Ahlback Agency titles nominated for Best Book of the Year + Bookbeat awards!

Posted on 02.10.202503.10.2025

We are happy to announce that Ahlback Agency authors have been nominated for two different awards: BookBeat Finland Newcomer of the Year Award + Best Crime Novel of the Year Award, and Best Book of the Year Award by Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, Finland’s biggest bookstore chain!

For BookBeat Finland Newcomer of the Year Award the nominees are:

Traces by Anna Harju
Crimson Web by Aamos Honka
Pearl Ring, Enclosed by Mari Renko

And for BookBeat Finland Best Crime Novel of the Year Alec by Arttu Tuominen has been nominated!

Since 2020, the audio- and e-book streaming platform BookBeat has given out awards for the Finnish newcomer of the year and the Finnish crime author of the year. The winners of the Awards will be decided based on audiobook streaming/download data and reviews, and the winners will be announced during the Helsinki Book Fair on October 25th.

And for Best Book of the Year Award our nominees are:
Alec by Arttu Tuominen
Snowsinger by Emmi Itäranta
Tomorrow I’ll Tell You Everything by Juha Itkonen
Itty Bitty Princess and the Fart Fairy’s Surprise Clean-Up by Hannele Lampela and Ninka Reittu

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa book store jury has selected the finalists, and all readers are welcome to vote for the Best Book! Voting will take place from September 29 to October 12, and the winner will be announced on October 23rd.

TRACES
Publication Info:
Jäljet
Tammi 2025, 382 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis, German sample, Finnish edition

CRIMSON WEB
Publication Info:
Punainen verkko
Gummerus 2025, 489 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Gummerus (orig.)

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

ALEC
Publication info:
Alec
Otava 2025, 360 pages

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
FRANCE: Éditions de la Martinière (3 books)
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe (3 books!)
NETHERLANDS: De Fontein (3 books)

Reading materials:
Finnish edition, English sample (80 pages!), English synopsis

PEARL RING, ENCLOSED
Publication Info:
Helmisormus kirjekuoressa
Bazar, January 2025, 444 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Bazar (orig.)
NETHERLANDS: Park Uitgevers / Oceaan

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

SNOWSINGER
Publication info:
Lumenlaulaja
Teos 2025, 320 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ESTONIA: Argo

Reading materials:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish PDF, Full English edition by December 2025

TOMORROW I’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING
Publication Info:
Huomenna kerron kaiken
Gummerus 2025, 348 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Gummerus (orig.)
GERMANY: Karl Rauch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG

Reading material:
English sample & synopsis, Finnish edition

ITTY BITTY PRINCESS AND THE FART FAIRY’S SURPRISE CLEAN UP
Publication Info:
Prinsessa Pikkiriikki ja Kakkakeijun siivousyllätys
Otava 2025, 40 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Reading material:
Full English PDF

About author

Aamos Honka

Aamos Honka has been a part of the Finnish intelligence community for over a decade and continues to work for the Finnish government. Drawing from his professional expertise, Aamos crafts gripping and realistic thrillers that delve deep into the high-stakes world of international espionage. He lives with his family in the picturesque Finnish archipelago, where he finds inspiration for his writing. In his free time, Aamos enjoys hunting and ice swimming.

Anna Harju

Anna Harju (b. 1983) enjoys atmospheric detective stories with a compelling, complex plot. By profession, she is a translator and communication multitasker. She enjoys the solitude of early mornings, sprinting in silent forests and questioning the ordinary. Unlike her character, Taro Auramo, she is terrified of heights but shares his impulsive nature and feeling of not always fitting in.

Traces is her debut novel and takes place in Tampere, the sauna capital of the world and the largest inland city of the Nordics, where Harju is from.

Photo credit: Jan Lönnberg

Arttu Tuominen

Arttu Tuominen (b. 1981) is a Spiegel bestselling author and environmental inspector based in Pori, Finland. During the evenings, he writes dark and tough crime novels. He is best known for his psychologically nuanced and gripping crime novels. Tuominen's novels are acclaimed for their intense atmosphere, compelling plots, and richly drawn characters.

