The kids are almost back in school, vacation season is pretty much over, but there’s still time to travel this summer—just pick up an international crime novel! Here are five new books in translation that will take you all over the world, and into the dark underbelly of the coziest destinations.
Isabelle Autissier, Suddenly
Translated by Gretchen Schmid
(Penguin Books)
Isabelle Autissier has sailed the world alone, becoming the first woman to do so in a competition, and this survival thriller speaks to the experience of the author. In Suddenly, a French couple sets off on an epic journey, only to find themselves stranded on a remote island in the Antarctic Ocean. This is no Blue Lagoon or Robinson Crusoe—Autissier’s characters will be tested severely, and found wanting.
Stefan Hertmans, The Ascent
Translated by David McKay
(Pantheon Books)
This book is such a fascinating project of autofiction. Stefan Hertmans had already sold his former home in Ghent when he read a memoir by a former occupant that shocked him: before he’d lived there, an SS officer had called the place home. Hertmans uses this jarring revelation as an excuse to explore the home’s long history and reconsider the meaning of sanctuary.
Khadija Marouazi, History of Ash
Translated by Alexander Elinson
(Hoopoe)
Hoopoe Editions is dedicated to bringing English language audiences the best in Arabic literature, and History of Ash does not disappoint. In this devastating, lyrical novel of struggle, two prisoners in Morocco, a man and a woman, narrate their journey of resistance, imprisonment, and release during the “Lead Years” of the 1970s and 80s.
Karin Smirnoff, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons
Translated by Sarah Death
(Knopf)
Karin Smirnoff, author of a personal favorite, The Brother, is the first female author to take over the complex character of Lisbeth Salander, and I couldn’t be happier about her continuation of the series. In this latest installment, Salander heads to a small town to assume guardianship of her niece, soon realizing her charge may be in danger. Meanwhile, Blomkvist is dealing with the death of his magazine and the impending marriage of his daughter to a potentially violent man. The two old friends must team up to save their loved ones, and demonstrate once again their loyalty to one another.
Leonie Swann, The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp
Translated by Amy Bojang
(Soho)
Leonie Swann may write in German, but she’s set this darkly comic murder mystery in a retirement community in the English countryside. The inhabitants of Sunset Hall are shocked when one of them is murdered, then even more surprised when a detective comes by to investigate a different murder next door. Can they conceal the first body long enough to pin the murder on whoever was responsible for the corpse next door? And what does a tortoise have to do with it?
