Snow Woman

Leena Lehtolainen

Original title: Luminainen

Author: Leena Lehtolainen

Published: 1996

Publisher: Tammi

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 352

Part of a series: Maria Kallio series

Reading material

Finnish edition
English edition

The director of a women’s therapy center in idyllic Nuuksio National Park in the south of Finland disappears. Was Elina Rosberg murdered? At the top of the list of suspects are the participants of the current therapy group, which has no shortage of problem cases, ranging from the mother of a large family belonging to the Laestadian religious sect to a sex worker from one of the grittier parts of Helsinki. There is also room enough on the list for the poet Joona Kirstilä, Rosberg’s male friend, who clearly has something to hide.

Maria Kallio has transferred to the Espoo Police Department and gotten married. She throws herself at the case, despite suffering from a strange case of fatigue and nausea. The pressure on Maria is increased by the news that Markku “Madman” Halttunen has escaped from prison and intends to take revenge on Maria for putting him there. Will her fate be the same as Rosberg’s—ending up as a snow woman somewhere deep in the forest?

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
AUDIO: Word Audio
BRAZIL: Editora Nemo Ltda.
FRANCE: Gaia
JAPAN: Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd.
POLAND: Fundacja im. Adama Wittmanna
TV RIGHTS: Jarowskij Finland
UNITED STATES: Amazon Publishing

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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