us on a journey between detective stories and Scandinavian myths. A complex plot, with the personalities of the victims and the unspoken facts sowing seeds of doubt. – Le Courrier du Loiret

4. Elina Backman’s first novel is already being adapted for television. Her series, starring heroine Saana Havas, will leave you breathless. Stephanie Lohr, Ici Paris

5. For her first novel, the Finnish author has hit the nail on the head with this thriller, which has a heavy atmosphere to match. Emilie Thevenin, Trends in Riviera

************************

Merci for all the kind words!

Gaps for the Saana Havas series in the US/UK, Iceland, Spain…

We now have German and Swedish editions of books 1-3, in addition to English samples of the first three. Click here to download the English samples and more for Elina Backman’s Saana Havas series. 

Publication Info:
Kun Kuningas kuolee, Otava 2020, 495p.

Reading Material:
German & Italian PDFs. 200pp English sample, synopsis, media portfolio

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gyldendal
ESTONIA: Varrak Publishers
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Aurora Studios
FRANCE: HarperCollins France
GERMANY: Piper
HUNGARY: Maxim
ITALY: Newton Compton
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS: Cargo
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm
POLAND: Czarna Owca
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber
SLOVAKIA: Arkus Vydavatelstvo
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken

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 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


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman

Magdalena Hai, author of THE HORNED GOD, wins the Laivakello Prize!

Continuing the good news this week is with a congratulations to Magdalena Hai for winning the Laivakello Prize!

The jury’s decision was based on her numerous quality works for children that have sold in 27 territories. They highlight her bestselling YA horror THE HORNED GOD, which won the prestigious Finlandia prize last year.

Jury praise for THE HORNED GOD:

“In this knotty story, the theme of death is accompanied by other themes, such as sex, everyday forms of racism, inconsolable longing, and rejoicing. The voters were also delighted that The Horned God can also be read in a simplified language version adapted by Tuija Takala and listened to as an audiobook. In this way, the Horned God offers an experience for a wide range of literary enthusiasts.”

If that piqued your curiosity, here is a bit about THE HORNED GOD:

When death touches your life, everything changes.

Lauri wakes up in the hospital after a fatal car crash and he doesn’t remember much about it. Mom is dead and now life has changed drastically.

When Lauri starts his slow recovery in a small town at his aunt’s house, he has an unpleasant feeling that everything is not right. The dead don’t stay dead and the beautiful neighbor Vilja-Maaria doesn’t want to live. When an ominous creature with antlers appears behind the window, Lauri begins to see nightmarish dreams that feel too real.

Rights to THE HORNED GOD are still available in France, Germany, Holland…

Click here to download all reading materials for THE HORNED GOD!

Publication Info:
Sarvijumala, Otava, 162p.

Reading material:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: ABC Forlag
ESTONIA: Päike & Pilv
HUNGARY: Metropolis
NORWAY: Gursli Berg Forlag
POLAND: Greg
SLOVENIA: Didakta
SWEDEN: Epix
UKRAINE: Bohdan

About author


Magdalena Hai

Magdalena Hai is an award-winning author, lover of cross-genre fiction and all things strange. Her fiction often combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Her Little Shop of Nightmares series has been sold to 30 territories around the world. Among Hai's many accolades are winning the Finlandia Prize for children's and YA literature and the Finnish Literary Export Prize, and being nominated  the Nordic Council Children & Young People's Literature Prize.

Besides being an author, Hai teaches writing and is an active member and editor in the publishing co-operative Osuuskumma.

Bibliography


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 4: The Crystal Skull

Magdalena Hai


2023, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Horned God

Magdalena Hai


2021, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Spell of Iset

Magdalena Hai


2021, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 3: Sticky the Horrible Snowman

Magdalena Hai


2020, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Miss Swift’s Weird and Wonderful House

Magdalena Hai


2019, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 2: The Mystery of the Missing Teeth

Magdalena Hai


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Third Sister

Magdalena Hai


2018, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 1: The Terrible Tickling Powder

Magdalena Hai


2017, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Grumblebelly Cat

Magdalena Hai


2012, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Beggar Princess

Magdalena Hai

German rights for THE STAGER, of River Delta series, acquired by Bastei Lübbe

We are thrilled to announce that German rights for, THE STAGER, the sixth and final book in Arttu Tuominen’s bestselling and acclaimed River Delta series have been acquired by BASTEI LÜBBE. The deal was negotiated by Martti Berner. Congratulations, Arttu, and Bastei Lübbe!

Previously THE STAGER was acquired by Modtryk in Denmark and De Fontein in the Netherlands.

A serial killer wants to be a director. You too can end up on stage. In Arttu Tuominen’s chilling detective story, the curtain is a guillotine.

