The Living and the Dead

I just don't know anyone else who writes quite like this. All the makings of a page-turning thriller, but with an emotional depth that is truly rare. Carlsson is far and away my favourite Scandinavian crime writer at the moment, and The Living and the Dead is among his very best.

Fredrik Backman, #1 New York Times bestselling author

The Living and the Dead deserves to reach readers worldwide

Palle Rosenkrantz Prize for Best Translated Crime Novel

Here's a thriller to break your heart: a magnificent new novel, epic but immediate, menacing yet moral, that assembles some of the most beloved tropes of recent years - the frostbitten danger of Scandinavian crime; the small-town intimacy of Broadchurch - and charges them with fresh dark energy. And if you think international fiction isn't for you, The Living and the Dead proves that fear needs no translation.

AJ Finn, #1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

A tender and beautifully written novel about a crime that rocks a small community. But really it is about the people involved, the impact of violence and the danger of keeping secrets. Atmospheric and thought provoking, I became totally immersed in this cold, fractured world.

Araminta Hall, author of One of the Good Guys

Carlsson twines together national and personal trauma to devastating effect . . . What I most loved is how Carlsson plumbs what can and cannot be known about human lives and criminal investigations . . . how familial love can blind people to difficult truths, and how 'closure' often never happens.

New York Times

Carlsson is to the police procedural what Cormac McCarthy is to the Western . . . If you read crime fiction, you’ll find yourself gripped by the ingenious plotting. If you read literary fiction, you’ll find yourself moved by the gorgeous writing.

Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents

Carlsson has a knack for psychological procedurals, as his latest proves, with numerous characters and motives to keep readers guessing. . . . A must for Nordic noir and psychological mystery fans.

Library Journal, starred review

The finest crime writer we have in Sweden.

David Lagercrantz, bestselling author of The Girl in the Spider's Web

I have long maintained that Nordic noir is the crème de la crème of contemporary crime fiction; Christoffer Carlson is the crème de la crème of Nordic noir

BookPage

Among the snowy hills of rural Sweden in December 1999, a brutal murder claims the life of a teenage boy. Two decades later, the community is still searching for justice in this page-turning Nordic crime novel

Barnes & Noble, Best Mysteries of 2025

Sweeping . . . Carlsson’s evocative sense of place keeps the plot at a steady simmer . . . Devotees of Scandinavian noir will relish this

Publishers Weekly, Most Anticipated Mysteries & Thrillers of the Fall

In a skilfully constructed psychological thriller, Carlsson drives foreshadowing and plot developments through the detectives’ narratives while revealing the depths of loyalties and betrayals through Sander and Killian’s voices. Twists and high emotional stakes drive tension as Carlsson explores weighty questions about irreparable mistakes and what could have been . . .

Booklist

Brooding and brilliant . . . This 'novel about a crime' goes beyond clever plotting to examine Swedish identity, life in a new era, and the ties between living and dying

Kirkus