Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 1985. Her Danish estate in Rungsted is now a
museum dedicated to her life and work.
One of Denmark's leading contemporary novelists is Peter Høeg, whose works focus on
nonconformist characters on the margins of society. In 1992 he published the global hit
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
(published as
Smilla's Sense of Snow
in the USA and
made into a movie in 1997), a suspense mystery about a Danish-Greenlandic woman liv-
ing in Copenhagen.
The Nordic Whodunnits
Although the hugely popular genre of Scandinavian crime fiction seems dominated by
Swedes (most notably Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson) and the odd Norwegian (Jo
Nesbø), noteworthy Danish authors are contributing to the genre.
Among them is Jussi Adler-Olsen, winner of the 2011 Glass Key award, a prestigious
literary prize dedicated to Nordic crime fiction. The first of his series dealing with the in-
triguing cold case squad Department Q was published in English in 2011 - in the UK with
the title
Mercy,
and in the US as
The Keeper of Lost Causes.
His latest installment in the
series - titled
Guilt
in the UK and
The Purity of Vengeance
in the US - revolves around
protagonist Nete Hermansen, who plots revenge against her abusers on Sprogø, a Danish
island infamous for its since-defunct reformatory for young women deemed 'dangerous' or
'immoral'.
Another notable contemporary crime writer is Copenhagen-based journalist Erik Valeur,
whose debut novel
The Seventh Child
won the 2012 Glass Key prize. Intricately crafted,
its plot revolves around the mysterious death of woman, an orphanage, and seven unidenti-
fied orphans suspected to be the abandoned children of Denmark's elite.
On Screen
New Nordic Noir
Over the past 15 years, Denmark has cemented its reputation for superlative TV crime
drama, characterised by gripping plot twists and a dark, moody atmosphere.
Planting the seed of success was the four-season drama
Unit One
. Based around an elite
mobile police task force, the show won an Emmy Award for best non-American television
drama series in 2002. On its tail was
The Eagle,
its 24 episodes revolving around a small
