Copper Heart

Leena Lehtolainen

Original title: Kuparinsydän

Author: Leena Lehtolainen

Published: 1995

Publisher: Tammi

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 248

Part of a series: Maria Kallio series

Reading material

Finnish edition
English edition

Arpikylä is Maria Kallio’s childhood hometown, a quiet mining city in North Karelia. Maria has returned to enjoy some relaxed country living as the temporary summer replacement for the local sheriff. But her peace is disturbed, first by her old flame, Johnny, and then by the body that is found at the base of the mine tower. Was the dead woman, local artist Meritta Flöjt, pushed from the tower?

The crime plays havoc with both the gold medal pursuits of javelin-thrower Kaisa Miettinen and the business activities of entrepreneur Seppo Kivinen. The case takes Maria from the pinnacle of the tower into the bowels of the mine, from a strip club into the secret lives of her schoolmates. And soon the same copper hearts are dangling from Maria’s ears as from the murdered woman’s . . .

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ARABIC: Al Arabi
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FRANCE: Gaia
GERMANY: Argument Verlag
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