Scandinavian Crime Fiction [Hardcover]

With its bleak urban environments, psychologically compelling heroes and socially engaged plots, Scandinavian crime writing has captured the imaginations of a global audience in the 21st century. Exploring the genre's key themes, international impact and socio-political contexts,Scandinavian Crime Fictionguides readers through such key texts as Sj?wall and Wahl??'sNovel of a Crime, Gunnar Staalesen's Varg Veum series, Peter H?eg'sMiss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, Henning Mankell's Wallander books, Stieg Larsson'sMillenniumtrilogy and TV series such asThe Killing. With its focus on the function of crime fiction in both reflecting and shaping the late-modern Scandinavian welfare societies, this book is essential for readers, viewers and fans of contemporary crime writing.Jakob Stougaard-Nielsenis Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Literature at University College London, UK. His previous publications include (as co-editor)World Literature, World Culture: History, Theory, Analysis(2008).

Introduction
1. Scandinavian crime fiction and the welfare state
2. Welfare crime: Sj?wall and Wahl??'sNovel of a Crime
3. The hardboiled social worker: Gunnar Staalesen's Varg Veum
4. Crime fiction in an age of crisis: Henning Mankell'sFaceless Killersand Stieg Larsson'sThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Landscape and memory in the criminal periphery
6. Criminal peripheries: Peter H?eg'sMiss Smilla's Feeling for snowand Kerstin Ekman'sBlackwater
7. Investigating the family in the welfare state
Conclusion

Bibliography
Index