Scandicrime

In Competition No. 2756 you were invited to submit your contribution to the booming genre of Scandinavian crime fiction.

Guidance is at hand courtesy of Barry Forshaw, author of Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction, who has compiled a list of ten tips on how to write a masterpiece of Nordic noir. First and foremost, he says, know your landscape: ‘make sure you evoke your locale with maximum atmosphere, be it the endless forests and big skies of Sweden, Finland’s lakes…’

Other Scandi staples, such as torture, mutilation, alienation and conspicuously Nordic knitwear, featured strongly in an entry that by and large nailed the genre nicely. Winners get £25 each, with Alanna Blake taking the bonus fiver.

Detective Inspector Erika Eriksen drove the 50 kilometres through flat, empty countryside as she did every evening to ensure her ailing mother was eating adequately. Heavy snow had fallen steadily since she left Police HQ.