My First Murder

Leena Lehtolainen

Original title: Ensimmäinen murhani

Author: Leena Lehtolainen

Published: 1993

Publisher: Tammi

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 251

Part of a series: Maria Kallio series

Reading material

Finnish edition
English edition

A student choir’s animated practice sessions at a Helsinki villa are cut short when first bass Jukka Peltonen is found dead at the water’s edge. The case becomes a chance for police sergeant Maria Kallio to show what she can do, her career in the crime squad being burdened by the fact that she is both young and a woman—and a redhead to boot! Behind the choir’s jovial facade lie bitter passions, and ferreting them out is hardly helped by the discovery that some of Maria’s old friends belong to the group.

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
FINLAND (Karelian rights): Karjalan sivistysseura
AUDIO: Word Audio
BRAZIL: Editora Nemo Ltda.
EGYPT: Al Arabi
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FRANCE: Gaia
GREECE: Livanis
HUNGARY: Animus
LATVIA: Zvaigzne ABC Publishers
TV RIGHTS: Jarowskij Finland
UNITED STATES: Amazon Publishing

Video

Foreign covers

About author

Leena Lehtolainen

Leena Lehtolainen is the top female crime author in Finland: her new titles always head straight to #1 on the Finnish bestseller lists.

Lehtolainen created her successful protagonist, detective Maria Kallio, in 1993. Having already featured in 16 novels and a complete TV series, a new Maria Kallio TV reboot series was launched in Fall 2021 on C More. Lehtolainen’s novels have been translated into 30 languages and have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.

And just like the events in Bodyguard, a that takes the heroine Hilja Ilveskero all around Europe, Lehtolainen’s own work takes her to book festivals, exhibitions and other events across the globe.

Leena Lehtolainen has also published outside the crime genre; her book The Charm of Figure Skating was voted sports book of the year 2010 in Finland, and A Life in Six Scenes showed her return to literary fiction.

The Crossing of the Green Dragon is her first title for YA audiences.

In her free time, Lehtolainen enjoys all kinds of music and follows lynx trails in the forests – just like Maria Kallio.

Photo credit: Ville Juurikkala