Tove Alsterdal

Tove Alsterdal (1960) is one of Sweden’s most renowned suspense writers. She has written six critically acclaimed suspense novels and has won literary prizes in Sweden and France. Tove Alsterdal made her debut in 2009 with The Forgotten Dead and has since written five critically acclaimed stand-alone novels. Alsterdal’s second novel, Buried in Silence, was on the shortlist for the Best Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2012, a prize she won in 2014 for The Disappeared. It was followed by Do Not Turn Around in 2016 and Erasure in 2019 – both have gone on to become national bestsellers. In the fall of 2020, Alsterdal for the first time launched a classic procedural crime series featuring investigator Eira Sjödin and set in the stunning High Coast region in northeast Sweden. The first book, We Know You Remember, was published in October 2020 and in November the same year, it was named Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year. In August of 2021, Alsterdal won the prestigious Glass Key Award – the award for Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year, for We Know You Remember. The second book in the High Coast Series, You Will Never Be Found, was published in the fall of 2021. Whatever theme Alsterdal explores, she always manages to find an unexpected angle. Alsterdal uses her characters’ personal experiences to shed light on larger issues, both social and historical. Known for her rare lyricism and nuanced character portrayals, Alsterdal stands out as a master of the genre with a prodigious conscience. Tove Alsterdal grew up in the north of Sweden and in Jakobsberg outside of Stockholm. During her younger years she worked as an attendant at the psychiatric hospital in Beckomberga, a place that she has portrayed in her novels. Before making a career as a suspense writer Alsterdal worked as a journalist and playwright for more than twenty years.