Elisa Audio Book Award Winners 2020

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We are proud to announce that our authors Elina Backman and Leena Lehtolainen are both Winners of the Elisa Audio Book Award 2020. Congratulations, Elina and Leena!

Elina Backman won the category of the Best Newcomer of the Year with her bestselling crime novel WHEN THE KING DIES (orig. Kun kuningas kuolee, Otava 2020) – already sold to 10 territories and TV rights optioned by Aurora Studios.

“Backman redeems her place among the top Finnish detective writers with this novel. The clever plot hooks you immediately, and the mystery untangles piece by piece until the surprising end. We can hardly wait for the sequel!” – Helena Niemelä, Business Director of Elisa Kirja

Leena Lehtolainen won the category of the Best Crime Novel of the Year with RIPPLE EFFECT (orig. Jälkikaiku, Tammi 2020) , which is the 15th book in the Maria Kallio series. Leena’s books have been translated to over 30 languages, and sold over 2,5 million copies worldwide! TV series based on Maria Kallio series will be released in 2021 by MTV/C More.

“Ripple Effect is a cleverly constructed police novel that mediates perfectly balanced between the character’s relationships, everyday police work, and exciting action. Lehtolainen manages to move the story smoothly forward, and the details that are gradually revealed keeps the reader interested.” – Matti Järvinen, Vice president of The Finnish Whodunnit Society

About author


Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 100 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1955. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

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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.

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