Nordic November... In Conversation With Lilja Sigurðardóttir & Antti Tuomainen
The Berwyn Bookshop, Buckley, CH7 2ED
Monday 23rd November 2026 7:30PM
We are excited to bring something a little different for crime readers to The Berwyn Bookshop, as we present to you… Nordic November!
Iceland’s Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Finland’s Antti Tuomainen combine to form a fantastic duet for the evening’s conversation, which will be moderated by Orenda Books’ founder and publisher, Karen Sullivan.
We will explore some of the best in ‘Nordic Noir’, as Lilja presents her brand-new speculative mystery, ⱯLFA, which imagines a future only a breath away, in a chilling, high concept novel about power, control and what happens when the perfect world begins to fail. Meanwhile, Antti’s September paperback, The Winter Job, is follow by The Fresh Cut, which blends deadpan humour, escalating danger and absolute chaos, creating explosive results to a small Finnish town.
With thoroughly entertaining conversation, an audience Q&A and book signing, this is sure to be a special treat in an already fantastic Autumn/Winter Event Programme for the bookshop!
Refreshments will be available from the bookshop. Please note, there will be stock of the authors' books available at the event, however it is recommended that any copies are purchased at the time of booking to guarantee yours.
About the Authors
Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written eleven crime novels, including Snare, Trap and Cage, making up the Reykjavík Noir trilogy, and her standalone thriller Betrayal, all of which have hit bestseller lists worldwide. Snare was longlisted for the CWA International Dagger, Cage won Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year and was a Guardian Book of the Year, and Betrayal was shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key Award and won Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year. The film rights for the Reykjavík Noir trilogy have been bought by Glassriver. Cold as Hell, the first book in the An Áróra Investigation series, was published in the UK in 2021 and was followed by Red as Blood, White as Snow, Dark as Night and Black as Death. TV rights to the series have been bought by a major studio. Lilja lives in Reykjavík with her partner and a brood of chickens.
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded Best Finnish Crime Novel of the year and shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award. It was released as a Netflix film in 2025. The Rabbit Factor, the first book in a trilogy that includes The Moose Paradox and The Beaver Theory, is now in production for TV with Amazon Studios, starring Steve Carell. The Moose Paradox shortlisted for CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award. The Burning Stones (2024) was shortlisted for multiple awards, and The Winter Job (2025) shortlisted for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger. Antti lives in Helsinki with his wife.
About the Books
ⱯLFA by Lilja Sigurðardóttir
Reykjavík, 2052. Europe is peaceful, prosperous and almost crime-free, governed by Ɐlfa, the artificial intelligence that manages infrastructure, safety and daily life. Mekkín works at the Ministry, close to the core of the system that keeps society running. She lives with her partner, Sabína, an artist.
When Sabína’s brother Birkir, a committed dissident who lives beyond the reach of Ɐlfa, is found brutally murdered, that fragile sense of order begins to fracture. Violent crime has effectively been eliminated, and Birkir’s death is not just shocking, but inexplicable. What was he involved in, and who would dare to commit murder in a world designed to prevent it?
As the investigation unfolds, Sabína is drawn ever deeper into the case. Mekkín’s position at the Ministry brings scrutiny she cannot escape, their relationship begins to fracture, and their teenage son’s recent integration into the system places him uncomfortably close to the forces now circling the family.
As Sabína pieces together Birkir’s final days, the answers begin to point far closer to home than either of them ever expected, forcing her to decide what she is prepared to sacrifice to uncover the truth...
The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen
Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate.
A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.
With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.
That’s when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.
And that’s when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble...
The Fresh Cut by Antti Tuomainen
Heikki Nevalainen is the proud owner of a once successful sawmill, a mountain of debt and very few options to deal with either of them. An unexpected solution arrives in the form of local gangster Ismo Sippo. Dispose of Sippo’s dead wife, and the sawmill can keep running. Refuse, and Heikki loses everything. Horrified but desperate, Heikki agrees, loads Annaleena into his car and heads for the mill.
But Annaleena proves to be not quite as dead as expected.
As a Belgian buyer arrives to inspect the mill’s timber, Heikki scrambles to keep up appearances. But the situation is splintering fast, and even his own workers seem to be hatching plans of their own...
