Photo: Annika Marklund Photo: Annika Marklund

Liza Marklund

If Sjöwall/Wahlöö created the modern Swedish police procedural in the 60s, Liza Marklund (b. 1962) revolutionized it in the late 90s with The Bomber, the first installment in a series that would become the most successful ever from a female Scandinavian writer.

Liza Marklund’s series about crime reporter Annika Bengtzon – in which life at a bustling tabloid and the conflict between motherhood and career set the stage for immensely suspenseful crime stories – quickly established the author as a bestseller worldwide. Since then, Marklund’s novels have sold more than 23 million copies in more than 40 languages. She is the recipient of a vast number of literary awards and prizes.

In addition to being an author, Liza Marklund has worked as a journalist as well as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

“It’s no accident that Liza Marklund is one of the most dynamic and popular crime writers of our time.”
–Patricia Cornwell

“It’s obvious why Liza Marklund is such a popular writer, and so beloved by her loyal fans. Her voice is crisp and clean, and she has a knack for building beautifully elaborate and suspenseful plots. Her storytelling captivates readers, keeping them guessing right to the end with twists and turns you never see coming. /…/ I am but one member of a steadily growing group of loyal fans.”
–Karin Slaughter

“Liza Marklund is in a league of her own thanks to her intelligent stories, her confident writing and her radical view on society. There is no doubt about it.”
–Henning Mankell

“An astonishing talent. /…/ Liza Marklund’s thrillers are stellar examples of those qualities inherent in the best fiction: She wholly immerses the reader in her world, and she writes with consummate intelligence, consistency and passion.”
–Jeffery Deaver

“Liza Marklund is the next great Nordic export for fans of crime fiction to discover. Her books deliver edge-of-your-seat suspense, sophisticated plotting, complex characterization, and unique locales. Enjoy!”
–Harlan Coben

“Liza Marklund’s thrillers are beautifully structured and tautly written. Dynamic plots with suspense throughout.”
–Kathy Reichs

“What impresses me most about Liza Marklund’s novels is that they are intelligent and gripping. As if that isn’t enough to raise them above just about everyone else’s work—Liza writes lively, often funny dialogue.”
–James Patterson

Awards

Shortlisted for the Storytel Awards (Best Suspense) Sweden – Kallmyren The Mire 2023
Shortlisted for the Mofibo Awards (Best Translated Fiction of the Year) Denmark – Kallmyren The Mire 2023
Shortlisted for the Adlibris Awards (Best Crime Fiction) Sweden – Kallmyren The Mire 2022
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Polcirkeln The Polar Circle 2021
Shortlisted for the Storytel Awards (Best Fiction) Sweden – Pärlfarmen Black Pearl Farm 2019
Crimetime Specsavers’ Honorary Award Sweden 2018
Radio Bremen’s Crime Award Germany – Järnblod The Final Word 2016
The Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Special Honorary Award) Sweden 2015
The Petrona Award (Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year) UK – Nobels testamente Last Will 2013
Eurocrime Read of the Year (Favourite read of 2012) UK – Nobels testamente Last Will 2012
The Reading Relay Gold Medal Scotland – Sprängaren The Bomber 2012
The Platinum Paperback Award (Outstanding Paperback Sales) Sweden – En plats i solen The Long Shadow 2010
The Swedish Literary Award (Best Novel of the Year) Sweden – Livstid Lifetime 2007
Scanorama Awards (Scandinavian of the Year in the Literature category) Scandinavia 2002
St. Erik’s Medal Sweden 2002
Book of the Year Award Sweden – Paradiset Vanished 2001
QX’s Book of the Year Award Sweden – Paradiset Vanished 2001
Paperback of the Year Sweden – Sprängaren The Bomber 2000
Shortlisted for the Glass Key (Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year) The Nordic Countries – Sprängaren The Bomber 1999
The Swedish Union’s Award (Author of the Year) Sweden – Studio sex Exposed 1999
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Studio sex Exposed 1999
The Poloni Prize (Best Swedish Crime Novel by a Female Writer) Sweden – Sprängaren The Bomber 1998
The Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Debut) Sweden – Sprängaren The Bomber 1998
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year) Sweden – Sprängaren The Bomber 1998
Close award list

Bibliography

Stand-alone

The Polar Circle Trilogy

Annika Bengtzon

Related news

The Storytel Awards 2023 Shortlist Announced

The nominees for this year’s Swedish Storytel Awards have been announced. The Storytel Awards have been bestowed since 2007 in Sweden to highlight the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within six categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, Feelgood, YA, and Children’s books.

Among the nominees for suspense are Lars Kepler’s The Spider, Anders de la Motte’s The Mountain King, Kristina Ohlsson’s Dimmed Lights, Anders de la Motte and Måns Nilsson’s Death Goes Antiquing, and Liza Marklund’s The Mire.

