The crime blogosphere has been abuzz with news of the freshly established Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.
Set up in memory of Maxine Clarke, who blogged as Petrona and was an expert in Scandinavian crime fiction, the award will be presented for the first time at the UK CrimeFest convention this coming May.
The 2013 shortlist has been compiled on the basis of Maxine’s own reviews:
PIERCED by Thomas Enger, tr. Charlotte Barslund (Faber and Faber)
BLACK SKIES by Arnaldur Indridason, tr. Victoria Cribb (Harvill Secker)
LAST WILL by Liza Marklund, tr. Neil Smith (Corgi)
ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE by Leif GW Persson tr. Paul Norlen (Doubleday)
Submissions are also now being invited for the 2014 award, which will be judged by crime critic Barry Forshaw, Sarah Ward of Crimepieces, and your very own Mrs. P. It’s an honour to have been asked, and I look forward to some lively discussions with my fellow judges! Karen Meek from Eurocrime will be keeping us all in line.
The rules governing eligibility are available on the Petrona Remembered blog. You can also read Petrona’s excellent review of Indridason’s Voices there – fittingly, it’s the inaugural post on the site, and will be followed by more from a variety of contributors.
For a Bookseller piece on the award, see here.
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
This is a great way to recognize Maxine Clarke’s brilliant book reviews and excellent taste in crime fiction. I have read Black Skies and Last Will. I would say that based on Maxine’s love of Liza Marklund’s writing and Annika Bengtzon’s character, not to mention the science-based plot in Last Will, that it should win this award.
As I read Anne Holt’s second Hanne Wilhelmsen book “Blessed Be Those Who Thirst,” and Helene Thurston’s The Golden Calf, featuring Irene Huss, I thought that Maxine would have liked both books.
Thanks, Kathy. I’m taking note of your prediction for the winner of the 2013 Petrona 🙂
I often think of Maxine while I’m reading too – most recently as I was finishing up Persson’s Linda. I really miss her reviews.
Yet more enticing books to add to my reading list, and I loved the Petrona blog, and will now add Petrona Remembered to my favourites – off there now, I have read Voices, I love grumpy old Erlendur, love it when he eats some Icelandic speciality like sheeps brains, no wonder he is so miserable… There is a danger that I will actually forget to read any novels, i will be so busy with upkeep of my readling list..and reading book blogs…
Thanks, Blighty – I’m a HUGE fan of Indridason and the grumpy Erlendur, though I enjoyed the different narrative perspective of Outrage too, in which Elinborg takes centre stage as investigator. Sheeps’ brains…would you be brave enough?!
Hope you enjoy Petrona Remembered. Some good stuff coming up…
This sounds like a great way to remember Maxine. I didn’t know her well but I read many of her reviews. Congratulations on being a judge for 2014. I think Last Will will be the winner for 2013. I enjoyed that one and I like the Annika Bengtzon series.
Arnaldur Indridason is one of my favorite crime fiction writers. In fact, I will purchase the books from wherever I can as quickly as possible. I loved Elinburg in Outrage, and I thought that this male author can write women protagonists well and do an equally good job explaining and being sympathetic about crimes against women. He showed that in The Silence of the Grave, too.