The TV, movie and literary genre of dark crime stories with bleak Scandinavian settings has a huge following around the world. But what exactly is Nordic noir and why is it so popular?
An alcoholic detective going through a nasty divorce gets a call. There’s been a brutal murder. The circumstances bear a striking similarity to an unsolved case from twenty years ago, a case that the detective knows only too well.
Putting down the bottle of aquavit, the detective sighs, puts on his raincoat and heads out into the bleak Scandinavian winter. His family will have to wait, again.
Does that sound familiar? Those two paragraphs contain many of the key tropes of Nordic noir, a megahit genre of books, TV shows and movies that has blossomed over the past few decades.
The global popularity of Scandi crime
Readers around the world seem to love discovering the social critique at the heart of many Scandinavian crime fiction stories. Of course, the evocative descriptions of the Nordic landscapes in which they are set also plays a part.
Why the genre is so popular within the region itself is hotly debated. But most experts agree that because of the relatively low crime rate in most of Scandinavia, reading these dark stories is simply a form of literary escapism.
Kerstin Bergman, a researcher in comparative literature at Sweden’s Lund University, gave three reasons for the genre’s popularity: the focus on social and political criticism, the importance of setting, and the strong female characters.
A definition of Nordic noir
Despite the name ‘Nordic noir’, these stories aren’t always related to the traditional noir genre of detective fiction. The term is a general term used to refer to Scandinavian crime fiction, but it’s one that’s only really used outside the region.
However, crime fiction written by Nordic authors does tend to share some things in common with noir stories. They are defined by their troubled protagonist, often brutal crimes, bleak settings, and a story that reveals dark hidden truths underneath the facade of everyday life.
That being said, there are a wide variety of stories within the Nordic noir umbrella. Jo Nesbø writes Hollywood-esque thrillers while Karen Fossum’s books focus much more on inner conflict and a strong sense of place.
Just as the romance genre ranges from sweet romance all the way through to erotic stories that will make your eyes water, there is plenty of variety in Scandi crime.
Nordic noir tropes
A dark sub-genre of crime fiction with a dash of thriller, Nordic noir has several common tropes. Most stories will have several or all of these:
- Brutal crimes, often made more extreme because of the quiet and/or ‘safe’ communities in which they take place.
- A bleak setting, whether on city streets or a remote fjord. Stories set in the rainy autumn or the dark or snowy winter are common.
- A tortured protagonist, typically a police detective with a painful past. Alcoholism is common, as are personal and family issues.
- A strong plot, with multiple complex threads and a few twists and turns thrown in along the way.
- Social critique is often a red thread throughout a Nordic noir story, which could vary from subtle to in-your-face. Issues around immigration are often used, as are racism, nationalism and the problems of the welfare state.
Anyway, that’s enough of the definitions. It’s time to move on to some examples of the genre and our recommendations.
Nordic noir authors and novels
So who exactly are the biggest names in Scandinavian crime fiction? We’ll start off with literature.
Henning Mankell was a Swedish author and creator of the Inspector Kurt Wallander series set largely in and around Ystad. There were 12 novels published, all of which have been translated into English.
Stieg Larsson: The Swedish journalist turned author Stieg Larsson is known for his Millennium trilogy of novels, which were all published posthumously. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a huge global hit, leading to a successful movie adaptation in English following a Swedish movie trilogy.
The graphic violence in both the books and the movies are not for everyone, but the stories have made characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist household names.
Arnaldur Indridason created the intensely private and anti-social Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson. Over 11 novels (9 of which are available in English), Sveinsson works on cases in Reykjavik and across Iceland’s unforgiving landscape.
Fans of Indridason’s work often cite how his novels provide a rich insight into Icelandic culture, old and new. Issues touched on include the welfare state, criminal justice system, nationalism, immigration and racism.
Jo Nesbø is the most famous Norwegian crime author by a distance. He’s best known for his series of novels featuring alcoholic detective Harry Hole, a classic anti-hero. It’s now one of the world’s best-selling series of crime novels and has been translate into many languages.
Anyone who’s read one of Nesbø’s Harry Hole novels may be surprised to hear the author also writes a popular series of children’s books in his home country!
Anne Holt is a former Norwegian minister of justice who turned her hand to writing after her political career. She is best known for her series of novels featuring lesbian detective Hanne Wilhelmsen.
Her 2015 novel Offline is about a terrorist attack on an Islamic cultural centre by a group of Norwegian nationalists, while the novel 1222 is a locked-room mystery set in a remote mountain hotel following a derailment of a train during a blizzard.
Scandinavian crime on TV
There are many examples of Nordic noir on TV. Many series were written specifically for TV, while in some cases successful novels have been adapted. The success of these adaptations has been mixed however.
For every The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, there’s countless others that didn’t make the cut. Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman is a great example of a successful novel that flopped as an adaptation, albeit a movie.
Nordic noir seems best suited to the format of a TV series. Now that streaming services are keen to take a chance on new ideas, we expect to see more Nordic noir coming to TV over the years to come.
The Bridge: A joint production by Denmark and Sweden, this megahit series turned many people on to the genre. The series opens with the discovery of a dead body on the Øresund bridge, on the border between Denmark and Sweden.
This kicks-off a joint investigation in what the BBC called “one of the moodiest TV series in recent years.” Ignore the remakes and stick to the original Scandinavian series.
The Killing: A major international success, The Killing is known for its realistic depiction of police investigations, complex season-long plots with plenty of twists, its strong Danish settings, and Inspector Sarah Lund’s fondness for Faroese jumpers.
Trapped: The harsh environment of small-town Iceland is the setting for this mystery series. Local police try to solve a grizzly crime as a winter storm descends upon the small communities that hides plenty of secrets.
“Even without all these promising plot angles, Trapped was worth watching for its chill beauty alone,” said the Daily Telegraph.
Wisting: This Norwegian police procedural thriller starring Sven Nordin as widower police detective William Wisting is based on the popular books by Jørn Lier Horst. At the time, Wisting was the most expensive TV drama ever produced in Norway.
Nordic noir tourism in Scandinavia
All Scandinavian countries have experienced a boom in visits from fans of the genre keen to check out the real-life locations that feature in Nordic noir books and TV shows.
There are walking tours in Stockholm dedicated to Steig Larsson’s Millennium series, while Copenhagen hosts tours focused on locations from hit TV series The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge.
Even smaller locations have experienced a tourism boost. Local authorities in Ystad soon began to notice visitors looking for a ‘Wallander experience’ once the novels became popular. They created a walking tour brochure and dedicated app for visitors.
Ystad’s popularity eventually led to it hosting film festivals. The town has since reinvented itself as a popular location for filming of TV shows and movies.
In Norway, Visit Oslo has produced a location guide for fans of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole. The interactive map includes Hole’s favourite watering hole Restaurant Schrøder, the police station in Grønland and some of the city’s parks that feature in the books.