Christoffer Petersen

Authentic Arctic Crime books and Thrillers

greenland

Five years ago…

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I published The Ice Star on January 26th, 2017. It was the first book I published that ever really sold, and it changed everything.

If you’re familiar with my story around writing The Ice Star, you’ll know I was sick of it. I had rewritten the book, from scratch, at least three times. While the lecturers at Falmouth University thought I was on to something, and I achieved a distinction for my work on The Ice Star (graduating in 2015), I was done. My brain was cooked. And, as I’ve mentioned before, I embarked on what I knew would be a successful writing career based on the conviction that The Ice Star would never sell, and Steampunk was the way forward.

Yeah.

That went well.

It took two months on the Yukon River to persuade me to dust off the latest draft of The Ice Star, and I revisited it on a tiny computer in the canteen of an Alaskan ferry crossing Prince William Sound.

I can’t remember how much I wrote on the ferry, but I finished revamping the story (and The Starlighter) before the end of 2016. I self-published in January 2017, and things became interesting after that.

And Maratse arrived, of course.

I often credit Seven Graves, One Winter as my breakthrough book, but really it was The Ice Star. Maratse is in it – his first ever appearance – but it was Konstabel Fenna Brongaard who forged my writing career.

So this post, and the new cover, is basically a thank you to Fenna, and the readers who bought the book and helped me take the next step on my way to becoming an independent author.

Chris

The Baffin Bay Stomp

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I’ve been very fortunate to have the support of a number of readers who wanted more stories, so much so when the opportunity came to get “into” the stories, they made it happen. The Baffin Bay Stomp is one of those stories.

This short story features Luui, and a brave new character by the name of Graham Williams. In a nutshell, there is a death aboard a cruise ship visiting Qaanaaq, and Luui being Luui is aboard (naturally) and lends a hand (typically) to the local police investigation. Graham is collateral damage. 🙂

The Baffin Bay Stomp defies credulity, of course, but was a lot of fun to write.

Chris

 

Upcoming releases – February 2022

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I’m still putting things together for January, and hope to put out a couple of short stories on the fly. However, two books are scheduled for release in February, including:

The American Artisan (novella)

When ghosts from an old case haunt an American artist as he walks the streets of Nuuk, Constable David Maratse is recalled to Greenland’s capital to investigate.

The American Artisan is the twenty-third in a series of novellas to feature Constable David Maratse in Greenland.

This is a fun one as one of the main characters is named after a backer of a recent Kickstarter campaign. The tone, however, isn’t fun, as that character is in peril, of course.

The Crocodile Beat* (novel)

In Australia’s vast and desolate Northern Territory, Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen’s most southerly missing persons case might just be her last.

Forced to take some well-earned leave, Petra searches for solace in the Australian Outback, only to find herself caught up in the search for a missing police sergeant.

The Crocodile Beat is the thirteenth in the Greenland Missing Persons series of novellas and novels normally set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.

Both books will be posted to Amazon on the day of release, but may take up to a day to be visible.

However, The Crocodile Beat will be available in more stores as I try something new. It won’t be available in Kindle Unlimited, but it will be available for streaming in Kobo Plus. I’m trying new things in 2022 in the hope to gain more exposure.

We’ll see what happens.

Chris

*Edit (February 5, 2022): The Crocodile Beat will be a stand-alone novel. Sigh. 🙂

The Carpathian Connection

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And the first release of 2022 is The Carpathian Connection! Now, it is a short story, and unfortunately I can’t claim the words for my million word challenge as I wrote it in 2021. But it’s LIVE!

The Carpathian Connection is a short story, written as a reward for a Kickstarter campaign (I did change the name of one of the characters for this release). It’s around 8,000 words, or just over 25 paperback pages. The story features Constable David Maratse and reunites him with Constable Nujakina Uppik. She turned up for the first time in The Skin Drum, and I’m curious that she returned for this story. It’s one of those odd moments when needing a character for the story, they just arrive, as if waiting in the wings, holding up their hands, and saying, “I’ll take this one.”

I know. It’s weird. But that’s what happens.

The story starts with the discovery of a body, of course, and then Maratse does his thing. There is a chase, plenty of Greenland “stuff” – you know, boats, bergs, and bodies.

I think it’s a fun read. 🙂

I’ll be back with another post tomorrow. (Note to self: got to figure out how to get a girl out of a burning barn… working on it!)

Chris

Extra leg room!

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Facing the rear of the aircraft

We didn’t drive home for Christmas, we flew. Practically from the North Pole! (Just 800 miles shy of it.) The flight to Qaanaaq had already been delayed due to weather – I can’t remember, but let’s just say “fog in Upernavik” because it was probably true. But then, snow, high winds, and everything in between is more likely. Suffice it to say, we were late departing, but we did depart, and once the ground crew had emptied the plane of a couple of passengers and a lot of Christmas cargo (including potatoes preserved in glass jars – very important!) there was plenty of leg room.

Facing the cockpit

In fact, we got up for a stroll halfway through the flight to have a look at the island of Uummannaq, where we used to live. The only thing missing was a tray to put our cups of coffee on during the flight. 😉

While I have never flown First Class, not even Business Class, in my mind, there’s nothing classier that flying in a de Havilland Dash 7, in the Arctic, in winter.

And that, folks, is why my characters always fly in Dash 7s. Because I love ’em!

Chris