The Petrona Award’s jury has just presented its shortlist for the 2020 Petrona Award for ‘Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.’ The list of six nominees include Antti Tuomainen’s Little Siberia, Stina Jackson’s The Silver Road, Jørn Lier Horst’s The Cabin, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s The Absolution and Thomas Enger’s Inborn.

A quote from the judges about the titles shortlisted for this year’s award:

“The Petrona Award judges selected the shortlist from a rich field. The six novels stand out for their writing, characterisation, plotting, and overall quality. They are original and inventive, often pushing the boundaries of genre conventions, and tackle highly complex subjects such as legacies of the past, mental health issues and the effects of grief.”

The winning title, usually announced at the international crime fiction convention CrimeFest, will now be announced on Thursday 3 December, 2020.

Jonas Gardell’s Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves tells the heart-wrenching story of the lovers Benjamin and Rasmus and their group of friends in Stockholm, focusing on the early and mid-80s when the AIDS crisis became fact. The trilogy, a romantic fiction in three parts (1: Love, 2: Disease, 3: Death), chronicles the gay movement in Sweden and the world, holding up a furious mirror to the times lest we forget those who went before us, and the battles they fought for freedom, love, and the right to live.

Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves: 1. Love

When Rasmus steps off the train in Stockholm in September 1982, he’s leaving stuffy little Koppom behind for good. Young and beautiful, he throws himself into the welcoming arms of the LGBTQ community.

Benjamin is a Jehova’s Witness, knocking on doors to spread God’s word. Nothing can shake his faith. Until the day he rings the doorbell of Paul, the kindest, funniest and bitchiest gay God ever made.

Then on Christmas Eve, as snow covers the city’s rooftops, Rasmus and Benjamin meet. Things are never the same again.

This is a true story: It happened here, in this city, on these streets, among these people. In a city where people continued to live their lives as if nothing had changed, young men began to sicken, to fade, and to die.

Lars Kepler’s The Mirror Man stays at No. 1 on the official e-book bestseller list in Norway. Not far behind is Jørn Lier Horst’s A Question of Guilt at No. 3. Kristina Ohlsson meanwhile lays claim to the No. 5 spot on the paperback list with To Him Who Knocks.

Simon Stålenhag – the No. 1 bestselling author and illustrator of Tales From the Loop and The Electric State – makes his highly anticipated debut as a director today. His first production is nothing less than the music video for Geronimo, the Grammy Award-nominated artist Duvchi’s new single from his upcoming album, This Kind of Ocean. The dreamily romantic pop / R&B tune Geronimo features the vocals of Nadia Nair, hailed by Clash Magazine and MTV as an “artist of the future to look out for.”

In the music video, Stålenhag also pairs up with the talented visual effects and post production team at Goodbye Kansas Studios (The Walking Dead, Chernobyl) to give life to everything from the video’s protagonist – the robotic yet dove-like figure of “Hector,” created by Stålenhag – to the fantastical beasts lured from the deep by the spellbinding tune.

To read more about Simon Stålenhag and Duvchi’s Geronimo, just click “Read More” below.

The nominees for 2020’s Adlibris Awards have been announced. Adlibris is the leading book retailer in the Nordics and last year, the Adlibris Award was founded to celebrate the site’s most popular titles. 10 titles in 9 different categories are nominated by a jury of Adlibris employees, and all titles must have been published during 2020.

A new category added this year is the ‘Debutant’ one, in which Klas Ekman’s recently published Capable People can be found.

Amongst the nominated titles in the ‘Crime Fiction’ category are Stina Jackson’s The Last Snow, Hans Rosenfeldt’s When Crying Wolf, Jo Nesbø’s  The Kingdom and Lars Kepler’s The Mirror Man.

Fans have until December 8 to cast their votes in each respective category. The winners will be announced on January 25, 2021.

Click the “Read more” button below to cast your vote.