David Lagercrantz Curates Scandi Noir Reading List for New Novel Post Mortem

Author David Lagercrantz, known for continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, has curated a Scandi Noir syllabus to mark the release of his new novel, Post Mortem, the third installment in his Rekke series inspired by Sherlock Holmes. The novel, out later this month, follows Professor Hans Rekke and police officer Micaela Vargas as they investigate a serial killer, with newly found bodies shedding light on a cold case and a posthumously published story by a victim blurring fact and fiction. In an interview, Lagercrantz explained the genre's focus on 'why' rather than 'who,' citing social injustice and the contrast between high trust in Scandinavian welfare states and hidden conspiracies. His recommended reading list includes Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Henning Mankell's Sidetracked, Karin Fossum's He Who Fears the Wolf, Jo Nesbø's The Snowman, Peter Høeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, Stina Jackson's The Silver Road, Camilla Grebe's The Diary of My Disappearance, Christoffer Carlsson's Under the Storm, Håkan Nesser's The Lonely Ones, and Arnaldur Indriðason's Silence of the Grave. Lagercrantz praised each work for its psychological depth, social consciousness, and memorable characters, from Lisbeth Salander to Kurt Wallander. The article, published on Forbes, also features the author's personal journey into the genre, starting with the Finnish series Bordertown, and his coverage for Dirt and the Los Angeles Review of Books.