A family – father, mother and primary school-age daughter – is watching TV together on a remote forest farm. The dog is lounging peacefully on the carpet at the family’s feet. What could be more idyllic? Except that they have all been killed and embalmed. Soon another family is found, equally immortalized. The Pori criminal police unit quickly realize there’s a serial killer who finds the presentation of the victims more important than the murders themselves. 

Bastei Lübbe will publish the fourth book of the series, SHAMED, in late October.

THE STAGER was the bestselling domestic book in August. The book has also once again received high praise for the author, Arttu Tuominen:

The 300-page suspense novel progresses rapidly to its resolution played out at Pori Theatre. The memorable final scene is worth waiting for.
– Jari Olavi Hiltunen, Satakunnan Kansa

The Stager is a top-notch showcase by an experienced, yet anything-but-predictable writer, demonstrating that when you have the skill, you can do anything. The book’s tension builds moment by moment toward the anticipated final bang…
–Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset

We invite you to click here to download reading materials for THE STAGER, and the ‘River Delta’ series!

Rights still available in: France, Italy, Sweden…

Publication Info
Lavastaja, 320 p, August 2024.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
DENMARK: Modtryk
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe
NETHERLANDS: De Fontein

About author


Arttu Tuominen

Arttu Tuominen lives in Pori and works as  an environmental inspector. During the evenings, he writes dark and tough crime novels. Tuominen is skilled at giving a strong voice to both sides of the law, a humane and a recognisable voice.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

The Stager

Arttu Tuominen


2023, Crime & Suspense

The Liberator

Arttu Tuominen


2022, Crime & Suspense

Shamed

Arttu Tuominen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Silenced

Arttu Tuominen


2020, Crime & Suspense

Jeopardy

Arttu Tuominen


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Oath

Arttu Tuominen

Elina Backman’s STILL WATERS RUN DEEP now sold to France!

We are excited to announce tha the French rights for the second installment of Elina Backman’s Saana Havas series, STILL WATERS RUN DEEP, have been acquired by HarperCollins France. The deal was negotiated by Elina Ahlbäck in collaboration with our French co-agency Marotte et Compagnie.

HarperCollins France published the first book, QUAND LE ROI MEURT (All the King’s Men), in May 2024. The novel captivated French readers, who instantly fell in love with Backman’s gripping storytelling. With such a positive reception, French fans won’t have to wait long for the next exciting chapter in the series.

Elina Backman’s bestselling Saana Havas series has sold over 100,000 copies in Finland and has publishers in 17 territories, and recently the third book of the series, POLAR NACHT (Before the Polar Night Falls), was published in Germany by Piper. 

The books have been nominated twice for the Best Translated Crime Novel by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy, and for the Best Crime Novel of the Year 2022 by the Finnish Crime Writers’ Society. To top it off, an international TV series based on the novels is in development by Aurora Studios!

Elina Backman’s work has garnered rave reviews for her, comparing her to Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbø, and Agatha Christie, among other brilliant authors.

We now have German and Swedish editions of books 1-3, in addition to English samples of the first three. Download the English samples and more for Elina Backman’s Saana Havas series. 

The rights for the series are still available in the US & UK, Spain...

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman

Is evil lurking beneath the calm waters? Still Waters Run Deep is an awaited sequel to the bestselling All the King’s Men!

Three young men are making a documentary film about a mystical hermit, living in the Isle of Sheep in Helsinki. First, one of them disappears, then another one. When one of them is found dead in the nearby nature reserve, the police becmes involved.

Saana Havas, recovering from burnout, hears that her colleague’s younger brother has gone missing and decides to set up a true crime podcast to help with the search. Meanwhile, police commissioner Jan Leino and his team are investigating the disappearance and possible murder of the documentary makers.

When young men disappear and die, it’s ofter regarded just an accident. But could it be that someone is actually hunting for them?

Rights sold to Saana Havas series:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
ALBANIA: Dritan (1 book)
CZECHIA: Grada (1 book)
DENMARK: Gyldendal (3 books)
ESTONIA: Varrak (2 books)
GERMANY: Piper Verlag (3 books)
FRANCE: HarperCollins France (2 book)
HUNGARY: Maxim (2 books)
ITALY: Newton Compton (2 books)
LITHUANIA: BALTO (1 book)
NETHERLANDS: De Bezige Bij/Cargo (2 books)
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm (2 books)
POLAND: Czarna Owca (2 books)
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra (1 book)
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber (2 books)
SLOVAKIA: Arkus (3 books)
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken (3 books)

FILM & TV RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

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 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


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman

Tommi Kinnunen secures new international deals: ‘PINE BARK’ to Estonia and ‘DEFIANCE’ to Hungary

Following the recent success in acquisition of the Japanese rights for PINE BARK and the DEFIANCE film news, we are thrilled to share more exciting news about our award-winning #1 bestselling author, Tommi Kinnunen:

The Estonian rights to PINE BARK have been acquired by Varrak. Additionally, Hungarian rights to DEFIANCE, Kinnunen’s 2020 masterpiece, were secured by Magyar Napló Publishing Company. DEFIANCE will be translated from Finnish to Hungarian by Béla Jávorszky. These two deals were closed by Julia Bogen.

