Leena Lehtolainen gets a two-book deal in Germany

The German rights to the second and third installment of Leena Lehtolainen’s The Bodyguard Trilogy have been sold to Rowohlt. Book 2 The Lion of Justice (Oikeuden jalopeura) and Book 3 The Devil’s Cubs (Paholaisen pennut) are independent novels featuring Lehtolainen’s new female lead, bodyguard Hilja Ilveskero.

The first book of the trilogy, Die Leibwächterin (The Bodyguard) was published by Rowohlt in Germany on 17 January 2011. In Finland, The Lion of Justice was published in August 2011 by Tammi and has been no. 1 on the bestseller lists since. The Devil’s Cubs will be published by Tammi in 2012.

Read more about Leena Lehtolainen’s international success here, and please ask for full German texts and English samples.

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

About author

Leena Lehtolainen

Bibliography

The Snow Leopard's Heart

The Crossing of the Green Dragon

The Charm of Ice

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