
Photo: Ewa-Marie Rundquist
Lars Kepler is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (b. 1966) and Alexander Ahndoril (b. 1967), authors of the No. 1 internationally bestselling Joona Linna series. With nine installments to date, the series has sold 17 million copies in 40 languages. The Ahndorils were both established writers before they adopted the pen name Lars Kepler, and have each published several acclaimed novels.
“I’m a fan for life!”
—Tami Hoag, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Boy
“Kepler treats us readers to a nonstop roller coaster of suspense, taking us deep into the hearts and minds of perfectly realized characters.”
—Jeffery Deaver, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Goodbye Man
“Kepler’s characters, particularly Joona Linna, are always drawn sharp and deep, like scalpel cuts. Kepler’s prose unrolls as smoothly as a loop of razor wire. But it’s Kepler’s storytelling that really draws blood.”
—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Woman in the Window
The BookBeat Award (Crime Writer of the Year) Sweden | 2023 |
Shortlisted for the Storytel Awards (Best Suspense) Sweden – Spindeln The Spider | 2023 |
Thrillzone Awards (Best Translated Crime Novel of the Year) Netherlands – Spindeln The Spider | 2023 |
Shortlisted for the Mofibo Awards (Best Translated Fiction of the Year) Denmark – Spindeln The Spider | 2023 |
The Adlibris Award (Best Crime Fiction) Sweden – Spindeln The Spider | 2022 |
The BookBeat Award (Crime Writer of the Year) Sweden | 2021 |
Shortlisted for the Mofibo Awards (Best Crime & Suspense) Denmark – Spegelmannen The Mirror Man | 2021 |
Shortlisted for the Storytel Awards (Best Suspense) Sweden – Spegelmannen The Mirror Man | 2020 |
Adlibris Award (Best Crime Fiction) Sweden – Spegelmannen The Mirror Man | 2020 |
Pocisk’s Best Translated Crime Novel Poland – Kaninjägaren The Rabbit Hunter | 2019 |
Storytel Awards (Best suspense) Sweden – Lazarus Lazarus | 2019 |
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Sandmannen The Sandman | 2012 |
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Eldvittnet The Fire Witness | 2011 |
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Paganinikontraktet The Nightmare | 2010 |
2022, Crime
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Lars Kepler is the winner of the 2023 Crime Author of the Year award, bestowed by BookBeat and the Crimetime Festival. The award is based on statistics from the three latest audiobooks by Swedish crime authors during the last 12 months and the winner was announced this weekend during an award ceremony at the Gothenburg Book Fair.
“The fact that Lars Kepler wins Crime Author of the Year once again shows the power of the Joona Linna series, that the readers and listeners can’t get enough of”, says Emelie Hollbox , Senior Content Performance Specialist at BookBeat.
Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril say:
“We are incredibly happy for this award and want to thank all the listeners who have followed Joona Linna’s journey into the darkness. You have been very brave! And we also want to thank [narrator] Jonas Malmsjö, who is Lars Kepler’s perfect Vergil, the guide through the inferno. ”
Lars Kepler and Kristina Ohlsson are both in the running for this year’s BookBeat Award for “Crime Writer of the Year.” The winner will ultimately be decided based on the audiobook service’s statistics from their three latest titles.
Lars Kepler is additionally shortlisted for the BookBeat Award for “Crime Novel of the Year” for The Spider. This category looks only at the streaming records of the nominated titles.
The winning authors and titles will all be announced during the Gothenburg Book Festival’s Crimetime Award ceremony, on September 30.
Lars Kepler’s The Spider features at No. 5 on the official bestseller list for fiction in Sweden. Anders de la Motte’s The Mountain King claims the No. 2 spot on the official list for paperback, followed by Ulf Kvensler’s The Couples Trip featuring at No. 5.
The ninth installment in Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna series, The Spider, has debuted at No. 6 on the Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail’s bestseller list.
The most sold authorships of the month of March in Sweden are Lars Kepler and Martin Widmark. Lars Kepler are the most sold hardcover fiction authors, featuring at No. 1 with The Spider. Meanwhile, Martin Widmark occupies three of the top spots on the children’s books list. First, at No. 1, is The Detective Mystery, followed by The Gold Mystery at No. 2, and The Library Mystery at No. 4.
Lars Kepler’s The Spider appears on yet another international bestseller list, coming in at No. 3 on the Slovakian book retailer Martinus’s most sold list. Anders Hansen is No. 5 on the same list with The Happiness Cure.
The Norwegian booksellers’ association has announced a list of the most sold crime novels of 2023 so far, and Liza Marklund takes the No. 1 spot with The Polar Circle. Horst & Enger meanwhile is the most sold domestic authorship, featuring at the top with their Unhinged, followed by Smoke Screen and Death Deserved. Also on the list are Anne Holt’s The Eleventh Manuscript, Liza Marklund’s The Mire, Jørn Lier Horst’s The Traitor, Jo Nesbø’s Killing Moon, Lars Kepler’s The Spider, and Kristina Ohlsson’s Storm Watch.
Lars Kepler stays put at No. 1 on the hardcover fiction list with The Spider, the ninth Joona Linna novel. Martin Widmark similarly continues to occupy the top spots in the children’s fiction category, coming in at No. 1 with The Detective Mystery, No. 2 with The Gold Mystery, and No. 4 with The Music Mystery. Måns Mosesson makes a comeback on the non-fiction list with Tim – The Official Biography of Avicii, which lands the No. 4 spot.
Lars Kepler and Martin Widmark are the most sold authors of the month of February in Sweden. Lars Kepler is No. 1 on the hardcover fiction list with The Spider. Martin Widmark is No. 1 in the children’s category with The Gold Mystery.
Lars Kepler’s The Spider stays put at No. 1 on the official bestseller list for hardcover fiction in Sweden. Martin Widmark also reprises his placements of last week, claiming both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the children’s fiction list with The Gold Mystery and The Detective Mystery.
Lars Kepler’s The Spider – the most sold novel of 2022 in Sweden – is back at No. 1 on the official bestseller list for hardcover fiction. The ever popular Martin Widmark also comes in first, claiming both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the children’s fiction list with The Gold Mystery and The Detective Mystery.
Oscar nominee Tom Hardy (The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road) and Emmy nominee Zazie Beetz (Joker, Atlanta) are set to star in early-in-the-works Apple TV+ drama series Lazarus, based on Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna novels, with Øystein Karlsen to write, executive produce and direct the series. The project is a co-production between A+E Studios and Range Studios and being sold to Apple.
In the series, an emaciated young man is found wandering along a train track. Thirteen years earlier, he and his sister went missing, presumed victims of the notorious serial killer Jurek Walter. To find the sister, police detective Saga Bauer must go undercover in the maximum-security psychiatric hospital where Walter has been kept since his arrest years ago. Hardy will play Walter and Beetz will portray Inspector Saga Bauer.
Hardy Son & Baker, composed of Tom Hardy and longtime producing partner Dean Baker, will produce. Their production company is behind the FX series Taboo. Also EPs are Beetz, David Rysdahl, Kepler (Alexandra Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril), Niclas Salomonsson, A+E Studios (Barry Jossen, Tana Jamieson) and Range Studios (Heather Kadin, Peter Micelli and Jack Whigham).
Read the full article in Deadline Hollywood by clicking ‘Read More’ below.