PINE BARK topped Finland’s bestseller list within a month of its debut with over 30,000 copies sold. It is a densely atmospheric and arrestingly written novel about women’s fates in times of war, the difficulty of giving up, and how the proximity of death can change a person.

Rights to Tommi Kinnunen’s previous novels have sold to 22 territories, and rights for PINE BARK and for DEFIANCE are still available in the UK/US, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands…

We invite you to click here to download all reading material for PINE BARK.

Click here to download material for DEFIANCE.

 

Pine Bark:
Publication Info:
Kaarna, 205 p., April 2024

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
ESTONIA: Varrak
JAPAN: Shinchosha

Defiance:
Publication Info:
Ei kertonut katuvansa, 351 p., 2020

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Hena
DENMARK: Gyldendal/Cicero
ESTONIA: Varrak
HUNGARY: Magyar Napló Publishing Company
LATVIA: Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA: Alma Littera
NORTH MACEDONIA: Antolog
NORWAY: Pax Forlag
POLAND: Poznanskie

About author


Tommi Kinnunen

Tommi Kinnunen (1973) was born in Kuusamo in northeastern Finland and currently lives in Turku, where he works as a teacher of Finnish language and literature. His works include novels, opera librettos, short stories, and a non-fiction title on the changes taking place in the Finnish school system.

Kinnunen’s novels give a voice to those whose stories have been kept untold. He made a stellar debut with Where Four Roads Meet (orig. Neljäntienristeys) which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and won the Young Aleksis Prize in 2015. The following novels The Light Behind the Eyes (orig. Lopotti), The Glass River (orig. Pintti), and Defiance (orig. Ei kertonut katuvansa) have been both critical and commercial successes. His books have been translated into 20 languages.

During his spare time, Kinnunen likes to refurbish old buildings.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

Pine Bark

Tommi Kinnunen


2022, Literary Fiction

Dark Moons

Tommi Kinnunen


2020, Literary Fiction

Defiance

Tommi Kinnunen


2018, Literary Fiction

The Glass River

Tommi Kinnunen


2016, Literary Fiction

The Light Behind the Eyes

Tommi Kinnunen


2014, Literary Fiction

Where Four Roads Meet

Tommi Kinnunen

Happy Publication Day to MILO! Film updates, extended English sample, and more…

It’s official: MILO by Max Seeck, New York Times bestselling author and Spiegel bestselling author, has hit the shelves in Finland, and we’re thrilled to say it’s his best work yet!

If you’re not fluent in Finnish, don’t worry – we have a new extended English sample of 50 pages for you.

For those who don’t know, Max Seeck is one of Finland’s top selling crime authors, with over 400,000 copies sold. His popular Jessica Niemi series has sold in 40 territories and Hollywood, where Stampede Ventures is developing The Witch Hunter an international TV series. Needless to say, MILO does a great job following in these footsteps!

By the way, the launch party Wednesday night was a blast, and you can see our great photo of Elina and Max on the sidebar!

 

Also stay tuned (forgive the pun) for some film updates. But first, a little bit about the new series…

From New York Times and Spiegel bestseller Max Seeck, MILO begins a new crime series, with a complex and relatable main character, criminal profiler and art gallerist Milo Perho. Bodies with chess pieces in their mouths – Milo needs to understand the game of chess in order to catch a killer.

A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.

Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

Book 2: The sequel to MILO will deepen the story between Milo and Stanislav and enlighten the past events that led to current situation. The main storyline will happen in the present and will be about espionage and assassination of a person of high status.

As for film updates: the adaptation is quickly progressing! Solar Films is developing this feature film targeted toward an international audience. As of Fall 2024, the film will already be in pre-production, with shooting tentatively planned for 2025/2026.

Rights to MILO have already sold to Bastei Luebbe in Germany, Mera Editions in France, and Aschehoug in Norway!

Click here to download English reading materials for MILO!

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

Estonian rights for Little Mouse and the Birthday Present acquired by Rahva Raamat!

We are happy to announce that Little Mouse is going strong in Estonia, continuing the international bestselling picture book series with book 8: Little Mouse and the Birthday Present! Estonian rights were acquired by Estonian publisher Rahva Raamat in a deal closed by Julia Bogen at the Ahlback Agency.

Further news for Little Mouse is that, just before Little Mouse’s Holiday publishes in Poland, Riikka Jäntti attended the children’s literary festival there in Rabka and was then interviewed by Radio Kraków! Thank you to Poland for such a warm reception.

