Wordless Weather Report

Facebook photos: the North Sea

Camilla Läckberg, Predikanten (2004)

[Bingo post 5] Oversat til dansk, Prædikanten (People´s Press 2006)
På første side møder vi en seksårig dreng, som en tidlig lørdag morgen sniger sig ud for at lege på strengt forbudt territorium. Stedet er Kungsklyftan, også kendt som "Helvedesgabet", den snævre kløft, hvor nogle af de mest dramatiske scener af Astrid Lindgrens fantastiske historie, Ronja Røverdatter, udspiller sig. Dette fantastiske eventyr handler om to rivaliserende røverfamilier, som udkæmper en regulær fejde, og det kan naturligvis ikke undgås, at deres efterkommere bliver involveret.

Ulydighed bærer straffen i sig selv, så naturligvis får den lille knægt sit livs chok: en nøgen kvinde ligger og stirrer på ham med vidt åbne øjne. Og som om et mordoffere ikke var nok, finder politiet hurtigt yderligere to gamle skeletter af et par unge piger i kløften.

I denne anden krimi af Camilla Läckberg møder vi Erika Falk og Patrik Hedstrøm igen. Det unge par er nu flyttet sammen i Erikas barndomshjem, som spillede en vis rolle i "Isprinsessen". Patrik bliver sat til at lede mordsagen af stationsleder Mellberg, seriens komiske islæt, som effektivt uddelegerer alle arbejdsopgaver og selv påtager sig at indkassere hele æren. Patrik er engageret og samvittighedsfuld, men samtidig splittet mellem ønsket om at løse en vigtig mordsag og sine forpligtelser overfor Erika, som venter deres første barn.

Erika, som lider under at være højgravid midt i en hedebølge, bliver overrendt af slægtninge og venner, som nyder fri kost og logi lige midt i skærgårdsparadiset Fjällbacka. I en blanding af desperation og kedsomhed begynder Erika at give Patrik en hånd med i form af avisresearch (det er dog ubetinget Patrik, som er "detektiven" i denne bog). Alt er sjovere end at servere spaghetti for andre menneskers forkælede møgunger. (Og dog, - men læs bogen selv).

Ligesom da de første piger forsvandt i 1979, samler mistanken sig hurtigt om den fremtrædende Hult-familie, og kredsen omkring dem. Vi møder tre generationer af efterkommere efter Ephraim Hult, karismatisk frikirkeprædikant og healer. Det er ikke let at leve i skyggen af en legendarisk patriark, så sønnerne kæmper en livslang kamp for at leve op til deres fars forventninger, og længe efter hans død præges familien af indbyrdes jalousi og konkurrence. Et spændende og skræmmende plot, hvor Camilla Läckberg ikke blot lægger op til temaet slægtsfejde ved hjælp af sin henvisning til Ronja Røverdatter, men nok så tydeligt drager paralleller undervejs til patriarken Abrahams efterkommere, Jakob og Esau, og deres bitre kamp om førstefødselsretten.

Og er bogen så en femikrimi? Hvis man spørger google, ser svaret ud til at blive et rungende ja, men hvad så, hvis man checker femikrimiens ti bud? Jeg har valgt at lægge spørgsmålet ud til mine læsere: hvad mener du? - og hvorfor?

Camilla Lackberg, The Preacher (Feb 2009).
For readers who have not read Swedish Camilla Lackberg´s debut I can recommend a review and a great introduction to the Swedish environment made by Steph here.

On the first page we meet a six-year-old boy who sneaks out early one Saturday morning to play on strictly forbidden territory. The place is the King´s Cleft, also known as "Hell´s Gap" where some of the most dramatic scenes of Astrid Lindgren´s wonderful story, "Ronia, the Robber´s Daughter", are set. This magnificent tale deals with two rival clans of robbers involved in a regular feud.

Disobedience never pays so of course the little lad gets the shock of his life: a naked woman lies staring at him with wide-open eyes. And as if one body was not enough, the police soon excavate two further skeletons of young women in the ravine.

In this second novel by Camilla Lackberg we meet Erica Falck and Patrik Hedstrøm again. The young couple live together in Erica´s childhood home which plays an important part in "The Ice Princess". The triple murder case is assigned to Patrik by Superintendent Mellberg, the comic touch of the series, who efficiently delegates the work and harvests full credit himself. Patrik is engaged and conscientious, but split between his wish to solve an important murder case and his duties towards Erica who expects their firstborn.