His River Delta series has sold over 230,000 copies in Finland alone and has been published in six different languages. Tuominen has received numerous accolades, including the Vuoden Johtolanka (Clue of the Year) award for The Oath and the Palle Rosenkrantz Prize from the Danish Crime Academy for Jeopardy. In addition he has been nominated for the prestigious Glass Key Award. His novels have earned praise from both critics and readers, firmly establishing him as a leading voice in Finnish crime fiction.

Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015, and The Moonday Letters (Kuunpäivän kirjeet) in September 2020. Her new title Snowsinger (Lumenlaulaja) was published in 2025.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award).

Itäranta’s CV is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Photo credit: Liisa Takala

About author

Hannele Lampela

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

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

About author

Juha Itkonen

Juha Itkonen (b. 1975) is one of the most recognized voices in contemporary Finnish literature. He has published eight novels, a novella collection, a children’s book, several plays, and an epistolary novel co-written with Kjell Westö. His works often explore themes of family, generations, and parenthood, and are known for their emotional depth, energy, and a touch of melancholy.

He has received the Finnish State Prize for Literature, the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, and the Veijo Meri Prize, and has twice been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize. In 2019, his novel Beyond Our Reach (Ihmettä kaikki, Otava in 2018).) was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

Itkonen loves music, both as a listener and a player, which shows in his books. The passing of time is an eternal mystery at the core of his writing – his novels tend to have a melancholy undertone, yet they are also filled with life, humor, and energy. He lives in the Arabianranta district of Helsinki with his wife, Maija Itkonen, and their four children.

A film based on his novel The More Loving One (Anna minun rakastaa enemmän, Teos 2005) was released in Fall 2025.

Mari Renko

Mari Renko (b.1994) is an eastern Finnish writer from Kuopio. She wrote her debut novel Pearl Ring, Enclosed after getting bored with the one-sided love interests of romance books. Her aim is to show that the world is full of different love stories, each one worth telling, even if they do not end in marriage and children, or even if they are about something other than romantic love. Mari has studied medicine and writing. She loves stories that offer an escape from everyday life, such as romance and fantasy. She is also active on the book scene, where she talks about her writing and shares writing tips.

On Instagram and TikTok, Mari can be found under the username @renkomari.

Photo credit: Anna-Katri Hänninen Bazar kustannus

Ninka Reittu

Ninka Reittu is an illustrator and children's book writer.

Reittu lives in an old clergy house in Liperi, Finland, with her son and carpenter husband. Their family also includes two cats, several dogs, and a flock of sheep.

In addition to her own picture books Messi ja Mysteeri and Sinä olet superrakas, she has illustrated the titles of Hannele Lampela (The Itty-Bitty Princess) and Kreetta Onkelin.

Bestseller titles from the Ahlback Agency!

Posted on 09.04.202512.05.2025

Titles represented by the Ahlback Agency have been on the official bestseller lists of Finland in March 2025!

What Finland Reads is a monthly statistic compiled by the Booksellers’ Association of Finland, which brings together the best-selling literature in Finland. The list includes literature in print form as well as audio and e-books.

Dad Man and the Mysterious Puppet Master by Arttu Unkari and Kai Vaalio is included in both All Genres and Children’s and Young Adult lists.

In Finnish literature list you can find Crimson Web by Aamos Honka, which has been one of the most purchased books in Finland since it’s release in January!

Stop Chasing Happiness: A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life by Frank Martela can be found on the most purchased Non-Fiction books list.

Traces by Anna Harju is one of the most purchased print books. Traces has been on the best selling lists since it’s release in January!

Princess Rascal and the Dark Fairy by Elina Hirvonen and Mervi Lindman is one of the most purchased Children’s and Young Adult books in e-book form.