Finally, the best part about Little Mouse is that you can read these books as standalone titles in any order! That said, here is a little bit about Little Mouse and the Birthday Present:

At last, DING DONG! Little Mouse opens the front door for the birthday guests. Little Mouse receives delightful presents from his friends and then it is time to feast: the birthday cake and other desserts are to everyone’s taste. Games and quizzes are also a part of Little Mouse’s birthday. The next morning Little Mouse gets a present from his mother, but ends up causing a surprising amount of trouble, especially to Mom!

Rights for the series have been sold in 21 territories, but gaps for the Little Mouse series still available in the Netherlands, Norway, Greece…

Click here to download all reading materials for the Little Mouse series!

 

About author


Riikka Jäntti

Riikka Jäntti, a 2003 graduate of University of Industrial Art of Helsinki, now part of Aalto University, is a Helsinki-based illustrator and author who has created art for both nonfiction and fairy tale books for children. Her first children’s book was published in 2005. Jäntti is best known for the adorable Little Mouse series that has publishers in 20 territories, including Australia, Nepal, and China!

In her illustrations, she uses pen and ink as well as watercolor and gouache. In 2009 Jäntti won the first-ever Tieto-Lauri, an award for children’s and juvenile non-fiction, for her illustrations in Viidakkotanssi (Jungle Dance). The book was written by Markku Löytönen about the explorer Rafael Karsten in Ecuador.

Bibliography


2024, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

Little Mouse's School Picture Day

Riikka Jäntti


2024, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes on a Cruise

Riikka Jäntti


2023, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Welcomes Spring

Riikka Jäntti


2023, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes to the Museum

Riikka Jäntti


2022, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Fables

Riikka Jäntti


2022, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse and the Birthday Present

Riikka Jäntti


2021, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Goes Camping

Riikka Jäntti


2020, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Summer

Riikka Jäntti


2019, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Winter

Riikka Jäntti


2018, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Holiday

Riikka Jäntti


2017, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse's Christmas

Riikka Jäntti


2016, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse Helps Out

Riikka Jäntti


2015, Picture Books (0-3 Years)

Little Mouse

Riikka Jäntti

Slovakian rights to MONSTER ROUTE acquired by Arkus!

A new Slovakian rights deal is in for one of our biggest kid’s series! Slovakian publisher Arkus just acquired rights for MONSTER ROUTE (book 2 of the Monster Nanny trilogy) by Tuutikki Tolonen and illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen, in a deal closed by Martti Berner at the Ahlback Agency.

The Monster Nanny trilogy is an international bestseller with a Hollywood movie in development co-produced by Ridley Scott! It’s the whimsical, exciting combination of Mary Poppins meets Where the Wild Things Are.

For any who are late to the monster party, here’s a bit about book 1 MONSTER NANNY:

The Hellman children must make do with a nanny while their mother is away at a spa. The only problem? Their nanny is a monster.

Grah is hairy, dusty, and doesn’t talk. When the siblings discover that other neighborhood kids have been left with similar creatures, they start to wonder where the monsters came from. With the parents away, the kids work together (between bickering) to figure out the mystery of the monsters.

Tolonen seamlessly intertwines contemporary life with a world full of strange creatures. Monster Nanny is at once a refreshing change of pace and a return to timeless adventure.

 

You can click here to access all reading material for the MONSTER NANNY trilogy!

Rights are still available in the UK, Israel, Iceland, Thailand…

Publication Info:
Mörköreitti, Tammi, 300p

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ALBANIA: Westprint
BRAZIL: DarkSide Books
BULGARIA: Robertino
CHINA: Beijing Publishing Group Co., Ltd.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Portál, s. r. o.
ESTONIA: Tiritamm
FRANCE: Robert Laffont
GERMANY: Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & CO. KG.
GREECE: Patakis Publishers
HUNGARY: Tessloff Babilon
JAPAN: SEKAIBUNKA Publishing
KOREA: Seosawon Co., Ltd.
LITHUANIA: Nieko rimto
NETHERLANDS: Luitingh-Sijthof
NORWAY: Gyldendal
POLAND: Vesper
ROMANIA: Editura Univers SRL
RUSSIA: Rosman
SLOVAKIA: Arkus
SLOVENIA: Mladinska Knjiga Zalozba
SWEDEN: RABÉN & SJÖGREN
UKRAINE: School Publishing House

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.

About author


Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award.  Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Polish rights for THE HORNED GOD by Magdalena Hai acquired by GREG!

We’re thrilled to announce that Polish rights for THE HORNED GOD by Magdalena Hai were acquired by Polish publisher GREG, in a deal closed by Martti Berner at the Ahlback Agency!

THE HORNED GOD quickly became a bestseller in Finland, with 6000 copies sold, and now this atmospheric YA horror is available in 9 different languages.

It won the Finlandia Prize for children’s and YA literature of 2023, and was nominated for the Topelius Prize of 2024, with this praise from the jury:

17-year-old Lauri wakes up in hospital after a car accident. His mother has deceased, and father is in a coma in hospital. The horror story beautifully links the descriptions of recovering from a big loss, the grueling presence of awful things, the guilt caused by mistakes and the act of letting go. The novel which influences the reader on many levels also describes in a lively matter the everyday life of teenagers, experiences of mental health struggles, and racism. Below the horror elements there is an undercurrent that ties people together. At times in a painful way.

