Palm Beach Finland – Antti Tuomainen

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Palm Beach Finland – Antti Tuomainen

No secret here, I really enjoy Nordic Crime Noir and also Antti Tuomainen’s books so I was delighted when his latest landed on my doormat a while back. Palm Beach Finland (Orenda Books) Still contains the added humour that makes Tuomainen’s thrillers so good.

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Our intrepid detective Jan Nyman of the Covert Operations Unit of the National Central Police is now investigating the somewhat strange death of a man in a quiet and unassuming seaside town. But there is a holiday village here that has quite a boast. The ‘hottest beach in Finland’. Complete with a shocking plastic Flamingo. (That would put me off visiting) But the money is rolling in and the characters are arriving in their droves to holiday here. Now all the Jan has to do is solve the mystery death.

Straight off Jan has one prime suspect and that is the owner of the house were the man died and that is Olivia Koski. But Koski has a strong alibi and that she was not there at the time. There is the usual mix of characters who all have their own stories to tell yet this is what makes Toumainen’s books so good and so brilliantly readable. One of THE great characters of this book is the owner of the holiday village Jorma Leivo. He is one character to keep an eye on.

Sometimes when you have a host of characters in a book it can be easy to lose track of who is who and doing what. But this is why I really enjoy reading Antti Toumainen. He makes his books so readable and this is a book were time will pass you by very quickly. If you like your crime novels with added wit and humour, then Palm Beach Finland is one book you will love. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

304 Pages.

Thank you to for the review copy of Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen

Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen is published by Orenda Books and is published on 18^th October 2018 and is available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

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The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen

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The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen

Being a big lover of Scandi Noir novels and having read Antti Tuomainen’s The Mine earlier last year I always knew I was going to love The Man Who Died which is I have to say a thrilling read from beginning to end and a hero that you will cheer on all the way with plenty of twists in the storyline that will have you glued to every page.

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One of the great aspects of The Man Who Died is that we get to see the black humour that lies within Tuomainen the writer. And this book had me smiling all the way through. Antti Tuomainen is a real class act when it comes to writing Scandi Noir novels and add in life and death with so much black humour that makes this book even so much incredible. Inventive and very readable with great characters.

Jaakko Kaunismaa is a successful businessman he is at the prime of his life at just 37 years of age. But something is not right and now his doctor has just given him the news that is dying. Actually to be more precise he is being slowly murdered someone wants him dead and he is being slowly poisoned by, the cause is by prolonged exposure to toxins. His condition is in an advanced state with every organ now affected.

Jaakko decides that he must find out who is slowly killing him before it is too late add to this his business is being threatened by a rival business. What follows is a rollercoaster of a read with some bizarre twists and turns for good measure. Time is not exactly on Jaakko’s side as he goes about finding his killer. Despite his imminent demise his humour is just what makes this book even more incredible.

The emotions that our hero goes through from one moment to the next are all exposed to the reader. Despite the thriller aspect of The Man Who Died, this is a novel about life and living for every moment and also love. Jaakko is a wonderful character and one I just loved from page one. It is hard not to like him. You are cheering him on through every page.

With Antti Tuomainen giving the reader to false moments along the way he really is such a great writer, he gives the reader so much. This may be a little different from some of the other Scandi Noir out there but Tuomainen has delivered a real masterpiece of writing. Not a book to let pass you by. I must congratulate David Hackston for his excellent work in translating The Man Who Died. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

300 Pages.

Thank you to Karen Sullivan for the advanced review copy of The Man Who Died and also to Anne Cater for kindly arranging the Blog Tour.

The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen is published by Orenda Books and was published on 10^th October 2017 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

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The Mine by Antti Tuomainen

A new name for me in Scandinavian crime noir in Antii Tuomainen and in The Mine we have a what is a real corruption plot and a story that just quietly creeps up on you and with characters that you just know you are going to be gripped by. The story is so well crafted and with the excellent translation by David Hackson a story that looks at environmental issues and then corruption that cries out to be uncovered. But is there anyone ready to take up the challenge?

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Janne Vuori is a journalist for a small newspaper in Helsinki and out of the blue receives a tip off but this tip-off is anonymous and is this is in connection to some illegal mining in Northern Finland. As Janne has a keen interest in environmental issues he cannot ignore this tip off. But there is more at stake here that Janne realises. Investigating this story will put himself and people around in real danger.

Janne is totally dedicated to his craft as a journalist but he is also proud of his family but from what I read in The Mine Janne seems to out his work ahead of his family, but what is the story being played out with his father. There are some secrets here but what. The key part of the story is the mine itself and the truth that is literally being buried deep and there is an environmental story that will impacts and then there is the corruption that runs through key characters.

There is another story that worms its way into the reader and that is the hitman. What is his role in the drama being played out? Key members of the board have been murdered. Why? Both men could well come face to face and the killer seems to have an array of targets and is good with a gun. The story though not fast paced is chilling as it is gripping. The storyline is so well thought out and the writing is hypnotic as is the locations with the bone chilling cold that seems to come through the pages thanks to the outstanding prose of Tuomainen.

There is so much to praise in The Mine a complex crime thriller that delivers on all fronts and if you enjoy the chilling atmospheric of the landscape that goes with the plot then look no further than Antti Tuomainen’s The Mine. I have a feeling we will be hearing much more of Tuomainen in the years to come.

Thank you to Karen at Orenda Books for the advanced review copy.

The Mine by Antti TuoMainen is published by Orenda Books and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

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