Constable David Maratse debuted in The Ice Star, rocked the Scandinavian (Amazon) charts in Seven Graves, One Winter, but I really got to know him through his early adventures as a Police Constable in Greenland. Compared to Jack London stories by one Goodreads reader, Maratse’s short stories include themes that are current and relevant in Greenland, and are drawn from my own experiences when I lived and worked in remote towns, villages and settlements on the west coast and in the far north of Greenland.
These are very personal stories. They are fiction, but there is a lot of truth between the pages; some of it is difficult to think about, but important to remember. I used to blog (private for family only) about my time in Greenland – the good, the bad, and the out-of-this-world-once-in-a-million experiences. Shoveling my own experiences into Maratse’s past brings Greenland that bit closer, and allows me to explore the country, and revisit the people that shaped me during a very intense seven years.
At the same time, they are tons of fun to write, and I am very fond of Constable David Maratse. So, I am excited to say that there will be more short stories set in Greenland coming next year, 2019.
Here’s the reading order if you, like certain members of my family, are losing track:
This has taken an age, but The Greenland Trilogy is finally in paperback with a whopping 632 pages. #loveit
There are several polar bear sequences in the story, and it makes sense – for me – to link to another Nanook song about the polar bear, and a shaman taking on polar bear form. Greenland is rich with shamanic culture and tradition, so, naturally, book three my trilogy is called The Shaman’s House.
The Greenland Trilogy is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon USA, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find out more about Nanook on their Facebook page.
First things first, I cried in First Man, I honestly can’t remember how many times. It’s good. Ryan Gosling was amazing, Claire Foy was even better. See it, you won’t regret it.
Second thing, and I’ve been waiting to mention this, but Seven Graves, One Winter has been acquired by publishers in Portugal and the Czech Republic. This’ll be a short post as I really don’t know what to say about it, other than YES!
Right, gotta build a rocket ‘cos we’re going to the moon!
“La La Land” encouraged me to write about a ballet dancing serial killer, and I had to go for a run to process the whole “Whiplash” experience. I have no idea what to expect from Damien Chazelle’s “First Man”, but I’m ready for anything! If he nails this story, that’s three out of three excellent movies. But with Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy, and space … what could possibly go wrong?
I love films. I seriously need to sell more books so I can see more movies – but more about that later. I think it’s the whole “paperback versus eReader” discussion. Would I rather see a movie on the big screen or the television? It depends on the movie, and there have been a few duds of late, but if we’re going to the moon we’re gonna need a big screen, big speakers – that whole all around you scary surround sound experience.
Yep – big screen!
Gotta be done!
About the selling more books? Yeah, later. First the moon, posts about books later.
I just reread one of the chase scenes in We Shall Be Monsters. What I love about writing the Greenland Crime series is the chance to work some personal Easter Eggs into the story, and to build upon really local knowledge. I like to include action sequences in my books and I really enjoyed wrting the scene that occurs in the house Jane and I lived in during the four years we lived on the island of Uummannaq – see amazing photo above from Imgur.
Damn, I miss Greenland. But spending time with Constable Maratse and the rest of the cast of We Shall Be Monsters makes the longing that bit more bearable. I spent seven years in total in Greenland, but the four in Uummannaq were perhaps the most formative.
We Shall Be Monsters is the third book in the Greenland Crime series featuring Constable David Maratse. It is availble for pre-order on Amazon US, UK, Canada and Australia, and is scheduled for release on November 29 this year.
I’m not sure how it happened, but the paperback version of Paint the Devil is live two weeks before the kindle version comes out.
Oops.
However, if you’re curious and want to find out more about this Scandinavian “bestseller” (Amazon Australia) – yes, I had to get that in – then you could have a two week headstart. The pre-order is still available for the kindle version, and it will stay at the pre-order price until the day of release.
Here are the links to the paperback. The kindle version can be found on the same page.
Until then, I’ll leave you with another short excerpt from the book:
Paint the Devil excerpt
The breeze is stronger now, blowing from the sea, lifting the salt tang from the waves and brushing the roofs and windows with fine crystals. Denmark is suffering. Inland farms are drying out faster than those along the coast. Thyrup has some luck, Bo thinks. But Thyrup has the wolf, and the environmentalists, the academics, and the so-called elite, sitting high on their morals, looking down, looking from afar, looking from Copenhagen. Christiansborg is a long way from Thyrup. They are at opposite ends of the country, almost parallel, on a direct line, but poles apart. They might as well be north and south.
South.
Bo thinks of Belgium, and the headquarters of the European Union. Wonders how they can decide his fate in the jaws of the wolf.
“Experts,” Aage says, as he joins Bo beside the grave of Viktoria’s father.
“What?”
“They are sending experts from Christiansborg. One, at least. A man and his daughter. They will be staying at the nature commission house, the one down by the beach.”
“How do you know?”
“Tilde Sørensen,” Aage says, and smiles. “She called the ministry for a comment, and the minister, Felix Poulsen, said he was sending a wolf expert to Thyrup. Can you believe it?”
“What will he do?”
“Investigate, I suppose.” Aage gestures at the gate. “I need a smoke. Walk with me.”
The kindle version of Paint the Devil is scheduled for release on October 28th, 2018.
When cyberactivists incite young Greenlanders in Nuuk to riot, Police Commissioner Petra Jensen must shut them down before the Twelfth Night becomes the city’s last.