Deadlines loom, tempers fray and misunderstandings multiply, and as the interminable situation grows ever worse, Heikki discovers that keeping a sawmill running is hard enough without a half-dead body and potentially fatal complications...
Iceland’s Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Finland’s Antti Tuomainen combine to form a fantastic duet for the evening’s conversation, which will be moderated by Orenda Books’ founder and publisher, Karen Sullivan.
We will explore some of the best in ‘Nordic Noir’, as Lilja presents her brand-new speculative mystery, ⱯLFA, which imagines a future only a breath away, in a chilling, high concept novel about power, control and what happens when the perfect world begins to fail. Meanwhile, Antti’s September paperback, The Winter Job, is follow by The Fresh Cut, which blends deadpan humour, escalating danger and absolute chaos, creating explosive results to a small Finnish town.
With thoroughly entertaining conversation, an audience Q&A and book signing, this is sure to be a special treat in an already fantastic Autumn/Winter Event Programme for the bookshop!
Refreshments will be available from the bookshop. Please note, there will be stock of the authors' books available at the event, however it is recommended that any copies are purchased at the time of booking to guarantee yours.
About the Authors
Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written eleven crime novels, including Snare, Trap and Cage, making up the Reykjavík Noir trilogy, and her standalone thriller Betrayal, all of which have hit bestseller lists worldwide. Snare was longlisted for the CWA International Dagger, Cage won Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year and was a Guardian Book of the Year, and Betrayal was shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key Award and won Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year. The film rights for the Reykjavík Noir trilogy have been bought by Glassriver. Cold as Hell, the first book in the An Áróra Investigation series, was published in the UK in 2021 and was followed by Red as Blood, White as Snow, Dark as Night and Black as Death. TV rights to the series have been bought by a major studio. Lilja lives in Reykjavík with her partner and a brood of chickens.
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded Best Finnish Crime Novel of the year and shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award. It was released as a Netflix film in 2025. The Rabbit Factor, the first book in a trilogy that includes The Moose Paradox and The Beaver Theory, is now in production for TV with Amazon Studios, starring Steve Carell. The Moose Paradox shortlisted for CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award. The Burning Stones (2024) was shortlisted for multiple awards, and The Winter Job (2025) shortlisted for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger. Antti lives in Helsinki with his wife.
About the Books
ⱯLFA by Lilja Sigurðardóttir
Reykjavík, 2052. Europe is peaceful, prosperous and almost crime-free, governed by Ɐlfa, the artificial intelligence that manages infrastructure, safety and daily life. Mekkín works at the Ministry, close to the core of the system that keeps society running. She lives with her partner, Sabína, an artist.
When Sabína’s brother Birkir, a committed dissident who lives beyond the reach of Ɐlfa, is found brutally murdered, that fragile sense of order begins to fracture. Violent crime has effectively been eliminated, and Birkir’s death is not just shocking, but inexplicable. What was he involved in, and who would dare to commit murder in a world designed to prevent it?
As the investigation unfolds, Sabína is drawn ever deeper into the case. Mekkín’s position at the Ministry brings scrutiny she cannot escape, their relationship begins to fracture, and their teenage son’s recent integration into the system places him uncomfortably close to the forces now circling the family.
As Sabína pieces together Birkir’s final days, the answers begin to point far closer to home than either of them ever expected, forcing her to decide what she is prepared to sacrifice to uncover the truth...
The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen
Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate.
A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.
With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.
That’s when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.
And that’s when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble...
The Fresh Cut by Antti Tuomainen
Heikki Nevalainen is the proud owner of a once successful sawmill, a mountain of debt and very few options to deal with either of them. An unexpected solution arrives in the form of local gangster Ismo Sippo. Dispose of Sippo’s dead wife, and the sawmill can keep running. Refuse, and Heikki loses everything. Horrified but desperate, Heikki agrees, loads Annaleena into his car and heads for the mill.
But Annaleena proves to be not quite as dead as expected.
As a Belgian buyer arrives to inspect the mill’s timber, Heikki scrambles to keep up appearances. But the situation is splintering fast, and even his own workers seem to be hatching plans of their own...
Deadlines loom, tempers fray and misunderstandings multiply, and as the interminable situation grows ever worse, Heikki discovers that keeping a sawmill running is hard enough without a half-dead body and potentially fatal complications...
Event Details
Doors Open at 7:00PM
Starts at 7:30PM
