Kalmann (2020)
352 pages
Crime Fiction
A touching and funny Nordic crime thriller with a difference. No gratuitous violence, no revenge porn. A tightly plotted suspense story based on a mentally challenged character described with empathy, humour and psychological tact.
Kalmann is the self-appointed sheriff of Raufarhöfn, Iceland, and has everything under control. There’s no need to worry. Day by day, he treks the wide plains which surround the almost deserted village, hunts Arctic foxes and lays shark bait in the sea — to catch the gigantic Greenland sharks he turns into the Icelandic fermented delicacy, hákarl.
But inside Kalmann’s head, the wheels sometimes spin backwards. One winter, after he discovers a pool of blood in the snow, the swiftly unfolding events threaten to overwhelm him. But with his naive wisdom and pure-hearted courage, he makes sure everything takes a turn for the better. There’s no need to worry. How can anything go wrong with Kalmann in charge? He knows everything a man needs to know about life – well almost.
Spiegel Bestseller Swiss Bestseller
Crime Cologne Award 2021 Shortlisted for the 2023 Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award Shortlisted for the Petrona Award 2023, the best Scandinavian Crime Novel in the UK Swiss Crime Fiction Prize 2021 (3rd place)
Represented in Scandinavia by RLA, on behalf of Diogenes Verlag AG. Pro Helvetia supports translations. www.translateswissbooks.ch/book/kalmann/
R E V I E W S
Reviews
“It can get pretty dark beneath a polar bear.”
Kalmann
“The narrative charms of Schmidt’s unlikely detective will keep readers turning the pages. Nordic crime fans won’t want to miss this unusual take on a familiar story.”
Publishers Weekly
“There’s a crime to solve, certainly, but that’s only a small part of this powerful novel.”
El País, Madrid
“He lets the Icelandic world shine from within and you grow fond of the main character.”
Manfred Papst / NZZ am Sonntag, Zurich
“The brushstrokes of humour are impeccable; the attention to detail turns this work of fiction into a tender portrait of the Icelandic landscape and its inhabitants.”
Marta Marne / El Periódico, Barcelona
“It is a social novel and empathic portrait of Kalmann, a young, confident Icelander, who, however, is very different from all the others.”
Denis Scheck / ARD (German public TV broadcaster), Munich
“A novel that reads like an Icelandic Fargo drama. Crude, droll, bloody, very funny and with a multitude of surprising twists.”
Radio Ö1, Vienna
“With Kalmann, the award goes to a classic picaresque novel cloaked in crime with an oddball protagonist at its heart. Schmidt succeeds brilliantly with the childlike, naïve narrative technique of his protagonist, whom he portrays with sensitivity and compassion. […] With its laconic, idiosyncratic tone that is skilfully refined and dotted with irony, Kalmann impressively stands out from the bulk of submissions.”
Jury of the Petrona Award 2023
“Kalmann, more Forrest Gump than Miss Marple, takes on the challenge. It's as lively as it is icy.”
Spiegel, Hamburg
“This is an incredibly funny, highly suspenseful, very beautiful and affectionate novel.”
Johannes Kößler / ORF, Vienna
“A gripping novel with a light criminal plot.”
Pia Zesilsky / WDR 2 Lesen, Cologne
“Joachim B. Schmidt’s novel is more than a crime novel; it’s a meticulously researched, unpretentiously narrated reportage of everyday life in a far, icy corner of the earth.”
Martin Halter / FAZ, Frankfurt
“To know Kalmann is to love him.”
Stefan Keim / WDR 4, Cologne
“Joachim B. Schmidt’s novel Kalmann sensitively depicts Iceland’s answer to Forrest Gump – a guy who may be slow on the uptake, but who is, in his own unique way, a connoisseur when it comes to the art of living.”
Augsburger Allgemeine, Augsburg
“A welcome addition to the Icelandic literary flora.”
Egill Helgason, Kiljan /Icelandic National TV
“This is a thriller in its form; […], but the main strengths are the portrayals, the humor, the scenery, the good conversations and the nature experiences. […] I did not get up from the couch until the last page had been flipped.”
Einar Karason, author
“He creates characters that are more Icelandic than anything Icelandic. What kind of magician is this?”
Hallgrimur Helgason, author
“The thriller is light and fun, although the undertone is black and cruel.”
Steinthor Gudbjartsson, Morgunbladid daily, Iceland
“Joachim B. Schmidt’s novels show a sensitivity to how the accumulation of seemingly small events makes up the drama of human life.”
Sjón
“Kalmann is a remarkable portrayal of a remote Icelandic community and the devastating impact of the decline of the herring and fishing industries. The tensions between this rural community and the latte-drinking townies of Reykjavík are sensitively depicted, as well as hostility and racism towards the Eastern European migrant workers.”
new-books-in-german.com
“A gripping novel with a light criminal plot.”
Pia Zesilsky / WDR 2 Lesen, Cologne
“Thrilling, funny, emphatic, cleverly constructed.”
Die Presse am Sonntag / Vienna
“It is only until you have read this book that you think it is improbable that a Swiss author could write the best Iceland mystery novel this year.”
Tobias Gohlis / Krimibestenliste, Hamburg
“Joachim B. Schmidt, who lives in Iceland, has written an incredible, moving book with an unusual hero who instantaneously wins the reader’s heart.”
Kester Schlenz / Stern, Hamburg
“An incredibly vivid sense of place, and a gifted storyteller.”
Welt am Sonntag, Berlin
“Kalmann is a wonderful non-crime novel, which, because the negated can persist in the negation, is nonetheless a wonderful crime novel.”
Thomas Wörtche / Deutschlandfunk, Cologne
Rights Sold
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Czech RepublicProstor
English/worldBitter Lemon
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ItalySEM Libri
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