In the wake of a turbulent Christmas period, Petra Piitalaat Jensen has barely resolved one serious crime before another more urgent disturbance demands her attention.
Commanding a police force suffering from fatigue and stress, Petra must rally the department and lead them on the hunt for a group of cyberactivists inciting the young people of Greenland to rise up and take charge of their future.
In a series of escalating events, Petra is drawn into Greenland’s dark underworld during the darkest month of the year, where traditional methods of policing require new thinking to overcome the first threat to Greenland’s new-found independence.
Set in Greenland’s future, “The Twelfth Night” twists Greenlandic politics, traditions and myths into a dark tale set in the darkest month of the year, in a frighteningly imaginable future.
“The Twelfth Night” is set many years after the events in the Greenland Crime series, but features several of the characters introduced in those books.
Forget hygge, this Christmas is going to be murder!
The Scandinavians and Greenlanders love their Christmas Advent Calendars. In Denmark every December, the Danish television companies – at least two of them – usually produce a new Christmas Calendar with twenty-four episodes, up to and including the conclusion on Christmas Eve, the night Scandinavians and Greenlanders celebrate Christmas. The usual premise is that Christmas is under threat, it might even be cancelled, and the viewers won’t know for sure until the very last episode. Nisse – Christmas Elves – are usually involved.
One of the best and most loved Danish Christmas Calendars is Nissebanden i Grønland from 1989 (link to Danish Wikipedia site). This is a particular favourite of mine as it is set in Uummannaq, in Greenland, where I lived and worked for four years. Funnily enough, Uummannaq is where the majority of my Greenland Crime and Arctic Thrillers are set.
Funny that, eh?
Nissebanden is a kids Christmas story. It’s a lot of fun.
Greenland runs the Danish Christmas Calendars on TV, but Greenlandic production studios have also produced their own, including Ammartagaq from Deluxus Studios. I was fortunate to work with the actress, Maria, when I lived in Nuuk. Here’s a teaser from 2010.
Side note, Deluxus Studios also produced the video for one of the best bands ever, not just in Greenland: Nanook.
The idea of writing a Christmas Calendar has been bubbling away for a bit, but, given what I write, my own Christmas Calendar has to be a lot darker, a Dark Advent if you will.
So, even though Christmas is, thankfully, way off yet, I just thought you might be interested to know that The Calendar Man will be available from December 1st, the idea being that you can read it one chapter a day all the way up to and including Christmas Eve.
Of course, you can be daring and wait until the very last day and read it in one sitting if you like. It is a “regular” book after all.
Here’s the big picture before the obligatory links to the special pre-order kindle price. However, don’t miss the “extra” bit of news after that.
Here’s the “blurb” for The Calendar Man:
When a ritual murder is linked to a long-forgotten case, Greenland Police Commissioner Petra Jensen is forced out of retirement to catch a killer seeking revenge.
Following a period of compassionate leave, Petra Piitalaat Jensen has chosen early retirement to work through the grief surrounding the loss of her partner. But when the frozen body of a young man is discovered on the eve of a referendum that will decide the future of Greenland, Greenland’s First Minister urges Petra to forgo retirement and investigate the case.
As the people of Nuuk lock their doors, and the voting booths are empty, Petra stretches the limited resources of the department and orders more police onto the streets in a desperate hunt for a killer determined to make this Christmas one to remember.
Set in Greenland, “The Calendar Man” twists Greenlandic politics, traditions and myths into a dark tale set in the darkest month of the year, in a frighteningly imaginable future.
“The Calendar Man” is set many years after the events in the Greenland Crime series, but features several of the characters introduced in those books.
The Calendar Man is scheduled for release on December 1st.
Available at a special pre-order kindle price from Amazon
One of the scariest Christmas traditions in Greenland occurs on the twelfth night, January 6th, when people with masks and sticks run through the streets and chase people. So, it makes perfect sense, for me anyway, that The Calendar Man is followed by The Twelfth Night, scheduled for release on – you guessed it – January 6th. I’ll post more information about that book later.
So I’ll be rounding off 2018 with a couple of chilling Greenland Crime books – perfect for dark evenings with a candle, a blanket and something sharp – just in case.
Yep, this is dark hygge at its best!
P.S. if you like the original iceberg photos on the covers, be sure to check out Annie Spratt’s website for more incredible photography!
Before Jacob, the bramble tunnel, and the den, Emma’s wolves were the ones in her father’s slides. They were a part of him, connected to him, even more than her mother. Their house was full of wolf books. Now their apartment is full of wolf books. Her father complains about having to buy for a second time the books her mother took to Spain. Her mother curses her father when she can’t find a book he has in Copenhagen. It is always the same books. They both buy books multiple times, each blaming the other for the empty space on the bookshelf, only to find the book they want beneath a newspaper, or in the car, usually after they have bought a new copy. Then there are the boxes of tapes, the howling sessions her father calls them. Emma used to listen to them as a child, curled up in the blankets between her parents. She listened to the wolves while her parents dissected, discussed and disagreed with the meaning. The howling sessions became heated, and Emma withdrew to her room, swapping wolf howls for pop music, wolf picture books for social media, parents for friends, and the wolf loped away from her, until now.
From Paint the Devil, scheduled for release on October 28th.
Available at a special pre-order kindle price from Amazon
