Fans of the crime genre know the Swedish greats — Mankell, Nesbø, Larsson, Fossum, Nesser. The new name on the map is Lars Kepler, whose debut thriller The Hypnotist is declared in our July Whodunit? column to be the “the mystery buzz-book of summer 2011.” Three horrifying murders leave one young survivor, and psychologist Erik Maria Bark must unearth the truth from within the mind of the teenage boy. What Bark finds will leave readers chilled . . . and very excited about what’s next from Kepler.
Cool fact: Lars Kepler is actually a pen name for Swedish couple Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril.
Lars Kepler © Anna-Lena Ahlström
They discuss writing together under the pseudonym and share some excellent writing advice in their 7 questions Q&A. You definitely won’t want to miss their answer to our question, “What does Lars Kepler have in store for us next?”
Who is your absolute favorite Swedish crime author?
I haven’t even read the book yet, (The Hypnotist, got it off a recommended reading list), just checked it out of public library. My interest is they are Swedish writers. I have many letters written in Swedish from my family going back nearly a hundred yrs, but all the Swedish relatives that I had in the USA have passed away. I never was taught to read or speak Swedish because my relatives passed before I was born. I have inheirted their letters. I would love to know what they say. I know one thing, my relatives were very outspoken. Would one of the Lars Kepler couple care to interpret for me? I have beautiful vintage photos of Sweden that perhaps they would like. I am the last of my line that would care anyway. Deborah Adkins ( Andersens are my Swedish family still living in Sweden, never met them.) Just noticed that THEY probably won’t read this anyway