The squirrel village in Ostrobothnia is the setting for Kjellsdotter’s detective stories. At first, I was nervous about what the villagers would say, says the author, who is already writing his next books.
In Ostrobothnia, Oravain, there is a Kivipuisto along the road and next to it the cafe Fjärdens Kaffestugan.
They are familiar places to many passers-by. Some may have stopped by to look at the park’s stone pavers or stopped at a cafe to take a break.
The first part of the book series _Flickan i Stenparken_ was published in Sweden at the beginning of the year and it quickly started climbing the list of the most popular detective stories. About 40,000 copies of the book have been sold.
In Finnish, the _Kivipuisto tyttö_ book was published in July, and now Finnish-speaking readers can also take part in Oravainen’s landscape. More than 9,000 copies of the book have already been sold.
A childhood dream came true
The big Swedish publishing house _Norstedts_ acquired the rights to Kjellsdotter’s series a little over a year ago, and since then the squirrel author has had enough to go on.
Kjellsdotter herself takes a calm approach to her rapid career development, but is of course happy that her childhood dream has come true.
– I have always written. In elementary school, I wrote many kinds of stories. They could perhaps be described as short stories. At some point in the mother tongue class in middle school, we discussed being a writer, and that’s when I realized that it’s what I want to do, Kjellsdotter recalls.
Svens had seen Kjellsdotter’s blog, where the beginning writer said that he would like to write a longer text someday.
– Stig wrote to me and urged me to take action. In his opinion, I wrote so well that it is worth doing. It gave me so much self-confidence that I dared, says Kjellsdotter.
According to Kjellsdotter, Svens’ encouragement is just as important to his career as the fact that Norstedts, one of Sweden’s largest publishing houses, publishes the books.
Kjellsdotter says that he is currently living his own dream.
– Many have told me that now your dream has come true. And so it is, but at the same time I have new goals and dreams.
Everything can end up in a detective story
Kjellsdotter says that the genre of his writing came from himself. He has read and continues to read a lot of detective stories.
– It has always been a detective story, laughs Kjellsdotter.
How the story and events progress is first only in the writer’s own head.
Kjellsdotter has a clear idea of the theme as soon as the writing work starts. A story begins to weave around the theme. The main character Wadö’s own life runs parallel to the crime story.
The events in the books are serious and brutal, so how can you get into the atmosphere of the book at home?
Kjellsdotter thinks for a moment and says that when he writes, he writes. There is such a thing in that world and story inside that you just immerse yourself in it.
Kjellsdotter takes his themes from anywhere. Everything can end up in a detective story.
Sometimes he sees things that others don’t.
– We were visiting my daughter’s middle school and, when we entered the hall, I saw a dead man on a bench. I said to my husband, who is that and what happened? My husband then said to be quiet, there are others here, grins Kjellsdotter.
Mija Wadö, the protagonist of the book series, has been with Kjellsdotter for a long time. But Mija is not Nilla.
– Mija and I are quite different. He is quiet and withdrawn, laughs Kjellsdotter.
The main character got his name from the end credits of a TV show. Since then, Mija has been waiting for her appearance in literature, Kjellsdotter says.
Why are detective stories interesting?
Detective stories are favorites of Finnish readers year after year.
According to the statistics of the Swedish Book Trade Association, Finns bought the most detective stories and biographies this summer. They are also consistently among the most borrowed in libraries.
Why do dark and violent stories interest us?
– I think that the popularity of suspense literature in the Nordic countries is due to the fact that we live in some kind of security bubble. When we read suspense books, we also become part of a different world of violence and crime. We seek excitement in our safe environment, Kjellsdotter thinks.
– Those books are so brutal that maybe I wouldn’t write so brutal myself. By listening to them, I get a little distance, and at the same time I do housework, laughs Kjellsdotter.
The reception was exciting
Kjellsdotter is from Oravainen’s neighboring village of Pensala. However, he has lived in Oravain for a long time.
The detective thought a lot about what the people living in Oravai think of his detective stories, after all, Crime Events is located there.
– I wonder if they feel that I have cast a nasty shadow over the village because of the events in my books.
However, the feedback has been positive and encouraging. Kjellsdotter now elevates Oravainte kylä to the ranks of well-known detective milieus, such as Camilla Läckberg’s Fjällbacka.
At the beginning of this year, the first-time author became a full-fledged author. Kjellsdotter says she writes from Monday to Friday, and weekends are free.
When the children are at school on weekdays, the mother can completely immerse herself in the world of crime, which is removed when the family walks in the door.
Trilogy or more parts?
Nilla Kjellsdotter is currently finishing the second novel in her series. It will be published first in Sweden next year, and then in Finnish in Finland.
Kjellsdotter’s books are published in Finnish by _Gummerus_.
At the moment, the author’s main attention is on the second part, but there is also a Raw version of the third book.
– I somehow feel calmer when I know that I have already reached a certain stage. And just a little while ago I started to outline the fourth part, laughs Kjellsdotter.
This is where we get to the fact that the Murders in Ostrobothnia series, planned as a trilogy, may not be a trilogy after all. Kjellsdotter admits that he has already thought that the series will not remain in three parts, but more are coming.
_The topic can be discussed until Monday, September 5 at 11 p.m._.