[In] this exemplary study ... [themes] are treated with an analytical precision that both anatomises the key elements for those new to the genre and finds myriad new insights for old hands like myself. Scandinavian Crime Fiction becomes, at a stroke, a key work in the ongoing analysis of Nesbo, Larsson, Fossum, Mankell & Co., crammed with acute observation from a man whose knowledge and understanding of the genre is nonpareil.
Crime Time
No cultural phenomenon of our times is more important than Nordic noir, its origins, its continuing existence and appeal, the needs it meets. All these Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen addresses with searching intelligence and sharp moral awareness... It is precisely through the intensity of this author's approach to his subject that its universality becomes apparent: the interconnectedness of geography, politics, social composition and the arts, and the indomitable, demanding presence of crime in even the best-intentioned milieus. A fascinating and distinguished book, and a necessary one too.
Paul Binding, Author and Critic