The Swedish thriller, The Ice Beneath Her, has been compared to The Girl On The Train, and translation rights have sold in 13 countries so far. The plot follows a grisly murder: after a woman is found beheaded in the home of a prominent businessman, an investigator and psychological profiler work to solve the case.
Book Title: The Ice Beneath Her
First Published By: Wahlstrom & Widstrand, August 20, 2015. Rights are controlled by Sweden's Ahlander Agency.
Format: Print, ebook and audio.
Author: Camilla Grebe is a suspense writer who has previously co-written books, and this is her first solo project. She is also the co-founder of the Swedish audio book publisher, Storyside.
Acquiring Editor: Sara Nystrom, senior editor at Wahlstrom & Widstrand
How It's Performed: The book has been a hit internationally, with rights sold in 13 countries; North American rights have sold to Mark Tavani at Ballantine/ Bantam Dell. International publishers include btb (Germany), Einaudi (Italy), Cargo (Netherlands), and Gummerus (Finland).
Why They Think It's Working: Nystrom feels that "the novel falls perfectly into the trend of highly successful thrillers with unreliable narrators and a female focus – think Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, etc. It’s one of those books that truly surprises – and shocks – the reader." She adds that the main character "is a smart woman in her sixties with onset dementia… You adore her from the very start." Tavani, who will be publishing the book in the U.S., says, "American readers continue to look for and love Scandinavian suspense, and I feel that this blends that backdrop and the current fascination with twisty plotting and unreliable narration. And for me, this read was not only surprising but rewarding, as its characters are grounded by compelling psychological complexities."
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the book's Swedish audio publisher. It is Storyside, not Storytel.
