Officer Anna Glad returns in the new novel by Eva Frantz.
Author: Eva Frantz
Swedish original: Den åttonde tärnan
Publisher: Schildts & Söderströms, 2018
Genre: crime fiction
Number of pages: 318 pp.
Reading material: Swedish original, Finnish translation, English sample, English synopsis
Rights sold: Denmark, Gyldendal; Estonia, Rahva Raamat; Germany, Aufbau; Norway, Mangschou
When an early morning ice swimmer comes across a terrible surprise in the water, police officer Anna Glad has to shake off the challenges of her new life. A small town getting ready for the St Lucia’s Day celebrations is not as concentrated on tidings of comfort and joy as everyone lets on.
The roots of the complex crime spread far into the past and soon it looks like a procession on St Lucia’s Day 30 years previously might be a key to solve the crime. Some things don’t change through the generations and maidens with candles in their hair at the tail end of the procession are not always the sweetest ones.
The Eighth Maiden is the second novel with Anna Glad, a police officer about to reach her middle age. It was awarded the Clue of the Year prize in 2019, given to the best crime novel of the year. It was also nominated for the Torch-Bearer Prize 2019, given yearly to a novel with most potential to succeed outside Finland. The author Eva Frantz is a writer praised for her acute description of relationships and tensions between people. Her first Anna Glad novel, The Blue Villa, was published in 2017 and her first crime novel, Summer Isle, came out in 2016.
“The crime plot is skillfully intertwined with a moral core. (…) Frantz is prompt and manages to capture something that is puzzling and frightening at the same time. (…) The Eighth Maiden explores the themes of abuse and sexual exploitation of young people, as well as the vicious culture of physical abuse that flourishes everywhere where there is money and power.”
– Huvudstadsbladet newspaper
“Eva Frantz is a fresh, pleasant breeze in the Finnish crime novel scene, and I hope that we’ll have an opportunity to follow Anna Glad’s adventures throughout many more books.”
– Book Blog Luetut.net
Also available:
Out of the Game (2020)
The Blue Villa (2017)
Summer Isle (2016)
The Secret of Helmersbruk Manor (2021)
Queen of the Night (2021)
The Mystery of Raspberry Hill (2018)
About the author:
Eva Frantz