Dad Man and the Mysterious Puppet Master

BY ARTTU UNKARI AND KAI VAALIO

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

✓ Bestselling series: over 200,000 copies sold in Finland!

✓ Rights sold to Germany (2 books) and Denmark (2 books)!

✓ Perfect for reluctant readers and for fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

✓ All books in the series have been nominated for the Storytel awards Best children’s audiobook prize!

✓ Books in the series have also been recognized with Best Newcomer of the Year 2020, and the Runeberg Prize 2023!

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

✓ Work as standalones and can be read in any order!

The wackiest cop in town is messing up again! A fast-paced adventure full of humor for elementary school readers.

A supervillain calling himself the Mysterious Puppet Master robs the Museum of Ancient Diseases and threatens to unleash deadly germs if the city’s smartest detective doesn’t complete the tasks he’s assigned.

Who else but Dadman rises heroically to the challenge, dragging Oona and the gang back into action. They must solve the Puppet Master’s riddles before it’s too late — and before Dadman ruins everything. Because those tasks? They’re not quite as heroic as Dadman thought..

DOWNLOAD READING MATERIALS HERE

Crimson Web

BY AAMOS HONKA

A frighteningly topical debut thriller from an insider in the intelligence world, revealing the hidden heart of secrets ops and hybrid warfare.

Planes collide in London. Electricity and information networks are attacked in Finland. Janne Peura from military intelligence and Laura Vesterinen from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service track down signs of foreign power operations. When Janne and Laura’s lines cross, they take on major roles in a high stakes international game.

Once you read the book, the news headlines will never look the same to you.

The sequel to Crimson Web, book #2 in the Janne Peura series, is slated to be published in Finland in November 2025.

DOWNLOAD READING MATERIALS HERE

Stop Chasing Happiness: A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life

BY FRANK MARTELA

A guide to finding happiness by Finland’s leading happiness expert UK publication on March 20, 2025!

✓ World English rights sold to Allen & Unwin, German rights to Knesebeck, and Finnish rights at auction to Gummerus!

✓ Full English manuscript available!

✓ Frank Martela, PhD, is Finland’s #1 internationally bestselling non-fiction author – his previous title, A Wonderful Life, has been sold to 30 countries!

✓ A unique blend of personal stories and quirky anecdotes combined with deep understanding of the latest psychological research on well-being

✓ Finland has been ranked the happiest country 7 times in a row and Frank Martela has explained the secret to Finnish happiness for Fox News, New York Times, Scientific American and New Scientist.

What if the secret to happiness isn’t finding it—but letting it go?

In a world obsessed with success and self-improvement, the chase for happiness often leaves us feeling lost. The real path to contentment lies in unlearning the habits holding you back: stop obsessing over what others think, stop being so sensitive about your feelings, stop measuring your value by what you have.

In Stop Chasing Happiness, academic and philosopher Frank Martela – hailing from Finland, the world’s happiest country – reveals why our fixation on happiness and achievement is making us miserable. With wisdom rooted in science, philosophy, and personal experience, Martela shows you the path to a life of energized contentment.

Through this transformative book, you’ll discover:

* the courage to free yourself from the pressures of what you should do

* the serenity to accept whatever life throws at you

* the sparkle to energetically pursue whatever you identify as your real values.

Stop the anxious chase. You have already arrived. Start living your own life through accepting the past, enjoying the present, and working towards a better future – it all starts here.

DOWNLOAD READING MATERIALS HERE

Traces

BY ANNA HARJU

“Perfect suspense!” – Max Seeck, New York Times bestselling author

The opening of a gripping crime series set in trendy Tampere. Taro Auramo Series #1

There are secrets whose revelation will have fatal consequences. There is no escaping them, no matter how hard you try. Must one always pay for their mistakes?

A well-liked pharmacist is found murdered at his workplace. Suspicion falls on pharmacist Joanna Vihervuori, the last person to see her boss alive. Joanna insists she is innocent, but the case begins to twist around her in a strange way.

