C More and TV4’s new crime drama series, Bäckström, based on Leif GW Persson’s bestselling novels featuring the notorious Superintendent of the same name, is set to premiere in Sweden this March.

The TV series revolves around the nationally reknowned Superintendent Evert Bäckström (played by Kjell Bergqvist), who prides himself on having solved 99 per cent of all the cases that he has taken on. But when a skull with bullet holes is found on an uninhabited island in the archipelago, Evert Bäckström is confronted with a more difficult mystery than he could have imagined.

Bäckström consists of six episodes. The first two episodes will premiere on C More on March 23, and on TV4 April 7.

Jo Nesbø’s Knife continues to place at No. 1 on the official weekly bestseller list for paperbacks in Sweden. Kristina Ohlsson’s The Mystery of the Haunted Fortress meanwhile stays put at No. 3 on the children’s list.

Kristina Ohlsson’s stand-alone mystery for children, The Mystery of the Haunted Fortress, grabs the coveted No. 1 spot on the list of most sold children’s books in Sweden during the month of January. Jo Nesbø likewise features in one of the top spots, but in the paperback category, where his Knife is No. 2.

There’s a trickster afoot in Riverdale. The whole town is abuzz with rumors about his crazy pranks, naughty tricks and hilarious antics. But it’s no laughing matter when people’s wallets start to go missing, and the culprit behind the thefts mysteriously figures out their credit card pin codes. Tiril and Oliver of Detective Agency No. 2 are soon in hot pursuit of the clever pickpockets – not even tricksters can outsmart Riverdale’s famed crime-solving duo!

Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes’ Detective Agency No. 2 series is crime fiction for the youngest – clever, engaging, and full of thrills! Join our heroes Tiril, Oliver and their dog Ocho as they solve mysteries that have even the adults of Riverton scratching their heads.

Operation Trickster is the seventeenth installment in the Detective Agency No. 2 series.

Nordisk Film’s screen adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s crime novel The Marco Effect, the fifth book from the Department Q series, is now shooting. There are high expectations for this new production, as each chapter of the saga topped the national box office, and the most recent film in the series became the highest-grossing Danish film to date.

The screenplay for The Marco Effect is written by Anders August and co-writer Thomas Porsager. Martin Zandvliet is directing and Ulrich Thomsen and Zaki Youssef star as buddy cops Carl Mørck and Assad.

The film centers on a 12-year-old homeless boy, Marco. Currently on the run, Marco is the key to uncovering a story of multinational embezzlement of government funds earmarked for development aid in Africa. As they race against the clock to find the boy, Carl Mørck and Assad find themselves face to face not only with cynical, powerful ringleaders, but also the brutal criminal gang on the hunt for Marco.

Monika Fagerholm has been bestowed with 2020’s Tollander Award for her latest novel, Who Killed Bambi?. The accolade is handed out by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland and is widely regarded as the most prestigious literary award in the Finland-Swedish literary world.

The Society praises Fagerholm’s authorship as pioneering, stating that she has “renewed the language of fiction and has established new stylistic standards within the Swedish language sphere. Her works serve as a source of inspiration for above all young, female authors, both in Finland and internationally. In her latest novel Fagerholm highlights how violence devastates both its victims and perpetrators. With a distinct combination of intimacy and detachment, she makes visible the mutual dependencies of friendship, desire, competition and power.”

Matias Faldbakken has been shortlisted for the 2020 Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, with his novel We Are Five. Since 1950, the prestigious prize has been annually awarded to a Norwegian author selected by the Norwegian Critics’ Association. We Are Five is one of four nominees for this year’s award, and the jury gives the following motivation:

‘We Are Five is a multifaceted novel. It ties in closely with Thure Erik Lund’s dystopian rural novels, while also presenting a grotesque Rapunzel narrative of sorts with biblical references. /…/ Faldbakken portrays the characters and the tragicomics of everyday life as distinctive as Carl Frode Tiller, with a narrative pace that give crime novels a run for their money, and a vivid and concise language. /…/ [We Are Five] is one of last year’s great reading experiences.’

The award ceremony will be held at the House of Literature in Oslo on March 5.