Loukko by 
Crime author Leena Lehtolainen’s reign at the top of the bestseller lists continues. A Stroke of Sadness (Tammi 2015), The 13th entry in her Maria Kallio series, was the #1 highest-selling Finnish novel in the month of August!
Beyond Finland, rights to the novel have been acquired by Rowohlt in Germany, where A Stroke of Sadness will publish in spring of 2016. Leena Lehtolainen’s works have been sold in 29 languages.
The Maria Kallio series follows the career of a tough, down-to-earth and emotionally intelligent police officer in Finland. A Stroke of Sadness finds her inspecting the murder of Jaakko Pulma, a jewelry expert and the husband of a politician.
Praise for A Stroke of Sadness:
“The book provides a sharp nut of crime writing…through a first-person narrative Maria Kallio has the final word in her own story.”
– Savon Sanomat newspaper, Finland
“Both the daily routines of police work and the events of Maria Kallio’s private life are depicted in a nuanced and appealingly relatable way.”
– Kymen Sanomat newspaper, Finland
“It was so wonderful to return to this series. I’ve been reading Maria Kallio books for as long as I have read adult fiction. Several of these books I’ve reread over and over, even though I don’t frequently revisit crime novels. These novels, however, provide so many elements [beyond a crime investigation] that coming back to them is easy.”
– Lukutoukan kulttuuriblogi (“Bookworm’s Literature Blog”), Finland
“Lehtolainen’s books have always contained an element of social commentary…A Stroke of Sadness is a novel in which change is in the air and uncertainty breathes down the characters’ necks. In the end there are tears – for many reasons. It’s the kind of cliffhanger that makes one await for the next Maria Kallio title.”
– Turun Sanomat newspaper, Finland
In the United States AmazonCrossing will publish the fifth entry in the Maria Kallio series, Death Spiral (Tammi 1997) in December. Book 4, Snow Woman (Tammi 1996), currently has a four-star reader rating on Amazon!
RIGHTS SOLD
The Maria Kallio series:
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
WORLD ENGLISH, AmazonCrossing
BRAZIL, Autentica
DENMARK, Bazar
ESTONIA, Pegasus
FRANCE, Gaia
GERMANY, Rowohlt
GREECE, Livani
HUNGARY, Animus
ISRAEL, Penn
JAPAN, Tokyo Sogensha
LATVIA, Zvaigzne
NORWAY, Bazar
POLAND, Rebis
RUSSIA, Ast
SPAIN, Destino
SWEDEN, Bazar
TAIWAN, Linking
TURKEY, Bizim Kitaplar
TV RIGHTS, Studio Hamburg
RIGHTS SOLD
The Bodyguard Trilogy:
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
WORLD ENGLISH, Amazon
ARMENIA, Guitank
CZECH, Argo
FRANCE, Hachette Livre
GERMANY, Rowohlt
NETHERLANDS, Unieboek | Het Spectrum
RUSSIA, Azbooka-Atticus
SPAIN, Destino
TAIWAN, Linking
TURKEY, Nemesis
Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com
