Introducing Ahlback Agency SPRING 2025 FICTION Catalogue!

We are thrilled to present our Fiction Catalogue for Spring 2025!

In literary fiction, we are thrilled to welcome Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen and her masterful, Finlandia Prize-nominated novel The Saprophile which explores themes such as power, desire, and the world of Ingmar Bergman.

In the romance and feel-good section of our Fiction Catalogue, we are excited to have on our list Michaela von Kügelgen‘s upcoming novel Summer at Villa Hilda, that takes the readers to the idyllic Stockholm archipelago. Additionally, we are glad to welcome Ulla Onerva and her debut novel Cotton Candy Dilemma, which intertwines romance and literature.

We are also happy to welcome two new crime and thriller authors to our Agency! Aamos Honka and his debut thriller Crimson Web take the readers to a frighteningly realistic and timely world of intelligence and hybrid warfare. Meanwhile, Anna Harju‘s psychologically perceptive crime novel Traces takes the readers to the trendy city of Tampere.

Lastly, we are glad to let you know that the English edition of Maria Turtschaninoff’s Tangled Roots (aka Inherited Land) will be published on April 10th, 2025 by Pushkin Press.

From our new catalogue, we’ve picked some of the hottest titles for you – take a look at them below!

View the Spring 2025 Fiction Catalogue here!

The Saprophile

Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen

A brilliant novel that dives deep into the human psyche, explores themes such as power, passion, and the world of Ingmar Bergman, and is a reflection on being human through art

• Nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!
• For readers of Donna Tartt, Ali Smith, Maggie Nelson, and Rachel Kushner!

An island.

An author. Two women.

Ingmar Bergman.

The main characters of a film who are planning to escape.

The Saprophile is a hypnotic treatise on power and writing. It is the autopsy of a novel, a hybrid that seeks to go where genres end. It is a novel about Ingmar Bergman’s films, about a desire that refuses to obey, about an island, about how easy it is to lose yourself in another person, and how difficult it is to find your way back.

Like a saprophile, an organism that lives and thrives on dead or decaying organic matter, The Saprophile is like a literary organism that eats away at age-old concepts and structures.

Summer at Villa Hilda

Michaela von Kügelgen

Many people dream of a second chance in life, but how many dare to take it?

• For fans of experiencing romance and hardships through people of different ages, a story set in the beautiful Swedish archipelago, told with warmth and humor
• Mamma Mia vibes on a remote Swedish island

Far out in the Stockholm archipelago lies the island of Halsterö. Journalist Thomas and former celebrity chef Louise travel there to work at the Villa Hilda guesthouse. They are both broken after many setbacks and are hoping for a fresh start. But setting up a summer paradise is not as easy as one might think, not even on the idyllic Halsterö island.

One day Louise stumbles across a collection of old love letters. Who wrote them, and what stories does Villa Hilda hide in its dusty attic? And how will Thomas manage to take care of his dementia-stricken mother while setting up an archipelago guesthouse?

Summer at Villa Hilda is about how difficult it is to be human among other people, but also about how, with the help of others, one can find one’s way back to life.

This novel is the first part of the Villa Hilda series and will be published in June 2025. The following titles will concentrate on the people living on the picturesque Halsterö island and will tentatively be published in February 2026 and September 2026.

Cotton Candy Dilemma

Ulla Onerva

Let the romantic rebellion begin!

• A new, fresh feel-good series about romance and literature
• For the fans of Emily Henry, Holly Bourne, and Ali Hazelwood

Emma’s first love has left her at the school dance and her feelings for her ex-boyfriend have not completely faded by the start of senior year. Instead of pining, Emma immerses herself in romance books, even though the rest of the world seems to despise her favourite genre.

When a morose writer publishes a seething critique of romance and feel-good literature in a magazine and the school curriculum does not include romantic titles, Emma revolts. She sets up the Club of Quirky Romantics, a group dedicated to improving the appreciation of romance literature and dispelling the stigma associated with reading romance. It’s no easy task, as the circle is fueled by hate and love alike, and Emma finds herself in a worse mess than the heroines of her favourite romance novels.

