Simona Ahrnstedt (b. 1967) was born in Prague and moved to Sweden with her parents at a very young age. Besides being one of Sweden’s best-selling authors, she is a licensed psychologist and cognitive behavioral therapist. Ahrnstedt’s rich and captivating character depictions, paired with her provocative and daringly executed plots, breathed life into the now rapidly growing genre of Scandinavian women’s fiction. Alongside her role as novelist, Ahrnstedt is a spokesperson for books by women, for women and about women.

On Thursday, April 11, Wisting – the biggest budget Norwegian drama to date – will premiere on the SVOD platform Viaplay. Wisting is based on the best-selling novels of Jørn Lier Horst, and co-created and written by director Trygve Allister Diesen and Kathrine Valen Zeiner. The series stars The Matrix and Jessica Jones alum Carrie-Anne Moss and long-time Norwegian film and TV star Sven Nordin.

Wisting has already been praised in Dagbladet, one of Norway’s largest newspapers:

“[Wisting] is a tasteful hybrid of Nordic noir mixed with the often more sedate narrative style of the best crime series, created by among else British BBC. Adding to this a feather-light touch of Fargo, and placing it all in the small community of Larvik and its surroundings, makes it near waterproof. /…/ Wisting has the potential to become a Norwegian series winner, like [the Swedish] Wallander or Beck.”
– Dagbladet, 5 stars

Filmmaker-duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin, who won an Oscar for ‘Best Documentary’ for Free Solo, are in early talks with Netflix to helm the movie based on Jonas Bonnier’s The Helicopter Heist, starring Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead. Gyllenhaal will also produce the drama with his Nine Stories partner Riva Marker and ACE Content partner Evan Hayes (Free Solo).

Peter Thorsboe & Mai Brostrøm are the renowned Emmy-award winning screenwriting duo behind some of the acclaimed crime series at the forefront of the Nordic noir genre (The Protectors, The Team, Modus). Their next highly anticipated project is an adaptation of Jens Henrik Jensen’s book trilogy The Oxen, which will be turned into a two-season series of eight episodes.

The Oxen features war veteran and elite soldier Niels Oxen, brought back from retirement to investigate a series of mysterious murder cases along with his side-kick, agent Margrethe Franck.

Copenhagen-based REinvent Studios has just picked up the high-end crime series, and SF Studios Denmark’s Senia Dremstrup is producing.

Niklas Natt och Dag’s The Wolf and the Watchman is the winner of the Storytel Award, a Swedish audiobook award, in the category ‘Best Fiction’. The motivation is as follows:

“The text, with its richness in detail and observation, fills our senses so that we can experience the life and strife of the olden days. And above all, the horror of life under the rule of a brutal leader. The audiobook reader’s sonorous voice takes us right into the city of our nightmares.”

Lars Kepler’s Lazarus wins in the category ‘Best Suspense’ with the motivation:

“With dramaturgical elegance, the story is propelled forward by suggestive milieus and frightening atmospheres. But even through darkness, the captivating characters are all successfully chiseled forth, and even the peripheral ones come alive. The novel’s scary plot and fast pace are well balanced by the objective and assuring voice of the audiobook reader. A voice that, with a convincing tone, complements the well-written text.”

Week 13’s (March 25-31st) Swedish bestseller lists see new and old names lining up at the top. New on the lists is Tom Malmquist, who claims the No. 1 spot on the audio one with All the Air That Surrounds Us. Stefan Ahnhem’s Motive X stays at No. 1 on the paperback list, and is joined by Stina Jackson who features at No. 5 with The Silver Road. Jackson’s debut also comes in at No. 4 on both the audio and e-book lists.

Lars Kepler’s Lazarus stays put at No. 2 in the hardcover category, and Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s A Higher Justice is No. 3.

The official Swedish bestseller lists for March see Lars Kepler claim the No. 1 spot on the hardcover list with Lazarus. Hjorth & Rosenfeldt follow at No. 2 with A Higher Justice.

The non-fiction list’s No. 1 goes to Leif GW Persson’s memoir, Master Detective Willy: the Story of My Career.

On the paperback list, Stefan Ahnhem’s Motive X comes in at No. 4, and just after it at No. 5 is Stina Jackson’s The Silver Road. Jackson also features at No. 1 on the e-book list, and No. 3 on the audio one. Niklas Natt och Dag’s The Wolf and the Watchman is No. 5 on the e-book list.