Loukko by Storyfinder
Welcome to Ahlbäck Agency’s digital Storyfinder tool! Whether you are a book publisher, film or television producer, studio, or other entertainment executive or scout looking for the next big megaseller and the right intellectual property for your company, we invite you to use our Storyfinder tool to help you find the perfect match!
You might be looking for a book with female protagonist, set in Lapland, solving a murder mystery or… Discover the possibilities! In the Storyfinder tool all Ahlbäck Agency’s titles have been classified by themes, location, time period or occasion and type of characters. Find more tips on using the tool here. Be innovative, be bold, start finding your next big hit from Ahlbäck Agency’s catalogue!
313 results
The Secrets of Finnish Parenting
A calm, practical parenting guide inspired by Nordic philosophy, offering a humane alternative to intensive modern parenting culture
The Secrets of Finnish Parenting is the radically calm antidote to intensive modern motherhood, by a Finnish journalist and mom of three who tried to be a “perfect” U.S. mom, before burning out and moving back to Helsinki for a reset. Inspired by her homeland, Annabella finally found her way to the calm, humane Finnish method that made parenting not only manageable, but fun again. Returning to the U.S., she successfully tested and adapted these Nordic practices in real American life, proving that Finnish parenting can work everywhere.
Blending intimate narrative with practical “recipes” from the happiest country in the world (and informed by her popular Instagram channel), the book offers guidance on everything from sleep and independence to school, food, sports, and activities—so parents everywhere can reclaim bandwidth and breathe again, no relocation required.
Rights sold: WORLD ENGLISH: Harper One (orig.), BRAZIL: HarperCollins Brazil, THE NETHERLANDS: HarperCollins Holland, WORLD ENGLISH: HarperOne
The Curiosity Code: The Hidden Advantage of Curiosity in a World of Constant Change
What if the very playbook we’ve been handed for success – grit, passion, specialization – isn’t just incomplete, but entirely counterproductive to a fulfilling life?
✓ Rights sold in pre-empts in Brazil, Poland and Romania! Auctions in Korea, The Netherlands, Greece and the UK & US!
✓ A no-bullshit blueprint for a more meaningful life—by Finland’s most curious export that has taught leaders at Harvard, Columbia and NYU Stern
✓ In 2024, dr. Puutio reached 1,5 million readers with his columns on Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today, and speaking invitations from Adobe to Thomson Reuters
✓ Bold Nordic take on reinvention and permission: you don’t need approval to change paths – you just need curiosity
For decades, we’ve been told that specialization, grit, and mastering a single craft are the keys to success. However, success stories like Warren Buffet, Jack Ma, and Marc Benioff suggest a different formula: breadth over specialization, questions over certainty. And most important of all, an insatiable sense of curiosity that leads from one rabbit hole to another.
This book is a guide for anyone who’s ever been told they are too scattered, too unfocused, or too unconventional to succeed, and is ready for the validation they deserve. And for those who have bought into the cult of grit and the 10,000 hours, this book offers an invitation: to join a more rangeful, curious exploration of life.
Rights sold: UK: The Bodley Head (PRH) (orig.), BRAZIL: Objetiva / Companhia das Letras, COMMONWEALTH: The Bodley Head, GREECE & CYPRUS: Psichogios, KOREA: Seosamdok, NETHERLANDS: HarperCollins Holland, POLAND: Otwarte, ROMANIA: Publica, WORLD SPANISH: Penguin Random House Mexico
The Final Zone
A research station standing on the ice fields of Greenland is operated by the Finnish startup IceCore AI, which studies the Arctic region using artificial intelligence. The Finnish Defence Forces have invested in the company.
When a mysterious death occurs at the station, Janne Peura from military intelligence is sent to investigate the situation. He is soon joined by Finnish Intelligence Service’s Laura Vesterinen, as a cybersecurity expert is needed on site.
IceCore’s activities interest the United States, Russia, and China alike. At the same time, the walls of the research station conceal an unexpected threat within.