For Tampere Police Detective Inspector Taro Auramo, this murder investigation is the place to prove himself. The white dust on the dead pharmacist’s cheek raises doubts about whether his business is completely clean, and soon nothing will be as it seems.

Psychologically astute and utterly addictive, Traces is the first in the Taro Auramo crime series set in Tampere. Book #2 is slated to be published in 2026 and book #3 in 2027.

DOWNLOAD READING MATERIALS HERE

Princess Rascal and the Dark Fairy

BY ELINA HIRVONEN AND MERVI LINDMAN

A picture book about being scared of the dark

✓ Shows day-to-day challenges of families with children with a lot of warmth and humor

✓ Rights in series sold into 5 languages

Would a crown of courage or a string of pearls with happy things help in the dark?

Beloved Princess Rascal is a little girl with big feelings and magical powers. The popular picture book series continues!

Princess Rascal stays awake all night, because there’s a monster under her bed. No one believes that, but Princess Rascal knows it’s true. She feels that no one else has such big worries and that no one else is even afraid of anything! Somehow this problem has to be solved: could there be something in Princess Rascal’s toy box that could help?

The Princess Rämäpää series by Elina Hirvonen and Mervi Lindman takes the reader on magical adventures that can be found right in the middle of everyday life, as long as you have enough imagination.

DOWNLOAD READING MATERIALS HERE

DAD MAN AND THE MYSTERIOUS PUPPET MASTER
ISÄMIES JA SALAPERÄINEN NUKKEMESTARI
Otava, 2025, 176 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
Finnish pdfs books 1-6
German edition books 1-2
Danish edition book 1
English sample book 4

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: Bogoo (2 books)
GERMANY: Mixtvision (2 books)

CRIMSON WEB
PUNAINEN VERKKO
Gummerus, 2025, 489 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample
English synopsis
Finnish edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Gummerus (orig.)

STOP CHASING HAPPINESS: A PESSIMIST’S GUIDE TO A GOOD LIFE
ÄLÄ ETSI ONNEA: EPÄTYYPILLISIÄ ELÄMÄNOHJEITA NYKYIHMISELLE
Allen & Unwin, 2025, 200 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
Full English edition
English chapters

RIGHTS SOLD:
UK: Allen & Unwin (orig.)
FINLAND: Gummerus
GERMANY: Knesebeck
WORLD ENGLISH: Allen & Unwin

TRACES
JÄLJET
Tammi, 2025, 382 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample & synopsis
Finnish edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

PRINCESS RASCAL AND THE DARK FAIRY
PRINSESSA RÄMÄPÄÄ JA MÖRKÖTAIKA
Tammi, 2024, 44 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample & synopsis
Finnish edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

About author

Aamos Honka

Anna Harju

Traces is her debut novel and takes place in Tampere, the sauna capital of the world and the largest inland city of the Nordics, where Harju is from.

Photo credit: Jan Lönnberg

Arttu Unkari

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

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

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

Photo credit Jonne Räsänen / Otava 2019

Elina Hirvonen

Elina Hirvonen is an award-winning author of adults' and children's prose and documentary filmmaker whose works have been translated into many languages. Hirvonen’s debut novel, When I Forgot, made the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and received rave reviews from the Independent, Guardian, Financial Times and Globe and Mail.

Hirvonen has won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Young Aleksis Prize, has been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize. She has received the prestigious 2023 Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö Literary Foundation Award, recognizing the artistic independence and high standard of her writing.

Her new novel, The Logbook of Love, was published in Finland in August 2023. The Logbook of Love is the first part of a trilogy of novels that create their world through conversations.

Frank Martela

Professor Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review, Salon, CNBC and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Personality, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Academy of Management Review. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on five continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Vice News, Fox News,and Monocle Observer among others. He is Assistant Professor at Aalto University in Finland. Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children, an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.

About author

Kai Vaalio

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

Photo credit: Jonne Räsänen / Otava