Biographical note

Leena Lehtolainen is Finland’s bestselling female crime author, first reaching international acclaim for her hit detective series starring Maria Kallio. In the mere twenty years since she began the series with My First Murder (1993), Lehtolainen has become a classic of Nordic crime literature—Lehtolainen has been called “Finland’s answer to Henning Mankel” (Brigitte), while her Maria Kallio series has been ascribed “cult status” (Bunte). Lehtolainen twice won the annual prize for best Finnish crime novel, and has also been nominated for the prestigious Glass Key award for the best Nordic crime novel. Readers around the world continue to discover Lehtolainen’s detective novels—to date, over two million copies of her titles have been sold in numerous languages including German, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, Dutch, Hebrew, and Chinese, and the Kallio series has been adapted for television.