We invite you to click here to download all reading materials for THE HORNED GOD

Rights still available in: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US/UK…

Publication Info:
Sarvijumala, Otava, 162p.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: ABC Forlag
ESTONIA: Päike & Pilv
HUNGARY: Metropolis
NORWAY: Gursli Berg Forlag
POLAND: Greg
SLOVENIA: Didakta
SWEDEN: Epix
UKRAINE: Bohdan

About author


Magdalena Hai

Magdalena Hai is an award-winning author, lover of cross-genre fiction and all things strange. Her fiction often combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Her Little Shop of Nightmares series has been sold to 30 territories around the world. Among Hai's many accolades are winning the Finlandia Prize for children's and YA literature and the Finnish Literary Export Prize, and being nominated  the Nordic Council Children & Young People's Literature Prize.

Besides being an author, Hai teaches writing and is an active member and editor in the publishing co-operative Osuuskumma.

Bibliography


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 4: The Crystal Skull

Magdalena Hai


2023, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Horned God

Magdalena Hai


2021, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Spell of Iset

Magdalena Hai


2021, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 3: Sticky the Horrible Snowman

Magdalena Hai


2020, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Miss Swift’s Weird and Wonderful House

Magdalena Hai


2019, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 2: The Mystery of the Missing Teeth

Magdalena Hai


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Third Sister

Magdalena Hai


2018, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

Little Shop of Nightmares 1: The Terrible Tickling Powder

Magdalena Hai


2017, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Grumblebelly Cat

Magdalena Hai


2012, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Beggar Princess

Magdalena Hai

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS rights sold to Germany in a two-book pre-empt deal!

The Kristinestad Murders by Kaisu Tuokko is on a roll, with German rights just pre-empted by Aufbau Verlage in a two-book deal! Aufbau has established themselves over the years as a huge crime/thriller publisher, so we know  REVENGE and ALONE will be in the best of hands. The deal was closed by Martti Berner at the Ahlback Agency.

If you haven’t heard the news, Swedish (and Finnish-Swedish) rights were recently acquired by Förlaget so we’re thrilled to see The Kristinestad Murders continue its hot streak.

The series has been a huge domestic success at over 30,000 copies sold, and with all the new readership it’s only going up, fast.

We invite you to click here to download all reading materials for THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS!

Rights to THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS still available in the US/UK, Italy, Norway and Denmark…and Film & TV rights are available!

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS began with REVENGE in 2023, followed by ALONE in 2024. You can read more about each title below:

Book 1: REVENGE
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.

Book 2: ALONE
An elderly woman is found dead in Kristinestad, malnourished, dirty, and abused. She’s wearing the socks of the local nursing home, but the people there don’t recognise her. No one knows who she is.

Mats, the local police officer, starts investigating the case with his team, but establishing the identity of the murder victim proves tricky. Mats also has issues in his personal life, and same goes for the journalist Eevi, who struggles to get pregnant. While Eevi uncovers harsh truths about the treatment of the elderly in Kristinestad, Mats and his team find another body – and it seems Mats’ brother is also involved in the crime.

 

Publication Info

Book 1: Kosto, 298 p., June 2023
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), Förlaget (Finnish-Swedish), SWEDEN: Förlaget, GERMANY: Aufbau

Book 2: Yksin, 300 p., June 2024
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), GERMANY: Aufbau

About author


Kaisu Tuokko

Kaisu Tuokko’s aim is to create a series where interpersonal relationships and the idyll of a small town are mixed with cruel events – using psychological tension to build stories about how badly we know the families or friends of our neighbors, of our loved ones. Everyone has secrets, but some of them are more dangerous than others.

Tuokko loves the stories of strangers, secrets of small towns, rainy autumn evenings, and the Swedish language. She lives in Helsinki, and has named her main character after her grandparents.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #2: Alone

Kaisu Tuokko


2023, Crime & Suspense

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #1: Revenge

Kaisu Tuokko

Czech rights for PUSH, PACE, POSITION, PRAY by Miika Nousiainen sold to Host!

Great news coming from one of our longtime authors: Czech rights for PUSH, PACE, POSITION, PRAY by Miika Nousiainen have been acquired by Host! The deal was closed by Martti Berner at the Ahlback Agency.

Here’s a bit about this humorous and charming anti-midlife crisis novel based on the author’s real-life experiences, blurring the lines between literary and autofiction:

When a man turns 50, he either gets a motorcycle or he does a 400 meter run. For Miika Nousiainen, who does not have a driver’s license and is not interested in rebellion, the only option is the track tour and his goal: the 400m run World Championship in Gothenburg.

