Starred reviews for Katja Kettu’s wonderful novel!

This week we are celebrating the publication of THE INVESTIGATIONS OF ONE CAT, the newest novel by bestselling and award-winning author Katja Kettu and sharing the first excellent starred reviews! Warmest Congratulations, Katja!

Published on Wednesday September 27th, this novel combines historical storytelling, magical realism, and accurately and sharply recounts the pain of a miscarriage and the nearly futile attempts to carry on after such a tragedy. It received great praise right after publication:

 Katja Kettu has written a fine novel where the power of words and narrative brings truth and justice into the world. [–] Here is the novel occupied by a cat, a cat turned into a novel.”
– Maaria Ylikangas in Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

Katja Kettu superbly commands the verbalization of emotional charges with strong expression. [—]  THE INVESTIGATIONS OF ONE CAT alluringly combines different traditions of storytelling, as if underlining how borders and categories can be broken and pierced. The novel doesn’t stay neatly and cutely in a specific box but wanders and sprawls. Its story carries, its sensations change from one extreme to the other and its language oscillates through its wordforms and rhythms. And, amidst everything, the peculiar Cat brings delight.”
– Kaisa Kurikka in Turun Sanomat newspaper

The attractiveness of Kettu’s novels smoulders in its multipaced idioms, the rhythm of its words, the mythological material [used in the novels] and historiography… [—] THE INVESTIGATIONS OF ONE CAT succeeds in being an impressive depiction of the building blocks of being human and intergenerational experiences that shape selfhoods even after long journeys.”
– Sanna Jääskeläinen in Savon Sanomat newspaper

Download the materials for INVESTIGATIONS OF ONE CAT here!

 

The Investigations of One Cat

Katja Kettu

Katja Kettu’s stunning novel spins through ages whilst surrendering to the wilderness of nature and the deep yearning for offspring.

Can one find solace and meaning in life from the past once the future no longer exists?

An Author has a miscarriage and loses their ability to speak and write. From the Investigative Bureau of Heavens, a Detective is sent to the scene, but something goes awry. Soon, in the corner of the room, there appears Cat who starts examining a mysterious diary that once belonged to the Author’s Great Grandmother.

When a new life has been lost, the Author turns their gaze to the past and to the age-old words of creation in the old Finnish outskirts. The one who knows them, Great Grandmother, has the power of healers. The Great Grandmother’s diary sheds light on birth and death, love towards children, and the strength of heritage in one’s blood.

Combining autofiction and elements of magical realism, Katja Kettu’s latest novel also sheds light on the history of the Finnish frontiers.

 

Erään kissan tutkimuksia
Otava, 380 pp.

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis in October
Finnish edition

About author


Katja Kettu

Katja Kettu is an acclaimed and award-winning writer with a strong, unique voice from Northern Finland. Originally from Rovaniemi, Lapland, she graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts in 2001 as an animation director and has also studied in the University of Tampere and in the National Film and Television School in the UK. She has worked as a columnist for numerous Finnish newspapers and magazines.

Her debut novel Surujenkerääjä (2005) was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize and won the Tiiliskivi Prize, but her breakthrough came with The Midwife (orig. Kätilö, 2011), which won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Runeberg Prize and the Thank You for the Book Medal. The rights for the novel have been sold to 19 countries, it has sold more than 160,000 copies in Finland, and in 2015 it was adapted into a film.

To date, she has published five novels, written or edited two collections of short stories, edited a fiction/non-fiction book on women’s experiences with sexual harassment and violence, and a biography of Ismo Alanko, a Finnish musician. In addition, she has collaborated with photographer Meeri Koutaniemi and documentarist Maria Seppälä on a book and a TV series about Finnish emigrants in North America and their relationships with the Ojibwe people.

Kettu’s works have been characterized as “Laplandic magical realism”. Kettu is meticulous in the research for her works and she is interested in microhistory, especially the fates of women caught up in conflicts where individuals have a limited influence on their lives.

Her novel Rose on poissa was a Finlandia Prize 2018 nominee. Kettu's works have been translated into 23 languages.

Katja Kettu's works:

Surujenkerääjä, 2005 WSOY

Hitsaaja, 2008 WSOY

Kätilö, 2011 WSOY

Piippuhylly, novelleja, 2013 WSOY

Novelli palaa! Matkanovelleja, toimittanut yhdessä Aki Salmelan kanssa, 2013 WSOY

Yöperhonen, 2015 WSOY

Rose on poissa, 2018 WSOY

Erään kissan tutkimuksia, 2023 Otava

Bibliography


2023, Literary Fiction

The Investigations of One Cat

Katja Kettu

Rockefellers, Windsors, Toyodas – THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD by Hannu Sokala published this week!

We are thrilled to let you know that THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD by Hannu Sokala will be published in Finland this week by Otava/Nemo!

Many of the most important big companies around the world are still owned or controlled by their founding families. However, despite wielding significant economic and political power, these families would rather like to remain away from the limelight. What kinds of challenges might these families present for equality and democracy?

In THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD, investigative journalist Hannu Sokala presents a unique insight into the possessions of 50 different families all over the world. The reader might already be familiar with the Rockefellers, the al-Sauds, the Windsors and the Toyodas, but many others, including the Quandts, the Safras, and the al-Nahyans, remain mostly unknown. Hannu Sokala’s book reads like a thriller novel and reveals the twists and turns in the history of these absurdly wealthy and powerful families.

THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD is an independent sequel to THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, written by Hannu Sokala and Juha-Pekka Raeste and originally published in Finland in 2021, which has been sold to 8 territories!

As reading materials, we now have the full Finnish manuscript and English sample chapters available.

Download materials for THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD here!