The Details by Ia Genberg is featured within the fiction category.

Meanwhile, Anders Hansen and Mats Wänblad’s The Happiness Cure for Teens and Elaf Ali’s Who Said Anything About Love? feature on the YA list, whilst Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery and Stories from Valleby: The mysterious letter are in the running for the children’s books award.

Readers will be able to vote for their favorite works until February 5, after which a jury will pick a winner among the three candidates with the most votes in each category.

To cast your vote, click “Read more” below.

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The 2023 Mofibo Awards

The Danish audio and e-book service Mofibo has announced this year’s nominees in the Mofibo Awards. Competing for the title of Best Crime & Suspense is Katrine Engberg with The Writing on the Wall. In the Translated Fiction category, Lars Kepler, Liza Marklund, Stefan Ahnhem and Hjorth & Rosenfeldt are vying for the top spot. Kepler with The Spider, Marklund with The Mire, Ahnhem with The Final Nail, and Hjorth & Rosenfeldt with As You Sow.

To cast your vote, click “Read more” below. Voting closes on January 29.

Read more

Liza Marklund No. 1 in Norway

Liza Marklund continues to place first on the official Norwegian bestseller list for paperbacks, coming in at No. 1 also this week with The Polar Circle.

Liza Marklund No. 1 in Norway

Liza Marklund performs a hat-trick on the first weekly bestseller list of 2023 in Norway. The Mire, the standalone second installment in Marklund’s The Polar Circle trilogy, goes straight to No. 1 on the official list for hardcover fiction as well as on the e-book list upon publication, while The Polar Circle comes in at No. 1 on the paperback list.

The most sold books of 2022 in Sweden

The official list of the bestselling books of 2022 has just been released. Published towards the end of October, Lars Kepler’s The Spider performed a remarkable feat and became the most sold novel in Sweden of last year. Also featuring on the top 10 is Ia Genberg’s August Prize winning The Details which comes in at No. 9 on the fiction list, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad’s I May Be Wrong at No. 8 on the non-fiction list and No. 4 on the paperback list. The paperback list also sees Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s A House to Die For on the No. 2 spot and Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle at No. 5, while Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery takes the No. 8 spot on the children’s list.

The December bestseller lists in Norway

The last bestseller lists of 2022 in Norway saw both Jo Nesbø and Lars Kepler feature at No. 1 on the hardcover lists; first Nesbø with Killing Moon – also the No. 1 most sold hardcover fiction title of the entire month – and then Lars Kepler with The Spider. Kepler’s title was additionally No. 1 on the e-book lists. Lastly, on the final set of lists, Kepler and Nesbø were joined by Liza Marklund, who came in at No. 1 on the paperback list with The Polar Circle.

The Adlibris Awards 2022

The nominees for 2022’s Adlibris Awards have been announced. Adlibris is the leading book retailer in the Nordics and the Adlibris Award was founded in 2019 to celebrate the site’s greatest titles. The 10 nominated titles in the 9 respective categories have been selected by a jury of Adlibris employees from all works published in 2022.

Ia Genberg’s The Details is shortlisted in the ’Fiction’ category.

Amongst the nominated titles in the ‘Crime Fiction’ category are Lars Kepler’s The Spider, Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s Death Goes Antiquing and Liza Marklund’s The Mire.

In the ‘Childrens’ category – Jonas Gardell’s The Story of the Little Sparrow is shortlisted for ‘Children’s 0-6’ and Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery is nominated for ‘Children’s 6-12’. Anders Hansen’s Brain Blues for Teens is nominated for the ‘Young Adult’ category.

The winners will be announced on January 25, 2023.

Kepler and Marklund on the Norwegian bestseller list

This week’s bestseller lists in Norway have Lars Keplers’ The Spider claiming the No. 1 spot on the official ebook list and Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle sailing to the No. 2 spot for paperback. 

Adlibris most sold books in Sweden 2000-2021

Adlibris, the leading online book retailer in the Nordics, has published a list of its 15 most sold books in Sweden of the last 20 years. Featured on the list are Anders Hansen’s The Real Happy Pill, David Sundin’s The Book That Did Not Want To Be Read, Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove and Björn Natthiko Lindeblad’s I May Be Wrongeach performing a remarkable feat on the Swedish book market.

Adlibris has also revealed statistics of the best-selling books per year, where Liza Marklund’s Red Wolf and Last Will became the most sold titles in 2003 and 2006 respectively, Lars Kepler’s The Hypnotist the most sold title in 2009, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman the best-selling title of 2013 and Anders Hansen’s The Real Happy Pill the most sold title in 2019.

Jørn Lier Horst and Liza Marklund No. 1 and 2 in Norway

Jørn Lier Horst’s The Traitor comes in at No. 1 on the fiction and e-books bestseller lists for the third week in a row, while Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle makes another appearance at No. 2 in paperback.

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