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Bestseller
Rights sold: FINLAND: Gummerus (orig.)
The Kremlin’s Invisible War
Assassinations, acts of sabotage, and the violent silencing of the opposition. Russian intelligence services have always been an extension of their rulers’ power—the iron fist with which those in power have secured their positions.
This authoritative work traces the bloodstained history of these intelligence organizations, from the Tsar’s Okhrana to the NKVD, the KGB, and today’s Russian intelligence agencies. Their operations have also extended to Finland, as evidenced by poisonings, kidnappings, and numerous espionage cases.
Delving deep into the history of this great power, this book sheds light on the methods Russia has used throughout its long history to expand its influence.
Rights sold: FINLAND: Atena (orig.)
The Happiness Puzzle
Finns are known for their quiet, reserved nature and their tendency to keep emotions in check, don’t exactly fit the traditional image of a "happy" nation. They don’t smile on command or express emotions as openly as people in other countries might. And yet, Finland continues to top the happiness rankings year after year.
This paradox is where the story begins. Building on Finland’s paradoxical position in the World Happiness Report, this book reveals the limitations of defining happiness purely as life satisfaction (contentment). Adopting a fresh perspective, it suggests a fuller, more nuanced understanding of happiness — one that begins with how ordinary people define and experience it. By exploring how ordinary people in Finland describe their own happiness, the book paints a picture that goes beyond the simple contentment, highlighting the skills needed to navigate three essential dimensions of happiness: emotions, contentment and meaning.
Rights sold: ITALY: Newton Compton Editori s.r.l., WORLD RIGHTS: Bloomsbury Tonic, WORLD SPANISH: Newton Compton Editores
The Blue Flame
Benn isn’t like other teenage boys. He’s a half-demon with blue skin, black horns and bright white eyes. When he wakes up on his birthday, there’s no cake or presents waiting for him – only the first quest of his life. When his wizard grandfather forces him to fight failed experiments, Benn discovers something unexpected: he can conjure blue fire from his hand. Suddenly, nothing is the same anymore.
Together with the taciturn Frassi, a lumberjack cat with an axe as sharp as his claws, and the mysterious Moligatha, a student at the feared Akadavra Academy, Benn sets off on an adventure into the Old Forest. But are they high enough level to survive?
With humour, magic and role-playing logic, Benn is thrown into a world where almost anything can have a level, where a mailbox can be a monster, and where boundaries only exist if you set them yourself. The challenge is to show who you are, even when you don’t quite know that yourself yet.
The Blue Flame, the first book in the Chronicles of Benn Bluehand series, is written for anyone who loves adventure – or is curious about progression fantasy with LitRPG elements.
The illustrations are created by illustrator and animator Åsa Lucander.
Rights sold: FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finnish-Swedish), FINLAND: Orava-kirjat (Finnish), FRANCE: Éditions Flammarion
The Long Open
Johannes Löytövaara is the father of four children and a well‑liked photographer in a small village deep in the wilderness. Under the watchful eye of his mother Lahja, he runs a photography studio and tries to build a shared life with his wife, Kaarina. Every now and then, Johannes is caught by a longing for his father, who knew how to whistle the birds’ calls and taught him to sit patiently and quietly in place.
Now Johannes is hanging on to life only by thin threads as he decides to retell his entire story to the one who mattered most – the one he once lost.
Tommi Kinnunen writes with luminous clarity about the life of a sensitive and perceptive observer. The work is an independent sequel to the novels Where Four Roads Meet and The Light Behind the Eyes.
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Bestseller
Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
Little Swans
A dazzling novel about growing up, ballet, and the leaps of world politics.
A young girl has just moved with her family to Oulu in 1989. Things are happening in the Soviet Union, Gorbachev’s visit causes a stir, and Finland’s economy is darkening.
The girl’s grandmothers, too, once lived at the crossroads of world history, in a country torn apart by war.
But for the girl, the most important thing is ballet, because her Russian dance teacher embraces an ambitious plan: the amateur group must perform Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, from beginning to end.
