Award Nomination News: Backman and Seeck both nominated for the Finnish Crime Writers’ Society’s Clue of the Year Award

Posted on 29.11.202222.02.2023

Award nomination news!

We are thrilled to announce that two of our agency’s authors have been nominated for the Finnish Crime Writers’ Society’s Clue of the Year Award for best crime novel published in 2022!

Elina Backman is nominated for BEFORE THE POLAR NIGHT FALLS, the third instalment in the Saana Havas crime series which is currently no. 3 in Audio Books. Elina Backman is now Finland’s no. 4 bestselling fiction author (all formats). Over 60 000 copies of Elina’s books have been sold in Finland, rights have been sold for 16 territories, and an international TV-series based on Elina Backman’s books is in development by Aurora Studios

New York Times bestselling author Max Seeck is nominated for ARCHIPELAGO, the 4th book in the Jessica Niemi series. Max Seeck is Finland’s no.1 bestselling fiction author in e-books and no. 2 bestselling author in all formats. Over 20,000 copies of ARCHIPELAGO and over 300,000 copies of all his books have been sold in Finland. Max’s books have been sold to 40 countries and Hollywood.

Here is the jury’s motivation for the nominations:

About BEFORE THE POLAR NIGHT FALLS by Elina Backman:

“Saana Havas, who has gained a reputation with her podcast, travels to northern Lapland to seek new content and to investigate the case of a girl who disappeared and was then found murdered years ago. The book deserves special recognition for its descriptions of the milieu and the people living north of the Arctic Circle. Elina Backman succeeds in portraying Havas’ role in the strange environment which the “amateur detective” observes with sympathy.”

About ARCHIPELAGO by Max Seeck:

“In ARCHIPELAGO, Max Seeck offers the reader an original and very appealing plot. Seeck’s detective, police officer Jessica Niemi, hopes to find a peaceful recovery on Åland’s most remote island due to her work setbacks. In the idyllic boarding house, which follows the tradition of a good detective story, Jessica meets people who share a painful past from decades ago. Soon a body is found on the beach, and Jessica can’t settle for the observer’s part. The story is strongly edged by the big turning point in Jessica’s own life.”

The winner will be announced in January 2023.

Congratulations to our Authors!

Download the materials for WHEN THE POLAR NIGHT FALLS here!

Download the materials for THE ARCHIPELAGO here!

Elina Backman Saana Havas Series

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
ALBANIA: Dritan
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gyldendal
ESTONIA: Varrak
GERMANY: Piper Verlag
HUNGARY: Maxim
ITALY: Newton Compton
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS: De Bezige Bij/Cargo
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm
POLAND: Czarna Owca
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov, Ferber
SLOVAKIA: Arkus
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

Max Seeck Jessica Niemi Series

Rights sold
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ALBANIA: Muza
ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers
ARMENIA: Guitank
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
BELGIUM, A.W. Bruna
BULGARIA: EMAS
CANADA: Berkley/Penguin Random House
CROATIA: Fokus
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gutkind
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FRANCE: Michel Lafon
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe
GREECE: Livani
HUNGARY: Animus
ICELAND: Forlagid
ISRAEL: Tchelet Books
ITALY: Piemme/Mondadori
KOREA: Cheongmirae
LATIN AMERICA: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji
LITHUANIA: Baltos lankos
MACEDONIA: Matica
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna
NORWAY: Aschehoug
POLAND: Sonia Draga
PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora
ROMANIA: Litera
RUSSIA: AST
SERBIA: Vulkan
SLOVAKIA: Motýľ
SLOVENIA: Didakta
SPAIN: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag
TURKEY: Doğan Kitap
UKRAINE: Family Leisure Club
UNITED KINGDOM & COMMONWEALTH: Welbeck Publishing UK
UNITED STATES: Berkley/Penguin Random House
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Stampede Ventures (Greg Silverman)

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.

About author

Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck - New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

Big Hollywood film & TV news coming soon!

“An exceptional combination of hardboiled Scandi-noir and eerie ghost story. [--] Seeck marries breathtaking suspense with an expertly drawn heroine. This is guaranteed to send shivers up even the most unshakable readers’ spines." – Publisher's Weekly, starred review (Ghost island)

"Each new step has been an artistic success. Max Seeck, last year's winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic detective story, has a golden touch for Finnish suspense fiction." - Kai Hirvasnoro, Kansan Uutiset newspaper

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! 2024 will see the release of his independent novel MILO, which is already creating buzz internationally with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.