Erica, who suffers from being heavily pregnant during a heatwave, is being pestered by relatives and friends who enjoy free board right in the middle of a beautiful archipelago. Caught between desperation and boredom Erica begins assisting Patrik by digging up useful newspaper articles for him (Patrik is the indisputed detective of this book, however). Anything is better than serving macaroni for other people´s spoilt brats. (And yet ... but read the book)

Just like when the first girls disappered back in 1979, suspicion soon settles on the prominent Hult family, and the circle of people around them. We meet three generations of descendants of Ephraim Hult, charismatic Free Church preacher and healer. It is not easy to live in the shadow of a legendary patriarch, so the sons fight a lifelong battle to live up to the expectations of their father, and long after his death the family is marked by mutual jealousy and competition. An exciting and scary plot in which Lackberg partly sets the scene for her feud theme by referring to Ronia´s story, partly by drawing parallels to the grandsons of Abraham, Jacob and Esau, and their acrimonious fight over their birthright.

Is this book a ´femikrimi´? If one asks google, the answer seems to be positive, but what happens if we tick off the ten commandments of the femikrimi? I have decided to put the question to my blog guests: what do you think? - and why?

DJs Bait in the Box # 3

This beautiful, old tin belongs to Cathy (Kittling Books), who inherited it from her mother.

Gæt en bog (3)
Følgende citat stammer fra den anden krimi i en serie.

"Men det underlige var bare, at damen ikke rørte sig. Hun havde heller ingen tøj på, og et øjeblik blev han flov over at han stod og kiggede på en nøgen dame. Det røde han havde set, var ikke et stykke tøj, men en væske som lå lige ved siden af hende, men han kunne ikke se, at der var noget tøj nogen steder. Mærkeligt, ligge her nøgen. Der var jo så koldt."

Reglerne:
Hvis du kan genkende citatet, eller hvis du tror du kan gætte hvem forfatteren er, så læg venligst en kommentar. Skriv bare et hint til nye besøgende, lad være med at ødelægge fornøjelsen for andre.

Bait in the Box (3)
The following quotation comes from a Scandinavian whodunnit, the second in a series. The environment plays a major role in the book.

"But the odd thing was that the lady didn´t move. She didn´t have any clothes on either, and for an instant he was embarrassed that he was standing there looking at a naked lady. The red he had seen was not a piece of cloth but something wet right next to her, and he couldn´t see her clothes anywhere. Funny, lying there naked. Especially when it was so cold."

The rules:
If you recognize the quotation, or if you think you are able to guess who wrote it, please post a comment. Just leave a hint, do not spoil the fun by giving too much away.

A Post about Passion in Parcels

[Bingo post 3] A blog post of few words - and it is certainly crime-related. Enjoy the silence while I am reading.

Et blog-indlæg i få ord. Nogle gæster vil sikkert mene det er på tide med denne form for blog-improvement :)

Blog Improvement Project # 3

Blog Post Bingo! (Invented by Kim, Serious Dorkiness)
* Take a look at the 10 types of blog post below. Over the next two weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as you can.

A Link Post - Information on Scandinavian Crime Fiction
A Short Post - less than 200 words Parcels of Passion
A List Post - Nordic femikrimi authors
An Opinion Post - share your opinion on Book Covers
A Question Post - DJ´s Bait in the Box
A How-To Post - I have written a post called "Scene of the Blog" or "how to write a crime fiction blog" and sent it to Kittling Books.
A Long Post - more than 700 words Ekman, Blackwater
A Review Post - Läckberg, The Preacher
A Definition Post - show your expertise about a topic related to your blog The Scandinavian Femikrimi (And this is where I cheated - I know I was 24 hours ahead on this one - provident of me, wasn´t it).
FREE SPACE - a type of post of your choice Blue Monday post

I did it!!!

For danske læsere:
Denne uges blog improvement går kort sagt ud på at nå så mange forskellige blog-indlæg som muligt af de 10 foreslåede i løbet af to uger. Det lykkedes faktisk, eller i hvert fald næsten (mit ´første´ indlæg blev udgivet en dag for tidligt) .

Weekly Geeks # 4 - Blue Monday

[Bingo post 2]
1. What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging?
2. Get us involved.
3. Visit other Weekly Geeks. Link in your post to other Geeks who've peaked your interest in their passion. Or maybe you might find a fellow aficionado among us, link to them.

