Loukko by 
We are very excited to announce that the German rights to The Twilight Grove Trilogy by Minna Lindgren (Teos) have been sold in auction to Kiepenheuer & Witsch for publication in 2015–2017. Kiepenheuer & Witsch’s list of international fiction includes authors such as Zadie Smith, David Foster Wallace, Michael Chabon, J.D. Salinger and Viveca Sten. Rights to The Twilight Grove Trilogy were previously sold to Marsilio in Italy.
The humorous mystery series narrates life inside and around a retirement home through the eyes of three bright, spirited and inquisitive ladies in their 90s. If you enjoyed Miss Marple, recent Academy Award nominee Nebraska or the bestselling The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, you will fall in love with The Twilight Grove Trilogy.
”Witty and funny, and despite its serious topic, a page turner. It’s a candidate for topping bestseller lists and still has a serious message: that dignity is not negotiable.”
-Helga Frese-Resch, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Germany
“[Death in Twilight Grove] is a clever mystery novel that brilliantly combines thriller with comedy. There’s suspense in it, and there’s warmth. By reading you will hear echoes of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, and much more than this. Minna Lindgren not only shows intelligent and hearty humour, but she demonstrates depth that is not easy to find in the genre. Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa will stay with you for a long time, three wonderful old ladies, wise and naive at the same time, who know so much about life but still cannot recognize cruelty in its worse aspects. Believable and vivid characters, hilarious scenes, tension, melancholy, strong feelings, meanness, tenderness, friendship: All in all, what you’ll find in this wonderful debut is just life.”
-Francesca Varotto, Marsilio, Italy
RIGHTS SOLD: THE TWILIGHT GROVE TRILOGY
GERMANY, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
ITALY, Marsilio
Film rights: Yellow Film & TV
Reading materials:
English sample and synopses
Finnish edition
Original publisher:
Finland, Teos
The Twilight Grove Trilogy: a summary
In Death in Twilight Grove, the 90-something characters of Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa discover that their home, a retirement community called Twilight Grove, turns out to be an optimal environment for both smaller swindles and larger criminal activities. The first entry in the series is a suspense novel into which friendship and love bring a sense of warmth.
The second part, Escape from Twilight Grove (working title, Teos, May 2014), sees our heroines moving to a downtown Helsinki apartment as roommates. A fishy plumbing renovation at Twilight Grove evokes suspicions of more crimes taking place. The death of two people close to them forces these friends to contemplate questions of euthanasia, at-home care and terminal care.
In the final part in the trilogy, The End of Twilight Grove (working title, Teos, 2015), Twilight Grove has turned into a state-funded, technology-driven pilot project in elderly care. The conclusion brings together characters lost along the way, and murky details are brought to light. A natural, long-awaited death finally collects some, but still not all, of our main characters.
Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music and culture. In 2009 Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).
For rights inquiries contact: info@ahlbackagency.com