Will Miika shape up into a real lightweight frequency runner? Even become the Finnish record holder in his age group?

For any of you who love running or simply relate to the “what do I do now?” of aging, we hope you enjoy PUSH, PACE, POSITION, PRAY.

You can click here to download all reading material for this book. We also recommend you check out his novels ROOTS and FACELIFT for more of Miika Nousiainen’s tragicomical cleverness.

Rights to PUSH, PACE, POSITION, PRAY still available in all territories except Finland and Czechia.

Publication Info:
Ratakierros, Otava, 300 p.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), CZECHIA: Host

About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen (b. 1973 in Säynätsalo) has worked as a news and current affairs journalist for MTV3's news department. In addition, he has written for several popular TV-shows.

Nousiainen’s debut novel, Raspberry Boat Refugee (2007), tells the story of Mikko Virtanen, a man who desperately wants to become Swedish at any cost. In this tragicomic work, Nousiainen makes sharp observations about our western neighbor and illustrates that we’re all self-proclaimed experts on Sweden.

Roots (2016) follows the search for a missing father, taking readers across continents from Lieksa, Finland, to Australia. The book was also well-received internationally.

In Facelift (2020), Nousiainen gently explores themes of family and the longing for connection.

In addition he has written The Danger of the Long Distance Runner (2009) and Forrest Giant (2011). 

Nousiainen's novels have been adapted countless times and translated into languages such as Swedish, German, Dutch, Italian, and Estonian.

Miika Nousiainen have been awarded with: Laila Hirvisaari Foundation Grant (2008), Kalevi Jäntti Prize (2009) and Honorable Mention in the Sports Museum Foundation’s Sports Book of the Year Competition (2010)

Bibliography


2024, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Push, Pace, Position, Pray

Miika Nousiainen


2020, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Facelift

Miika Nousiainen


2016, Humor

Roots

Miika Nousiainen


2007, Humor

Raspberry Boat Refugee

Miika Nousiainen

Japanese rights for PINE BARK sold to Shinchosha; DEFIANCE adapted to film by Oscar nominee Selma Vilhunen!

We have lots of exciting news to share about our award-winning #1 bestselling author of PINE BARK and DEFIANCE, Tommi Kinnunen:

First up, Japanese rights to PINE BARK have been acquired! Our co-agents at Tuttle-Mori Japan loved the title from the start and, in their able hands, PINE BARK found its home with the renowned publisher Shinchosha, who are especially passionate about literary fiction. This deal was closed by Julia Bogen at the Ahlback Agency.

PINE BARK topped Finland’s bestseller list within a month of its debut with over 30,000 copies sold. It is a densely atmospheric and arrestingly written novel about women’s fates in times of war, the difficulty of giving up, and how the proximity of death can change a person.

Segueing to another masterpiece by Tommi Kinnunen, Oscar-nominated Finnish filmmaker Selma Vilhunen will adapt Kinnunen’s novel DEFIANCE for the big screen with production company Dionysos Films and distributor Nordisk Film! It is under the title She Did Not Show Remorse, a more literal translation of the original Finnish title Ei kertonut katuvansa.

One of the biggest magazines in the entertainment industry, Variety, interviewed Selma Vilhunen and discussed the upcoming film plans. Click here to read the full article!

Speaking to Variety, Vilhunen was “won over by Kinnunen’s angry and sometimes merciless’ novel. ‘The women in the story only have bad options to choose from. In this film, I feel I’m opening the door to all the anger and despair that is also true in this world and in myself.'”

Rights to Tommi Kinnunen’s previous novels have sold to 22 territories, and rights for PINE BARK are still available in Germany, France, the Netherlands…

We invite you to click here to download all reading material for PINE BARK.

Click here to download material for DEFIANCE.

Publication Info:

Kaarna, 205 p., April 2024

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), JAPAN: Shinchosha

About author


Tommi Kinnunen

Tommi Kinnunen (1973) was born in Kuusamo in northeastern Finland and currently lives in Turku, where he works as a teacher of Finnish language and literature. His works include novels, opera librettos, short stories, and a non-fiction title on the changes taking place in the Finnish school system.

Kinnunen’s novels give a voice to those whose stories have been kept untold. He made a stellar debut with Where Four Roads Meet (orig. Neljäntienristeys) which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and won the Young Aleksis Prize in 2015. The following novels The Light Behind the Eyes (orig. Lopotti), The Glass River (orig. Pintti), and Defiance (orig. Ei kertonut katuvansa) have been both critical and commercial successes. His books have been translated into 20 languages.

During his spare time, Kinnunen likes to refurbish old buildings.

Bibliography


2024, Literary Fiction

Pine Bark

Tommi Kinnunen


2022, Literary Fiction

Dark Moons

Tommi Kinnunen


2020, Literary Fiction

Defiance

Tommi Kinnunen


2018, Literary Fiction

The Glass River

Tommi Kinnunen


2016, Literary Fiction

The Light Behind the Eyes

Tommi Kinnunen


2014, Literary Fiction

Where Four Roads Meet

Tommi Kinnunen

Swedish rights for The Kristinestad Murders #1: REVENGE sold to Förlaget!

