Murder by the Book – serie

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.  ‘An original and thoroughly enjoyable treat’ Guardian BOOK OF THE YEAR  ‘Dark and sharp … A lot of fun’ Val McDermid  ‘Witty, dark, meta, ingenious and hugely compelling. I LOVED the Icelandic setting and satirical observations’ Will Dean  ‘Hilariously scathing. Satirises genre fiction while creating a first-class example of it, full of suspects, red herrings and twists … wit and originality make it a joy to read’ Mark Sanderson, The Times CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR  **Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel****Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award****Winner of the Crime Fiction Lover Award for Best Crime Book in Translation****Longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger****Shortlisted for the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards: Best Debut**  COMING SOON TO NETFLIX.  –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.  When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.  But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…  Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut Nordic Noir thriller that marks the start of a breath-taking new series.  ____________________________________  ‘Dark and atmospheric … a bleak and beautiful evocation of Iceland, and Hannah is a pitch-perfect depiction of the bombastic neurosis that we writers know so very well’ Harriet Tyce  ‘Such a clever, original twist on the Nordic Noir tradition – darkly humorous and utterly captivating’ Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  ‘A fantastic debut … Darkly funny, tense and a lot of poking fun at crime-writing’ Tariq Ashkanani  ‘Delightfully dark’ Antti Tuomainen  ‘So atmospheric’ Crime Monthly  ‘An absolute gem … a superb mix of humour and dark, twisty crime fiction with an added layer of contemplation regarding what makes books 'literary'. The Icelandic setting is perfectly drawn …  Not to be missed' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir  ‘Shades of Fargo and Twin Peaks – and there’s no higher praise than that. Absolutely brilliant!’ Rod Reynolds  ‘A truly original thriller that perfectly balances humour and suspense’ Vogue  ‘A hugely enjoyable read with thrills and laughs, as Hannah sticks her nose in where it’s not welcome’ Michael J. Malone  ‘So satisfying … a truly great read’ Lilja Sigurðardóttir  ‘A skilful, witty mash-up, playing with tropes of romantic fiction (yes, that popular genre writer turns up in the village and is not so bad after all) and crime fiction (closed community, dark secrets) … really entertaining’ Aly Monroe  'This reminded me somewhat of the more recent, meta efforts of the great Anthony Horowitz’ The Bookbag  ‘The most original thriller of the year: realistic, suspenseful and romantic to the very last page. And just when you think you've got the plot figured out, the plot twists again' Politiken

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.  ‘An original and thoroughly enjoyable treat’ Guardian BOOK OF THE YEAR  ‘Dark and sharp … A lot of fun’ Val McDermid  ‘Witty, dark, meta, ingenious and hugely compelling. I LOVED the Icelandic setting and satirical observations’ Will Dean  ‘Hilariously scathing. Satirises genre fiction while creating a first-class example of it, full of suspects, red herrings and twists … wit and originality make it a joy to read’ Mark Sanderson, The Times CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR  **Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel****Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award****Winner of the Crime Fiction Lover Award for Best Crime Book in Translation****Longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger****Shortlisted for the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards: Best Debut**  COMING SOON TO NETFLIX.  –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.  When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.  But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…  Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut Nordic Noir thriller that marks the start of a breath-taking new series.  ____________________________________  ‘Dark and atmospheric … a bleak and beautiful evocation of Iceland, and Hannah is a pitch-perfect depiction of the bombastic neurosis that we writers know so very well’ Harriet Tyce  ‘Such a clever, original twist on the Nordic Noir tradition – darkly humorous and utterly captivating’ Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  ‘A fantastic debut … Darkly funny, tense and a lot of poking fun at crime-writing’ Tariq Ashkanani  ‘Delightfully dark’ Antti Tuomainen  ‘So atmospheric’ Crime Monthly  ‘An absolute gem … a superb mix of humour and dark, twisty crime fiction with an added layer of contemplation regarding what makes books 'literary'. The Icelandic setting is perfectly drawn …  Not to be missed' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir  ‘Shades of Fargo and Twin Peaks – and there’s no higher praise than that. Absolutely brilliant!’ Rod Reynolds  ‘A truly original thriller that perfectly balances humour and suspense’ Vogue  ‘A hugely enjoyable read with thrills and laughs, as Hannah sticks her nose in where it’s not welcome’ Michael J. Malone  ‘So satisfying … a truly great read’ Lilja Sigurðardóttir  ‘A skilful, witty mash-up, playing with tropes of romantic fiction (yes, that popular genre writer turns up in the village and is not so bad after all) and crime fiction (closed community, dark secrets) … really entertaining’ Aly Monroe  'This reminded me somewhat of the more recent, meta efforts of the great Anthony Horowitz’ The Bookbag  ‘The most original thriller of the year: realistic, suspenseful and romantic to the very last page. And just when you think you've got the plot figured out, the plot twists again' Politiken

