The Swedish trilogy that was the talk of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the book of which is called The Andalucian Friend, has a U.S. publisher. Crown closed a three-book deal for Alexander Soderberg's debut, along with Harvill Secker in the U.K. and Knopf Canada--the publishers intend to do a coordinated release in spring 2013. Zack Wagman closed the deal with Leyla Belle Drake, at the Sweden-based Salomonsson Agency.
Salomonsson, which went into the fair intending not to offer the series to U.S. publishers, was spurred to do a quick English language translation after interest in the debut work reached a fever pitch in Germany. The foreign agency, which also represents Norwegian author (and recent U.S. bestseller) Jo Nesbo, arrived in Germany with a major sale already closed in its native Sweden and, after Frankfurt, auctions have closed in, among other countries, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Norway, and Denmark.
The series, which is set in Sweden, follows a nurse and single mother who is thrust in the middle of a showdown between two powerful criminals, as well as a group of corrupt cops. Not suprisingly, Crown is pitching Soderberg as the next big Scandinavian literary star.