This captivating, masterful novel is a growth story hardened by pointe shoes, showing with touching clarity how world events and the individual move hand in hand.
Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.), ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
The Last Point
The Last Point is a novel about family, honour and keeping up appearances – at the cost of everything they claimed to love.
During the Helsinki Book Fair, rising literary star David Berglund is found dead in the harbour – the same day he is due to receive a major literary prize. His wife Aurora is expecting their first child, and the family idyll David always dreamed of is suddenly shattered.
The case is assigned to Philip Koski, a former national hockey hero whose career was cut short by injury and who has just joined the Helsinki Police Department. Meanwhile, cultural journalist Tilde Fors begins digging into David’s past. She was the last person to interview him and sensed that something was deeply wrong. As Philip and Tilde pursue the case from different angles, they uncover jealousy in Helsinki’s cultural circles, murky power games within foundations and dark family secrets.
The deeper they dig, the more complicated the case becomes – and soon, no one connected to David is safe.
THE LAST POINT is a psychologically charged crime novel about lies, loyalty and the darkness lurking behind a well-kept façade. It is the first book in the Helsinki Grey series.
Rights sold: SWEDEN: Schildts & Söderströms (orig.), FINLAND: Schildts & Söderströms (orig. Finnish-Swedish), , DENMARK: Cicero/Gyldendal (print), Gyldendal Astra Denmark (e-book & audio), FINLAND: Schildts&Söderströms
Marius
Lili spends a sultry August day in her garden pavilion on the pastures of an old manor, in an ancient stream valley through which a tramline runs. She is waiting for Marius, an admired young Frenchman, to arrive as her guest one last time.
During the day, Lili’s dear friend Paul visits the pavilion, and Lili reminisces about their time together in European cities and their heated romance in Paris. She reflects on her erotic history, on a woman painter she admired who painted glowing images of men, and on death.
Evening falls. Marius does not come.
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: Siltala (orig.), GERMANY: Blessing Verlag, SWEDEN: Lind & Co
The Logbook of Beauty
On the same day a child in a Finnish school shoots their classmates, the narrator of the novel opens their old diaries for the first time in over thirty years. The pages are filled with pain, sorrow, and a sense of insecurity. Why does the narrator not remember what once happened to them?
Only when a friend living in Afghanistan is placed in danger does the remembering begin. The narrator tries to understand the consequences of their experiences and to find connection with people living in different parts of the world—those whom violence touches now.
As a child, the diary writer made lists of beautiful things to remind themselves that beauty is a reason to believe in the future when the present is darkened by pain. Guided by this idea, they walk with a Ukrainian acquaintance to places where people in Kyiv cherish beauty and the desire for life in the midst of war.
Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
The Kingdom of Dead Souls
A new, breathtakingly suspenseful series on the coast of the Arctic Ocean.
Forensic psychologist Nina Nordbø is a professional with an impressive track record. Yet, there is one mystery she hasn’t been able to solve: one day her husband, Jehki, disappeared without a trace on a hike near Utsjoki, and was never found. The only clues to her husband’s fate are revealed in a mysterious manuscript found among his belongings, The Kingdom of Dead Souls.
Now, ten years later, Nina returns to her husband’s hometown and to Tenovuono, determined to find out what really happened to Jehki on that fateful day. The journey north turns out to be more dangerous than she could ever have imagined, and the real mystery is just starting to unfold.
The Kingdom of Dead Souls is a gripping mystery, a fast-paced thriller, and a story of a love that even death can’t extinguish. It opens the Arctic Danger by Ture Malmstedt, one of Finland’s best voices in crime and suspense.
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: Aula & Co (orig.)
Taken Wild
Annukka Salama is Finland’s answer to Elsie Silver! A fiery, explosive country romance that will set your pulse racing.
Twenty‑something Viola Vennas has made a mess of things and broken her own heart. She escapes the jet‑set circles of Brussels to the idyllic — and deadly dull — Wheat Valley to lick her wounds and stay far away from new problems.
