Encyclopedia of Nordic Crime Fiction:
Works and Authors of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden Since 1967 by Mitzi M. Brunsdale
(McFarland, 2016) is an authoritative resource on the explosion of detective
fiction that has been pouring out of Scandinavia since Maj Sjowall and Per
Wahloo introduced Martin Beck to the English-speaking world in 1967. Brunsdale
believes simmering societal issues are driving this production of dark crime
fiction in the North.
Separate
chapters are devoted to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. For each
country, a lengthy chapter has a detailed analysis of the cultural context of
crime fiction in that country, followed by a list of awards given to crime
fiction there and a chronology of national crime fiction and events set against
world crime fiction and events. Crime fiction authors from each country with
their works and awards are listed and discussed. Finally, titles of crime
fiction set in each country by authors from other countries are listed. A 35-page
bibliography and an index round out the book.
This unusual
book was shortlisted for the Dartmouth Medal earlier this year by the American
Library Association. The Dartmouth Medal honors the creation
of a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The Reference and
User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association gave it
along with ten other titles their Outstanding Reference Sources award for 2017,
titles they consider the most outstanding reference publications for small and
medium-sized libraries.
A review copy
of this book will be available for bidding in the silent auction at Bouchercon
this week.
·
Paperback: 572 pages
·
Publisher: McFarland (April 28, 2016)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 0786475366
·
ISBN-13: 978-0786475360
Aubrey Hamilton © 2017
Aubrey Hamilton is a former
librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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