Ulla Onerva’s debut novel Cotton Candy Dilemma is the first title in the Quirky Romantics series, a humorous commercial trilogy that cleverly weaves the romantic classics of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë into the modern day. The trilogy is perfect for anyone who refuses to hide their love of romance books!

The Quirky Romantics Series will continue with book #2 in February 2026 and book #3 in February 2027 (on Valentine’s Day).

Crimson Web

Aamos Honka

A frighteningly topical debut thriller from an insider in the intelligence world, revealing the hidden heart of secrets ops and hybrid warfare.

• Aamos Honka’s work with Finnish intelligence agencies gives him insider access to the world of national security and foreign intelligence
• Already a critical success and an instant bestseller – 7000 copies sold in one month!

Crimson Web is an international espionage thriller that gets to the heart of hybrid influence, cyber threats and the geopolitical game. The story interweaves personal tragedies, global tensions and technological threats. Events intertwine in Helsinki, Wuhan, and London as different actors approach the crisis from their own perspectives.

The focus is on Janne Peura, a hybrid threat expert at the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency, and Laura, a cyber specialist at Supo. They join forces to expose a large-scale international operation involving Chinese and Russian hybrid influence projects, as well as China’s AI-based influence efforts.

Once you read the book, the news headlines will never look the same to you.

The sequel to Crimson Web, book #2 in the Janne Peura series, is slated to be published in Finland in November 2025.

Traces

Anna Harju

“Perfect suspense!” – Max Seeck, New York Times bestselling author
The opening of a gripping crime series set in trendy Tampere.

• A fresh, psychologically perceptive crime novel
• A gripping story that takes the readers from industrial Tampere to the German island of Fehmarn and finally to the fells of Northern Finland

There are secrets whose revelation will have fatal consequences. There is no escaping them, no matter how hard you try. Must one always pay for their mistakes?

A well-liked pharmacist is found murdered at his workplace. Suspicion falls on pharmacist Joanna Vihervuori, the last person to see her boss alive. Joanna insists she is innocent, but the case begins to twist around her in a strange way.

For Tampere Police Detective Inspector Taro Auramo, this murder investigation is the place to prove himself. The white dust on the dead pharmacist’s cheek raises doubts about whether his business is completely clean, and soon nothing will be as it seems.

Psychologically astute and utterly addictive, Traces is the first in the Taro Auramo crime series set in Tampere. Book #2 is slated to be published in 2026 and book #3 in 2027.

Milo

Max Seeck

Bodies with chess pieces in their mouth – Milo needs to understand the game of chess in order to catch a killer.

• Solar Films adapts Milo to an international TV series for global distribution, with production slated to commence in 2026!
• Rights sold to 8 territories! Over 45,000 copies sold in Finland!

The game has only just begun.

On a cold November evening, a body is discovered on the shore of Seurasaari. The victim’s skin is covered with a thick layer of white paint, and during the autopsy, a chess piece is found lodged in its throat.

The police are baffled. Why would the murderer go to such lengths to disguise the body? And why wasn’t there any attempt to hide it?

Milo Perho, an art gallery owner specializing in profiling killers, is called in to assist. What follows is a nerve-wracking game where every move costs a life, and no one wants it to end in checkmate.

Milo is the gripping debut of the Milo series by internationally acclaimed author Max Seeck. Even before its release, the book’s translation rights were sold to numerous countries, and a TV series adaptation is already in the works.

Book #2: the sequel to Milo (publication in September 2025, Tammi Publishers, Finland)

It’s early September in Helsinki, Finland. Ten months have passed since the events of the first book, and a lot has happened. Milo Perho, an art gallerist and a criminal profiler, has divorced and moved on with his life. While his marriage has fallen apart, he actually has gained some more confidence and is happier single. Milo has given up his dreams of becoming a father, and he tries to enjoy life as it is.

Meanwhile the Helsinki homicide unit detective (and Milo’s old friend) Minka Laine gets a phone call. A blonde woman has been stabbed to death in the middle of the city. While Minka investigates the surveillance camera tapes of the restaurant, she is shocked to see Milo on the record. She now knows that her old friend is somehow involved in the death of an unknown woman.