Swedish author Carin Gerhardsen specialises in writing socially-engaged crime novels that are known for their narrative depth. She speaks to Sunday Guardian Live’s Bhumika Popli about what drew her to this genre.

Carin Gerhardsen is a mathematician and she obtained her degree at the Uppsala University [in Sweden]. When she started her writing career, she was working fulltime as an IT consultant, writing during the weekends. She made her literary debut 25 years ago with the philosophical novel Escape from Time. Now the eight novel of the Hammarby series is finished and Carin has left her beloved detectives behind her. She’s currently working on a thriller for kids and youngsters, and another one for grownups.

Carin Gerhardsen gets her inspiration from real cases, something she read about in the paper, stories people tell her, things she sees and hears. Her novels are always quite sad. Carin says she enjoys suffering while reading, she wants to be captivated by the book she reads and by the one she writes. That must be what makes her novels noir Carin says, and the fact that they take place in Stockholm make them “Stockholm noir”.

We are very excited for Carin’s new projects and of course the eight book in the Hammarby series! You can read the interview in its entirety here.