But the moment she arrives, Viola runs straight into the worst kind of trouble. Luka Vuori, the neighbor, is sinfully handsome, carefree as a summer evening, and dangerously skilled with his hands. And this just when Viola has sworn she won’t touch another man ever again.
Taken Wild kicks off the scorching hot Wild Heart series, bringing the hugely popular country‑romance genre into a Finnish setting.
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Bestseller
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.), ESTONIA: Ühinenud Ajakirjad
A Year of Tea and Magic
This atmospheric collection of four stories draws you into the world of Launeala, where young witches care for their loved ones, brew remedies, and gather by the warmth of the hearth as storms rage beyond their cottage walls.
Enna is a young village witch whose nearby village is beset by a string of afflictions. High in her mountain cabin, Moira’s life is transformed when she rescues a mysterious dog from the freezing cold. Siblings Anders and Linda set off with their parents in an airship to study mammoths. Meanwhile, Aisha, lost in her work, stands on the seashore, watching a dragon storm rise on the horizon.
A Year of Tea and Magic presents four gently enchanting tales of witches, filled with the cozy charm of forest cabins, magical moments, talking animals, and the flutter of the heart—along with just the right touch of tea and sweet treats. Magdalena Hai’s captivating stories are beautifully brought to life through Heikala’s delightful illustrations.
Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), FRANCE: Éditions Flammarion, SPAIN: Duermevela Ediciones
Flatmates for the Summer
A bubbly, summery entertainment series kicks off with unexpected encounters.
Here we come, the summer of dreams! Serena just wants to forget her money troubles and relationship mess and focus on designing her knitting book. Leo is already looking forward to long bike rides and definitely doesn’t have the patience for a single new distraction. Due to an unlucky double booking, they end up in the same rental cabin in the Kvarken Archipelago. Which one is willing to give in and let go of their dream? There’s no way two strangers can live under the same roof in peace for an entire summer!
Unexpected cohabitation forces them to let go of their prejudices and open their hearts to surprises. Could it also be the beginning of something completely new?
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.), ESTONIA: Hea Lugu
The Sealed Case
The start of a gripping new thriller series! The Department K series blends a web of power games and criminal investigations with finely crafted psychological portraits.
When journalist Joel Saarni’s affair with his editor-in-chief makes the tabloid front page, he’s forced to leave his job. But the unfinished story won’t let him go. Someone has sent him a folder containing highly incriminating material: a Finnish network equipment company appears to have made illegal deals in Russia. But why?
Corporate lawyer Petra Thorry has her own reasons for getting involved. She’s obsessed with solving the mystery of a child who vanished in the 1990s.
As the investigation deepens, Petra and Joel are drawn into a tightening web of lies and espionage—where the deadly strings are pulled by Department K.
The Sealed Case launches a new top-tier Finnish thriller series. Department K is an addictive story about unchecked power—and the people who can no longer look away.
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Bestseller
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.), GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe, GREECE: Memento
Lulu Gets a Haircut
When a trip to the hairdresser is the worst thing that can happen!
A lively picture book full of surprising twists and turns.
When Mum announces in the morning that it’s Lulu’s hairdresser day, Lulu decides to resist.
Surely she could cut her fringe herself. If only Dad would reveal where the scissors are. Or perhaps Grandpa, who lives in the backyard, could help? As the appointment draws near, Lulu is nowhere to be found. At Grandpa’s, her parents discover only Timo Kurki, a pensioner exactly Lulu’s size, and Grandpa’s earthworm friend, Johnny Gus. Will Lulu be found, and will her fringe get shorter?
Noora Kunnas’s joyful story dives into the heart of everyday family life, where an unwanted trip to the hairdresser turns into a hilarious adventure. Bringing Lulu’s inventive ideas to life are her wonderfully eccentric, actor‑turned grandpa and her cuddly anglerfish toy, Cutie-Pie. Marjo Nygård’s beautiful illustrations capture every shade of Lulu’s world!
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Full English
Rights sold: FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)