We are very excited to announce that Spiegel bestselling author Martta Kaukonen’s 3rd Follow the Butterfly thriller, Free, has been acquired by her German publisher Heyne in a pre-publication deal! The deal was closed by Martti Berner.
Congratulations to Martta Kaukonen, and Heyne! The anticipated third book in FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY trilogy will be published in Finland in May 2025.
Published as Therapiert in Germany, the first book has sold close to 30,000 copies and it hit the Spiegel bestseller list. The sequel, Traumatisiert, was just published in March.
Film and TV rights have been acquired by Legendary Tobis. Martta Kaukonen’s work has received glowing starred reviews everywhere it has been published. Last year Follow the Butterfly was nominated for Germany’s Viktor Crime Award and for the prestigious Danish Glass Key Award.
Praise from UK authors of FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY:
“The premise is highly original and flawlessly executed, with an unexpected, ingenious twist at the end. The play between the patient and serial killer, Ida and her celebrity therapist, Clarissa, is deftly crafted, luring the reader in and entangling them in their web of deception. It is an utterly compelling, gripping read with an explosive conclusion.
–Danielle Ramsay, author novel the Perfect Husband
“Dark, clever and hugely suspenseful, Follow the Butterfly is a breathtakingly fast-paced, original debut with vivid, intriguing characters and a masterfully constructed, compelling plotline that sinks its teeth into you from the first and doesn’t let go. Kaukonen’s writing is flawless, poignant and addictive, while the ending blew me away.”
-A. A. Chaudhuri, bestselling author of Under Her Roof
“Surprising, fresh and almost indecently fun, with two brilliantly original female leads and a sinuous plot that keeps you guessing until the very last page.”
-Tammy Cohen, author of The Wedding Party
“Breathlessly plotted, deviously constructed, and brought to vivid, twisted life by an antiheroine for the ages, FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY is an utterly beguiling debut. This isn’t just a thriller you sink your teeth into—it’s a thriller that sinks its teeth right back into you.”
-Elizabeth Little, author of Pretty as a Picture
Want to be part of this phenomenon? Rights are still available in Sweden, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Japan, Ukraine and more!
Click here to request reading materials for FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY trilogy!
Book #1: FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY
by Martta Kaukonen
An addictive psychological thriller in the spirit of Gillian Flynn
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.
Book #2: MEET ME IN THE DARKNESS
by Martta Kaukonen
Nothing is as it seems.
Four years have passed since the events of Follow the Butterfly. Ira and Arto have teamed up, and both work as crime journalists for the Helsinki Today. Everything’s going nicely, until Ira starts suspecting there’s a serial killer on the loose in Helsinki.
The murders are investigated by Senior Crime Inspector Kerttu Leppänen, who leads the murder unit and eagerly waits for retirement. Unsolved cases haunt Kerttu, who is unable to forgive herself.
The past catches up with all of them – if they were ever free from its clutches in the first place…
Book #3: FREE
by Martta Kaukonen
Is it worth digging up the truth?
It’s 1995. Detective Chief Inspector Kerttu Leppänen and her spouse, Inspector Esko Koivuvyö, are tasked with investigating the murder of a middle-aged woman. However, the crime scene presents a mystery that complicates the investigation: beside the body, there is a bloody knife on a pillow, even though it cannot be the murder weapon.
Thirty years later, Ira is determined to uncover the truth about her parents’ marriage. Why did her mother Marja fear her father Arto? And why does Arto refuse to answer Ira’s questions? Across different decades, Kerttu and Ira each come to the same realization: if you uncover the truth, you must be prepared to face its consequences.
Book #1: Follow the Butterfly
TERAPIASSA
WSOY, 2021, 471 pp.
Reading materials: English edition, German Edition
Book #2: Meet me in the Darkness
HENGISSÄ
WSOY, 2023, 272 pp.
Reading materials: German edition, unedited English manuscript
Book #3: Free
POISSA
WSOY, 2025, 300 pp.
Reading materials: English synopsis, Finnish edition
Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Znanje
CZECHIA: Albatros Media
DENMARK: Forlaget Falco
ESTONIA: Hea Lugu
FILM & TV: Legendary Tobis TV
GERMANY: Heyne (3 books)
GREECE: Psichogios (2 books)
HUNGARY: Partvonal Kiadó (2 books)
ICELAND: Storytel (3 books)
LATVIA: Jumava
LITHUANIA: Obuolys
POLAND: Czarna Owca (2 books)
UNITED KINGDOM: Pushkin Press (2 books)
UNITED STATES: Pushkin Press (2 books)
WORLD ARABIC: Al Arabi Publishing
WORLD ENGLISH (Audio): Audible