The extraordinary global success of the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy focused the attention of readers of crime fiction on Scandinavia in a new way. While since the 1960’s translations of some Nordic crime fiction writers have been available and highly regarded, in the first decade of the 21st century a significant body of work has been translated, and embraced by those readers who have long used crime fiction as a point of entry into the popular culture of other societies. Larsson’s use of the genre to interrogate social institutions, the impact of technology, and our assumptions about the locus of power signaled a strong movement in a new direction for works of this kind, and it is of interest to consider how other writers are adapting the genre in similar ways.

Among these works are those of Icelandic writers such as Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir. This presentation will examine some of the ways in which writers and readers use the conventions of crime fiction to explore social issues and individual dilemmas. We will explore plot, protagonist and social context in several works of Icelandic fiction of this kind, drawing comparisons with other Scandinavian works to build an understanding of what the characteristics of Nordic fiction of this genre may be. We will then take up the question of how this genre works for the reader, and why it can be adapted so effectively to very different uses. Turning to sunnier climates, we will briefly look at novels with more cheerful crime fighters and less intense social concerns, rounding out our understanding of fictional crime in the age of globalization.