Holiday season is upon us, and as if that’s not enough other work duties are taking all of my time so to make sure you have something to read on a regular basis for the next month or so we will be republishing some forgotten gems from the past. And adding new content when we can, of course.

First up is a short series on Nordic crime locations…

Scandinavian crime fiction has taken the world by storm – with Norwegian author Jo Nesbø (that’s his real name, I notice they drop the funky ‘ø’ in English though) tipped to be the next big thing.

You mean “the next Stieg Larsson”?

Yes, that indeed seems to be the slightly tired label tagged to anyone coming from the Nordic countries and making an international impact. Still I guess it’s a flattering comparison.

Anyway if you’re into Scandinavian crime books and films why not combine a trip to this wonderful part of the world with a tour around some of the locations used? The tourist offices of the respective towns and cities have not been slow to realize the potential here and offer everything from information and maps to full guided tours in some cases.

Interestingly it is the small town of Ystad on the south coast of Sweden (which is closer to Copenhagen than Stockholm) which arguably leads the way with its Wallander-based tourism.

Which is where you were a few years back, if I remember rightly? I seem to recall a Grown-up Travel Daily Photo of Wallander´s favourite cafe…

Correct. So the first in this series of articles is all about Kurt Wallander, star of Henning Mankell’s novels. Or more accurately about the Wallander-based sights and tours offered by the rather lovely town of Ystad.

First up some background information about the town. Ystad has produced a seductive video to sell the town, primarily to attract new residents but it does a good job for us tourists too:

(c) PixelTouch Media for Ystads kommun/Municipality of Ystad.

Nice, huh? It is also worth pointing out that the Ystad crime rate featured in the Wallander books is truly a work of fiction… (more…)