Happy news for one of our bestselling authors Kaisu Tuokko: Swedish rights in Sweden and Finland for The Kristinestad Murders #1: REVENGE by Kaisu Tuokko have been acquired by Förlaget! This deal was closed by Elina Ahlbäck at the Ahlback Agency.
Kaisu Tuokko is on a roll, recently having been named an honorary citizen of Kristinestad and titled Finland’s Camilla Läckberg. This debut crime series has been a huge hit (no pun intended), having sold 30,000 copies in total!

We invite you to click here to download all reading materials for THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS!

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS began with REVENGE in 2023, followed by Alone in 2024. You can read more about each title below:

Book 1: REVENGE
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.

Book 2: ALONE
An elderly woman is found dead in Kristinestad, malnourished, dirty, and abused. She’s wearing the socks of the local nursing home, but the people there don’t recognise her. No one knows who she is.

Mats, the local police officer, starts investigating the case with his team, but establishing the identity of the murder victim proves tricky. Mats also has issues in his personal life, and same goes for the journalist Eevi, who struggles to get pregnant. While Eevi uncovers harsh truths about the treatment of the elderly in Kristinestad, Mats and his team find another body – and it seems Mats’ brother is also involved in the crime.

Publication Info

Book 1: Kosto, 298 p., June 2023
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), SWEDEN: Förlaget

Book 2: Yksin, 300 p., June 2024
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

About author


Kaisu Tuokko

Kaisu Tuokko’s aim is to create a series where interpersonal relationships and the idyll of a small town are mixed with cruel events – using psychological tension to build stories about how badly we know the families or friends of our neighbors, of our loved ones. Everyone has secrets, but some of them are more dangerous than others.

Tuokko loves the stories of strangers, secrets of small towns, rainy autumn evenings, and the Swedish language. She lives in Helsinki, and has named her main character after her grandparents.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #2: Alone

Kaisu Tuokko


2023, Crime & Suspense

THE KRISTINESTAD MURDERS #1: Revenge

Kaisu Tuokko

Introducing Ahlback Agency’s new authors for Fall 2024!

We are very happy to announce representation of our wonderful new authors for the Fall 2024 season and couldn’t be more excited to share their new titles & works below! Welcome to the Ahlback Agency!

NON-FICTION: Salla Vuorikoski

CRIME & THRILLER: Anne Hietanen & Michaela von Kügelgen and Johanna Holmström

ROMANTASY & FANTASY & ROMANCE: S. K. Rostedt and Ann-Catrin Mattsson

CHILDREN’S: Hannu Laakso

Join us in welcoming our new authors aboard, read more about them and their excellent new titles below

Finally, click here to check out Ahlback Agency’s Fall 2024 catalogue online!

 

NON-FICTION:

Salla VuorikoskiSanna Marin: Finland’s Young Prime Minister

Salla Vuorikoski is an accomplished journalist who currently works as the team lead of the investigative journalism unit at Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Vuorikoski is an experienced reporter known for handling tough subjects and has previously worked at MTV, the public broadcaster YLE and Suomen kuvalehti magazine. She has been awarded the Great Journalism Prize and the Lumilapio Award for investigative journalism.

Sanna Marin: Finland’s Young Prime Minister 

(Sanna Marin. Poikkeuksellinen pääministeri, WSOY, November 2024)

In December 2019, a dramatic government crisis catapulted Sanna Marin to become the youngest Prime Minister in the world. Soon she was to lead a country whose inner and outer security would be threatened by a serious pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine. This biography details how Marin became a liberal symbol, an opponent of right-wing populism, and a role model for the world’s young women.

Photo: Otto Virtanen

Sanna Marin: Finland’s Young Prime Minister
Non-Fiction

 

FICTION:

Anne Hietanen & Michaela von KügelgenThe Last Word

Anne Hietanen (1974) is a well-known journalist with a prominent role at Svenska Yle, a public broadcasting service. Anne has built a diverse career, working as both a host and producer in radio, as well as in television, including on the talk show An Evening with Anne and Hannah. Currently, she hosts the popular podcast Sällskapet.

Michaela “Kugge” von Kügelgen (1986) has three published titles under her belt. Her debut novel, Vad heter ångest på spanska?, was published in 2017. Her most recent work, Kickstarta ditt skrivande, is a non-fiction guide to writing.

The Last Word 

(Sista Ordet)

During the Helsinki Book Fair, author David Berglund is found dead in the harbour – the same day he was set to receive a literary prize. Philip Koski, a national hockey hero whose career was cut short by an injury, just joined the Helsinki Police Department and is assigned to the case.