Hannah’s love life is in ruins, writer’s block hits, and her agent sends her to Sicily to finish her sequel. But when murder strikes, Hannah’s life turns into the crime novel she’s meant to write. Darkly funny, atmospheric, and full of twists, the second instalment in an addictive new series.‘Jenny Lund Madsen’s spoof destination thriller is a brilliant follow-up to her meta-mystery Thirty Days of Darkness... It cunningly fulfils Hannah’s promise to her agent that her second crime novel will be “bloodier and more dangerous. Just the way you like it, with lots of twists and turns’ The Times‘Hilarious, dark and whip-smart, Under the Blazing Sun confirms Madsen as a wonderful literary talent’ Doug Johnstone‘This flight from Denmark to Sicily will offer plenty of wry smiles for fans of the genre in a clever, double-pronged approach’ Nordic Watchlist‘The quintessential holiday read, funny and atmospheric. Hannah is the kind of heroine we’d all love as a friend, and it’s also a brilliant evocation of the stunning island landscape of Sicily. My favourite read of the year so far!’ Kate Rhodes‘A wild ride of murder and humour. The most fun I’ve had reading a crime novel this year’ Will Carver______Hannah is miserable. Her love life is in ruins, her contract demands a sequel to her bestselling crime debut—and she’s out of ideas. After a mortifying TV interview, her agent ships her off to a sun-drenched Sicilian villa with a simple order: finish the book. No distractions. No excuses.But inspiration doesn’t strike—murder does.When a night out ends in murder, Hannah finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation… again. The police want her out of the way, and the only person who seems to believe her is a young but charming Italian police officer. That is, until she doesn’t.Soon Hannah is chasing suspects, fleeing crime scenes, and doing whatever it takes to avoid becoming the next victim. She came to write a crime novel. Now she’s trapped inside one.Dark, sly and deliciously atmospheric, Under the Blazing Sun is the second novel in the award-winning series featuring accidental sleuth and disgruntled literary author Hannah, whose pursuit of plot twists keeps turning dangerously real.______Praise for the MURDER BY THE BOOK series‘Dark and atmospheric… Hannah is a pitch-perfect depiction of the bombastic neurosis that we writers know so very well’ Harriet Tyce‘An original and thoroughly enjoyable treat’ Guardian‘Fantastic… darkly funny, tense and a lot of poking fun at crime-writing’ Tariq Ashkanani‘Dark and sharp… a lot of fun’ Val McDermid‘Witty, dark, meta, ingenious and hugely compelling’ Will Dean‘Hilariously scathing. Satirises genre fiction while creating a first-class example of it, full of suspects, red herrings and twists… wit and originality make it a joy to read’ Sunday Times‘Such a clever, original twist on the Nordic Noir tradition, darkly humorous and utterly captivating’ Eva Björg Ægisdóttir‘Delightfully dark’ Antti Tuomainen‘So atmospheric’ Crime Monthly‘An absolute gem… a superb mix of humour and dark, twisty crime fiction with an added layer of contemplation regarding what makes books “literary”… Not to be missed’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir‘Shades of Fargo and Twin Peaks and there’s no higher praise than that. Absolutely brilliant!’ Rod Reynolds‘A truly original thriller that perfectly balances humour and suspense’ Vogue‘A hugely enjoyable read with thrills and laughs, as Hannah sticks her nose in where it’s not welcome’ Michael J. Malone‘So satisfying… a truly great read’ Lilja Sigurðardóttir‘A skilful, witty mash-up… really entertaining’ Aly Monroe‘This reminded me somewhat of the more recent, meta efforts of the great Anthony Horowitz’ The BookbagWhat readers are saying…‘Laugh-out-loud funny… Hannah is a brilliant creation’‘Skewers the publishing industry in the best possible way’‘Reminded me of Anthony Horowitz… meta, sharp, funny but also so tense’‘A crazy combination of destination thriller, Nordic Noir and dark comedy crime… I loved it’‘A new addition to my list of favourite authors!’‘Full of clever twists and turns… worthy of the hype’‘Funny, gripping and so well paced’‘Very much looking forward to a third book, please don’t make me wait too long’