Starred review for Elina Backman’s HOW TO FACE DEATH (Saana Havas #4)!

This just in–a starred review from Finland’s biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat for HOW TO FACE DEATH by Elina Backman, the fourth entry of the Saana Havas thriller series!

Here’s a snippet from the review:

ELINA BACKMAN (b. 1983) differs from a lot of Finnish crime writers in that although her  protagonists live in Helsinki, the books take place in different parts of Finland, rather than in one specific city or region. This brings variety and local colour to the works. (…) Backman is a talented crime writer who is able to pleasingly combine classic detective novel features with modern elements. For instance, Saana Havas is a former journalist, now crime blogger, whose most important tools are her mobile phone and her laptop. Saana solves crimes which happened a long time ago, and her boyfriend, police detective Jan Leino, often ends up joining in her investigations.

In HOW TO FACE DEATH, Saana heads to an unusually sunny setting for Nordic crime novels, renovating her aunt’s friend’s villa and getting to know the mysterious neighborhood. However, when the midsummer celebrations end fatally, the dark history of the island begins to unravel.

We recommend you start at the beginning of this internationally bestselling series–and soon to be TV show!–with book 1: ALL THE KING’S MEN. Click here to download reading materials for the Saana Havas series!

 

Rights sold for ALL THE KING’S MEN:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gyldendal
ESTONIA: Varrak Publishers
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Aurora Studios
FRANCE: HarperCollins France
GERMANY: Piper
HUNGARY: Maxim
ITALY: Newton Compton
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS: Cargo
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm
POLAND: Czarna Owca
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber
SLOVAKIA: Arkus Vydavatelstvo
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken

 

Rights sold for STILL WATERS RUN DEEP:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: Gyldendal
ESTONIA: Varrak Publishers
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Aurora Studios
GERMANY: Piper
HUNGARY: Maxim
ITALY: Newton Compton Editori
NETHERLANDS: Cargo
NORWAY: Cappelen Damm AS
POLAND: Czarna Owca
RUSSIA: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber
SLOVAKIA: Arkus
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken

Rights sold for BEFORE THE POLAR NIGHT FALLS:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
DENMARK: Gyldendal
GERMANY: Piper
ITALY: Newton Compton Editori
SLOVAKIA: Arkus
SWEDEN: Bokfabriken

Rights sold for HOW TO FACE DEATH:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

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.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

How to Face Death

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Before the Polar Night Falls

Elina Backman


2022, Crime & Suspense

Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo

Elina Backman


2021, Crime & Suspense

Still Waters Run Deep

Elina Backman


2020, Crime & Suspense

All the King's Men

Elina Backman