The 50 Most Dangerous Families in the World

Hannu Sokala

They like to stay in the shadows. Who are the families that wield the most power in the world?

Worse than the Roys
Did you think the Roy family in Succession was distressing? Truth is stranger than fiction. Read about the real-life Roys, the Murdoch family.

How did the BMW owners get rich?
The main owner of the German automaker are the Quandt family. They made their first fortune by supplying the German army with uniforms during World War 1. In the 1930s, they started to collaborate with the Nazis.

What is the greatest ever fortune squandered?
Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed the largest American fortune in the world in the 19th Century. His offspring demolished their fortune by building grand mansions and throwing opulent jet-set parties.

The stories of the families in this book contain larger-than-life characters, unbelievable plots, and numerous conflicts, tragedies, and successes. This non-fiction book by the experienced business journalist Hannu Sokala offers a comprehensive and surprising perspective on the world’s most important – and dangerous families.

THE 50 MOST DANGEROUS FAMILIES IN THE WORLD
MAAILMAN 50 VAARALLISINTA SUKUA
Otava/Nemo, 2023, 428 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English sample chapters
Table of contents

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Otava/Nemo (orig.)

About author


Hannu Sokala

Hannu Sokala works as an investigative reporter for YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. His work covers e.g. international finance and macroeconomics.

Bibliography


2023, General Nonfiction

The 50 Most Dangerous Families in the World

Hannu Sokala

FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY now published in German!

Publication news! 

We are excited to announce that Martta Kaukonen’s international success crime novel FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY is now out in German, published by Heyne this week! And we love their cover! 

THERAPIERT has already been praised by German bloggers:

The thriller was able to surprise me with many plot twists, fool me and was simply a great read, because especially the frequent changes between the different perspectives made me incredibly curious again and again and everything came together bit by bit and yet in suspenseful manner (…) Ultimately, in my opinion, a successful debut by the author and I am already incredibly excited to see what I can read from her next!” – Gedankenlabor blog

It’s exciting how the author succeeded in her novel to present the events as present, but the characters spoke to you as if they were reflecting on the events with us in a Netflix series. That was definitely the icing on the cake for me! (…) FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY [was] a real page turner. Every twist hits you cold and every solution you come up with is destroyed by the author in one sentence. A thriller that will take your breath away. You can no longer trust your own thoughts and the individual characters. Recommended reading for psychological thriller fans!” – Lisa Albrecht on academicworld.net

Kaukonen’s debut novel is in its structure and narrative style reminiscent of thrillers by Gillian Flynn (amongst others “Gone Girl”), Paula Hawkins (“Girl on the train”) or A. J. Finn (“The woman in the window”). The novel really toys with the reader. (…) A clever game of confusion that draws its subtle tension from the constant changes in perspective and the numerous twists and turns. The special narrative style makes Kaukonen’s novel so worth reading. A psychological thriller that really gets under your skin and subliminally, but sometimes ironically, also criticizes the media and psychotherapy.” – Thomas Gisbertz on Krimicouch.de

Congratulations to Heyne and Martta Kaukonen! 

FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY has been a critical success and bestseller in Finland, and was nominated for the Savonia Prize. The rights were sold to to 14 territories and the book will be published in the UK and US next year by Pushkin Press. A sequel is coming out in November 2023.

We now have a full English manuscript for you to review. Rights are still available for France, Italy, World Spanish, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, …

Download the full English text here!

Terapiassa / Follow the Butterfly

Rights sold:

FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Znanje
CZECH REPUBLIC: Kniha Zlin/Albatros
DENMARK: Falco
ESTONIA: Hea Lugu
GERMANY: Heyne (2-book deal)
GREECE: Psichogios (2-book deal)
HUNGARY: Partvonal (2-book-deal)
LATVIA: Jumava
LITHUANIA: Obuolys
POLAND: Czarna Owca (2-book deal)
UNITED KINGDOM: Pushkin Press (2-book deal)
UNITED STATES: Pushkin Press (2-book deal)
WORLD ENGLISH (Audio): Audible

About author


Martta Kaukonen

Martta Kaukonen (1976) lives in Helsinki and is 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 future 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’. Martta dreams of her book being adapted into a movie – and such a great one that her colleagues would grant it a five-star review.

Bibliography


2023, Crime & Suspense

Return of the Butterfly

Martta Kaukonen


2022, Crime & Suspense

In Your Shadow

Martta Kaukonen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Follow the Butterfly

Martta Kaukonen

Publication news!

Yesterday was the publication day of the German edition of Elina Backman’s ALL THE KING’S MEN, book 1 in the bestselling Saana Havas crime series!

The German publisher Piper came up with simply stunning covers and they will follow-up with the second book in the series this summer!
 

Congratulations to Piper and Elina Backman!

Elina Backman is now Finland’s no. 4 bestselling fiction author (all formats)Over 60 000 copies of Elina’s books have been sold in Finland, rights have been sold for 16 territories, and an international TV-series based on Elina Backman’s books is in development by Aurora Studios. The third instalment in the Saana Havas series, BEFORE THE POLAR NIGHT FALLS is nominated for the Finnish Crime Writers’ Society’s Clue of the Year Award for best crime novel published in 2022!

Download the material for Elina Backman’s books here!

 

 

 

Elina Backman Saana Havas Series

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
ALBANIA: Dritan
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gyldendal
ESTONIA: Varrak (2-book deal)
GERMANY: Piper Verlag (2-book deal)
HUNGARY: Maxim (2-book deal)
ITALY: Newton Compton
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS: De Bezige Bij/Cargo (2-book deal)
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm (2-book-deal)
POLAND: Czarna Owca
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov, Ferber (2-book-deal)
SLOVAKIA: Arkus
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken (2-book-deal)
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 70 000 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 1967. 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


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