Death Spiral

Leena Lehtolainen

Original title: Kuolemanspiraali

Author: Leena Lehtolainen

Published: 1997

Publisher: Tammi

Genre: Crime & Suspense

Pages: 359

Part of a series: Maria Kallio series

Reading material

Finnish edition
English edition

Noora Nieminen was destined to become a world-champion pairs skater. When the 16-year-old skating sensation is found slain with her own skates, her trainers and parents’ dreams are shattered. Who is the culprit? Karaoke king Vesku Teräsvuori? The stalker who has been going around Espoo molesting young girls? Or is the murderer someone close to Noora after all?

Sergeant Maria Kallio is in her seventh month of pregnancy, but that isn’t going to stop her from putting everything she has into solving the murder. She is also driven by the competition between herself and her adversary, Pertti Ström, for the post of chief crime inspector. But the death spiral is already gaining momentum.

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
AUDIO: Word Audio
JAPAN: Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd.
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