At the same time, cultural journalist Tilde Björkqvist digs into David’s story. She was the last person to interview him and encountered a man whose words of joy and gratitude did not match his desperate revelation. At work, Tilde struggles against antiquated hierarchies – why are they trying to stop her investigation of the young writer?

 

Anne Hietanen                                       Michaela von Kügelgen

Photos: Markus Perttula

The Last Word
Crime & Thriller

 

Johanna HolmströmWolf Cub

Johanna Holmström is one of the most successful Finnish-Swedish writers of her generation. Her works have been published in over 10 countries.

With Själarnas ö (2017), her acclaimed novel centered around women in a mental hospital in the Finnish archipelago from the late 1800s-1962, Holmström achieved her first public success, and the novel was nominated for the prestigious Runeberg Prize in 2018. Her latest book, the short story collection Handbok i klardrömmar (2022) was the first Finnish-Swedish title to receive the Karin Boye prize in Sweden.

Wolf Cub

(Vargens Unge, Albert Bonniers, August 2024)

One day, a dirty and unfamiliar little boy stands in Seija’s tulip bed. Upon seeing his wide-open eyes, her motherly heart overflows, but the boy refuses to say a word–only a memory card is found in his mouth. Police Inspector Minna and her sidekick Timo are called, but no one has reported a missing child. Who is the boy and where does he come from?

Photo: Thron Ullberg

Wolf Cub
Crime & Thriller

 

S. K. Rostedt: Daughter of Two Bloods

S.K. Rostedt aka Saara Rostedt (1993) is an author and marketing professional who grew up in Finland’s book capital Sastamala. Now based in Helsinki, she is an avid romantasy reader who loves to spend time in nature and at her summer cabin. She has popular BookTok and Bookstagram social channels, where she talks about her writing and reading experiences. S.K. Rostedt, who gave up reading as a teenager, rediscovered the world of books in her twenties with the help of romantasy, Saara is known in social media as @skrostedt.

Daughter of Two Bloods

(Kahden veren tytär, Otava, August 2024)

A debut enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel oozing with fae, demons, and hot romance.

Moorna is a 21-year-old half-elf whose life as an escort to the capital’s aristocracy is harrowing. She wants to pay off her escort debt as quickly as possible and return home with her friend Malkra to live a life free from discrimination. When Moorna accidentally stumbles upon the annoyingly handsome fae, Caidas, she is torn from all that is familiar and safe, and quickly learns that nothing is as it seems.


Photo: Jonne Räsänen
Daughter of Two Bloods
Romantasy

 

Ann-Catrin Mattsson: Daughter of Earth

Ann-Catrin Mattsson (born 1984) is a Swedish writer, coach, and lecturer. She blends dramatic tension, epic saga, and historical romance, drawing comparisons to works like Outlander, A Discovery of Witches, and the Brothers Grimm. In 2024, the EARTHBORN series claimed the top spot in the Swedish Fantastic Council’s ranking of fantasy series in the Adult category. Previously, the series earned accolades such as Debut of the Year 2022 and Series of the Year 2023 in its genre.

Daughter of Earth

(Dotter av jord, WAPI, 2021)

The year is 1649, and war ravages Europe. In occupied Ireland, we meet Ailea, a young woman whose clairvoyance evokes both envy and fear. Compelled to seek refuge in Scotland with her family, Ailea’s path crosses with Magy Cullane, a sage woman with connections to the enigmatic Order. Thus does Ailea plunge into a realm of intrigue and millennia-old secrets.

Meanwhile, on the continent, in the Italian city of Bologna, the young hot-tempered soldier Roderic begins his military training at the war school. After stumbling upon a mysterious necklace in the mountains, a fair-haired girl begins to haunt his dreams – Ailea. A timeless bond, stretching across centuries, unbreakable even by death.


Photo: Asserlind Photography

Daughter of Earth
Historical Romantasy

 

CHILDREN’S:

Hannu Laakso: Meet the Fox Family

Hannu Laakso is a Finnish photographer and writer, who is fascinated by the purity of Nordic nature. He has won a Finnish state award for this children’s Fun & Facts book series, which introduces us to urban and rural wildlife. He bought his first SLR camera in 1982. In 2014 he finally decided to start participating in international photography competitions. He has received 130 international photography awards, and well over 500 unique photos have been accepted to international photo exhibitions in more than 80 countries.

Meet the Fox Family

(Me kettuset, Into, 2020)

What does the fox family’s summer entail? Some quirky fun and playful lessons, for a start! Meet the Fox Family combines animal education with a fictional story to match. Readers will join these adorable foxes in their daily adventures, watching as the small pup grows up and becomes independent. At the same time, readers learn facts about foxes and their way of life. What do fox pups eat? What’s it like seeing the surrounding world through their eyes–literally? And why does a fox’s den smell?


Photo: Mikko Palonkorpi

Meet the Fox Family
Picture Books – Non-Fiction