I really want to participate in Weekly Geeks. Still, I try to stick to my principle that this blog is dedicated to crime (fiction). So I have decided to let a few photos speak for themselves of my ´blue collection´, and as you can see, one of them is actually crime-related.

I know that this is not really going to involve anyone, but as I need good pictures of beautiful tins & boxes for my weekly feature "Bait in the Box" I would appreciate any link to photos of this kind (which I may borrow).

NB: I am aware that text and photo overlap but don´t know what to do about it.

Den skandinaviske femikrimi

[Bingo post 1] Mens alle lader til at være enige om, at den forholdsvis nye undergenre "femikrimi" bygger på inspiration fra amerikanske forfattere såsom Sue Grafton og Sara Paretsky, rækker enigheden tilsyneladende ikke længere, når det drejer sig om at slå fast, hvad en femikrimi egentlig er. Før jeg begynder at anvende begrebet i mine anmeldelser, har jeg derfor valgt at bringe en introduktion. De følgende genrekrav er opstillet af lektor Annemette Hejlstedt, Center for Kønsforskning, Københavns Universitet, og bringes her med forfatterens tilladelse.
Centret har udgivet følgende kortfattede værk (klar og kort information om genren): "Den skandinaviske femikrimi - en seminarrapport", redigeret af Annemette Hejlsted and Camilla Petersen, Københavns Universitet 2006.

Femikrimiens 10 bud:
1. Femikrimier er skrevet af kvinder.
2. Femikrimier har altid en kvindelig detektiv som hovedperson.
3. Femikrimier har altid en kønspolitisk pointe.
4. De kvindelige detektiver er oftest professionelle detektiver dvs. journalister, ansatte i politiet eller privatdetektiver. Ofte har de kvindelige detektiver feministiske synspunkter eller udviser en adværd, der peger i retning af en ligestillingsfeminisme. De kvindelige detektiver er seksuelt aktive, men ikke nødvendigvis heteroseksuelle. Er de lesbiske eller biseksuelle indgår deres seksualitet i romanernes tematik.
5. Forbrydelserne er typisk forbundet med køn og mænds dominans over kvinder. Der kan være tale om kvinders hævn over mænds diskrimination af kvinder, eller den kan udgøres af mænds vold mod kvinder. Men køn kan også være involveret på et mindre synligt plan, hvor fx mænds brud på løfter til kvinder fører til mord.
6. Forbryderne i femikrimien er både mænd og kvinder, men der er typisk forskel i motiverne. Kvindernes motiver er personlige eller etiske, mens mændenes typisk er seksuelle eller berigelse ofte på kvinders bekostning.
7. Femikrimien fremstiller køn som en konstruktion. Romanerne rummer ingen biologisk-essentialistiske forklaringer på forbrydelserne, men lægger af og til op til social-psykologiske forklaringer, fx mangel på kærlighed og omsorg; eller de forklarer køn som resultatet af politiske, sociale og økonomiske forhold og processer.
8. Femikrimien gestalter et moderne kvindeliv og udspiller sig i en moderne og samtidig verden, der altid fremstilles som mere eller mindre eksplicit maskulint domineret.
9. Femikrimiens plot lægger sig tæt op af thrillerens, der lægges stor vægt på fremstillingen af den kvindelige detektivs liv og konflikter. I visse romaner danner der sig en historie om detektiven, der er lige så vigtig som selve krimi-plottet. Med andre ord er femikrimien lige så optaget af det ´andet´ som af selve opklaringsprocessen og den forbrydelse, den afdækker.
10. I femikrimien udgøres det ´andet´ af det feminine og feministiske. Miljøet beskrives fra en kvindelig position, karaktererne anskues med et kvindeligt blik, og tolkningen af såvel krimiintrigen som af det ´andet´ er feministisk.

Her må man konkludere, at ifølge forfatterne af dette værk betyder femi-krimi en feministisk kriminalroman, altså en krimi som indeholder et klart feministisk budskab (eller omvendt).

