As we all continue to shelter-in-place, its time to let your mind wander to the far corners of the globe with these new crime books from international authors. Finnish black comedy, Icelandic bank fraud, Morrocan noir—whatever your preferred setting, April has a book for you!
Antti Tuomainen, Little Siberia (Orenda Books)
Translated by David Hackston
While Finland generally tends toward a reputation for the dour, Antti Tuomainen is bucking the trend with his hilariously dark crime comedies. In Little Siberia, a valuable meteorite crashes into a small town, where the fight to profit from the celestial visitor quickly becomes a catalyst for all kinds of shenanigans.
Lilja Sigurdardottir, Cage (Orenda Books)
Translated by Quentin Bates
Now this one is pure Scandinavian noir. In Lilja Sigurdardottir’s Reykjavik Noir trilogy, banker-turned-criminal mastermind Agla spirals deep into Iceland’s criminal underworld. In Cage, Agla is about to be released from prison, and looking forward to being reunited with her coke-dealing girlfriend, but will she return to her old ways? No other crime series promises to be both a thrilling epic and a careful dissection of Iceland’s 2008 banking crisis.
Marion Brunet, Summer of Reckoning (Bitter Lemon Press)
Translated by Katherine Gregor
This slow-burn psychological thriller is set in a region of France known for its opulent vacationers, but the year-round residents have a different experience, mired in poverty and bored out of their skulls. When an unwanted pregnancy sets in motion a complex chain of anger and vengeance, communities will crumble under the weight of long-sought reckonings.
Andres Barba, A Luminous Republic (HMH)
Translated by Lisa Dillman
For those who enjoy Lord of the Flies (or the lesser known, but to me, even better, Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids), or for those just interested in the ongoing collapse of civilization in general, A Luminous Republic is bound to provide both social criticism and escapism in equal measures! When 32 feral children wander into an Argentinian city, they begin to wreak havoc—and the local kids soon enough want to join in the fun. Narrated by a social worker tasked with pursuit and containment, Andres Barba’s complex novel of breached boundaries and social controls is surprisingly timely.
Abdelilah Hamdouchi, The Butcher of Casablanca (Hoopoe)
Translated by Peter Daniel
While Casablanca might signal refuge to American audiences more familiar with the WWII variety of the city, Casablanca is, in fact, a modern metropolis with plenty of room for a modern serial killer. In The Butcher of Casablanca, a killer stalks the streets of Casablanca, skilled at covering his tracks—but a detective is in pursuit who’s even better at digging up the truth. Perfect for the armchair traveler! Which we have now all become…
