What Barry Forshaw doesn’t know about crime fiction, to borrow an old phrase, isn’t worth knowing.  A journalist, chronicler of the genre, and talking head for the CWA Awards, with Death in a Cold Climate offering he covers in depth the extraordinarily popular sub-genre that is Nordic noir.

Often dismissed as shallow escapism, Forshaw recognises crime fiction for what it is – an art form.  His prose is as lucid as any degree-level textbook, leaving the reader in little doubt as to the depth of Forshaw’s knowledge and understanding.  The flip-side of this depth and lucidity is a complexity of language which may deter more part-time readers; Forshaw has a vast lexicon, and thinks little of deploying a Latin phrase or four.

Death in a Cold Climate examines, collectively and individually, the societies of the Nordic countries.  In picking their various threads out of the homogenous fabric into which idle criticism often weaves them, Forshaw does each a great service.  He also reminds those of us who, based on our love of translated  fiction, fancy ourselves to be cosmopolitan, how naïve it is to consider Denmark and Iceland as one and the same.

There are several key themes in Scandinavian crime, one of the most significant being the tension between the Left and the Far Right.  For so long praised as the model of a social democratic ideal, Sweden was the nation into which Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo released their Marxist Martin Beck series of novels.  Fast-forward fifty-years, and economic liberalism is demolishing Swedish ideals; the Schengen agreement and middle-eastern conflict have brought waves of non-European immigration, creating tensions that have allowed the Far Right to prosper.  Forshaw examines how these fundamental changes in Scandinavian society have provided authors, notably Stieg Larsson himself, with a rich seam of socio-political conflict to mine.

While on the subject of Larsson, Barry Forshaw is of course among the best-placed commentators to make judgments on the successor to the Swede’s throne.  Unfettered (to my knowledge) by the prospect of financial gain in exchange for his comments on the subject, Forshaw discusses Jo Nesbo’s claim to the crown, and also brings in some names from left-field.  No doubt his views on the subject will be adorning dust-jackets by late spring.
Perhaps the best reason to invest in a copy of Death in a Cold Climate though, is the plethora of pointers to other reading that it offers.  With vast swathes of Scandi crime being translated to sate colossal demand, the sheer amount of books on the shelves can be bewildering to the newcomer.  Through interviews with authors and translators, Forshaw offers in-depth takes on the cream of the Nordic crop.

Overall, Death in a Cold Climate will be something of a niche book.  While the appeal of Scandi crime is proven time again to the sound of ringing cash registers, there are few who would really consider themselves to be students of the genre, at least not to the level of being prepared to invest any time in reading literary criticism.  However, as one of those happy few, I can comfortably declare this to be an informative and educational effort from perhaps the nation’s leading expert in the field.

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