Imidlertid kan en flittig læser af bøger, som har fået etiketten ´femikrimi´ hæftet på sig, konstatere to ting: For det første er det langt fra alle disse værker, som lever op til samtlige krav. (Jeg vil selvfølgelig tage emnet op i kommende anmeldelser, når det bliver relevant). For det andet er det tydeligt, at en gruppe anmeldere og forfattere opfatter begrebet noget anderledes. Flere (mandlige) anmeldere bruger tilsyneladende ´femikrimi´ som en slags nedladende prædikat. Disse anmeldelser tyder på, at de anser en femikrimi for at være en feminin (læs: tøset) ugebladshistorie om bollebagning, babybæ og menstruationsblod, tilsat et lille stænk forbrydelse.

Og hvad med de kvindelige forfatterne: nogle af de bedste protesterer indigneret, hver gang en journalist tillader sig at bruge ´f-ordet" om deres bøger. Protesten går tilsyneladende på, at dygtige krimiforfattere ikke bryder sig om at blive sat i bås, bare fordi de tilhører det ´andet´ køn, men uvilkårligt tænker man jo på, om de forsøger at undvige beskyldninger om ´læbestifts-litteratur´.

Forhåbentlig kan denne introduktion føre til en spændende diskussion af genren - hvis der er nogen derude, som vil lege med?

The Scandinavian Genre "Femikrimi".
While everybody seems to agree that the relatively new Scandinavian subgenre "femikrimi" is indebted to American authors such as Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky, and the genre called ´sisters in crime´, Scandinavian reviewers are not always talking about the same thing, apparently. Therefore I have decided to provide an antroduction to the genre before using the term in my reviews. The following ´commandments´, laid down by senior lecturer Annemette Hejlsted, can be found in a short report (commendably clear and concise information), "Den skandinaviske femikrimi - en seminarrapport", edited by Annemette Hejlsted and Camilla Petersen, University of Copenhagen 2006. They are brought by the author´s permission.
(I hope English readers will realize at the ending of this post why I decided against translating the term).

The ten commandments of the femikrimi genre
1. Femikrimis are written by women.
2. A femikrimi always has a female detective as the main character.
3. A femikrimi always has a gender-political point.
4. The female detectives are usually professional detectives, i.e. journalists, police officers or private detectives. Quite often their actions or language point towards equality feminism.
5. The female detectives are sexually active though not necessarily hetero. If they are lesbians or bisexuals, their sexuality will be an integrated theme of the novels. The crimes are typically related to gender and men´s dominance of women.The plot may involve women revenging themselves on discriminating men or men´s brutal violence against women. Gender may also be involved at a less conspicuous level, e.g. men´s breach of promises to women leading to murder.
6. The perpetrators of the femikrimi are both men and women, but their motives will differ. The women´s motives are personal or ethical while the men´s are generally sexually motivated or enrichment at the expense of women.
7. The femikrimi sets forth gender as a construction. The novels do not include biological-essential explanations of the crimes but may propose social-psychological ones, e.g. lack of love and care; or they regard gender as the result of political, social and financial conditions and processes.
8. The femikrimi pictures the life of a modern woman and takes place in a modern and contemporary world which is more or less explicitly masculine-dominated.
9. The femikrimi plot is closely related to that of the thriller with its focus on the account of the female detective´s life and conflicts. In certain novels the story of the detective is as important as the crime fiction plot itself. In other words, the femikrimi is just as preoccupied with the ´other´ as with the detection and the crime which is being exposed.
10. In the femikrimi the ´other´ consists of the feminine and the feminist themes. The environment and the characters are seen from a female position, and the interpretation of the plot as well as the ´other´ is feministic.

One may safely conclude that according to these theses "femi-krimi" means a feministic crime novel, i.e. a crime novel with a clear, feministic message (or vice versa).

A frequent reader of books with this epithet can establish two points, however. Firstly, far from all of these works live up to each and every ´commandment´ (I shall return to this point in upcoming reviews). Secondly, some reviewers and authors clearly understand the concept somewhat differently. Some (male) reviewers seem to apply "femikrimi" as some sort of derogatory term. Their reviews indicate that they regard "femikrimi" as a feminine (girlish) story about life down among the women, cluttered with cinnamon buns, baby poo and menstruation blood, garnished with a spot of crime (chicklit with a murder in it).

And what about the female authors? Some of the best protest indignantly every time a journalist dares use the Femikrimi-word about their books. Apparently because skilled crime fiction writers do not want to be lumped together just because they belong to the ´other´ gender, but one cannot help wondering if they are trying to escape accusations of writing "lipstick literature."

Hopefully this introduction may lead to an interesting discussion of the genre - if anyone out there wants to participate?