Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain (2023)

2023

304 pages

Crime Fiction

The sequel to the bestseller and booksellers’ favourite Kalmann. Schmidt delights his fans again with his passion for storytelling and a quirky plot.

It all begins with Kalmann in hot water. He’s at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, arrested during the Jan 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol Building. All he wanted was to visit his American father in the US for the Christmas holidays – but his dad takes him (and a group of MAGA friends) to the protests in Washington to “regain the house which is ours”. He is promptly arrested during the riots. Thanks to sympathetic FBI agent Dakota Leen, he’s soon on a plane back to Iceland. But not before Dakota informs him that his recently deceased grandfather was on an FBI list of suspected Russian spies working in Iceland during the Cold War. Back home, Kalmann begins to suspect that his grandfather’s death from “heart failure” was a murder. His maverick investigation uncovers another assassination and takes him to the site of a US radar station abandoned in the 1970s. So, there are now two deaths to be solved and the threat of more to come. Much to do for our unlikely amateur detective who somehow never loses heart.

Represented in Scandinavia by RLA, on behalf of Diogenes Verlag AG. Pro Helvetia supports translations. www.translateswissbooks.ch/book/kalmann/

Exciting, funny, touching - beautiful! Heinz Storrer / Schweizer Familie, Zurich

(ON KALMANN #1)

Reviews

REVIEWS

"A modern-day Charlie Chaplin. Kalmann's naive view of the world also makes the reader marvel."

Peer Teuwsen / NZZ, Zurich

"It's a very, very amusing, very clever and incredibly exciting thriller with a great finale."

Johannes Kössler / ORF, Vienna

"A gripping thriller [...] with a truly unique and lovable protagonist."

Annette König / SRF, Zurich

"The way Joachim B. Schmidt has his hero embark on a new adventure in America in a touching and humorous way is intelligent and entertaining."

Nora Zukker / Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich

"The Swiss author, who has lived in Iceland for many years, once again succeeds in creating a window into the world from the naively clever perspective of his hero, with warmth and wit."

Sonntag, Hanover

"Swiss author Joachim B. Schmidt has written a wonderfully refreshing character who is thrown into his second adventure here. Lively paced, with great sympathy for the unreliable narrator and his surprising perception."

Irene Zöch / Die Presse, Vienna

"The Grisons bestselling author [...] again ignites a firework of imaginative ideas in his new book. This time he lays it on a little thicker and exaggerates with relish – right up to the explosive James Bond ending."

Babina Cathomen / Kulturtipp, Zurich

"Kalmann is ripe for the big screen."

Hans-Martin Koch / Zeitung für die Lüneburger Heide, Lüneburg

"Joachim B Schmidt is a genius narrator and author who involves his readers directly in the events and his characters with their complex inner life."

Lisa Wieser / Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Heidelberg

"It is with great regret that one puts this linguistically wonderful book aside after the last page, fervently hoping that this was not the last adventure of this eccentric character."

Christian Ruch / Südostschweiz, Chur

"Joachim B. Schmidt has once again written a quirky, entertaining picaresque novel. It is a crime novel, thriller and psychogram of Icelandic and American society and very, very enjoyable."

Holger Kankel / Schweriner Volkszeitung

"The way Joachim B. Schmidt manages to span the arc from the Cold War via Washington to Iceland is also entertaining because through Kalmann’s eyes, you look at the world from a completely new perspective. Mostly funny, often intelligent and sometimes heavy. Kalmann is not an easy character, but you have to like him."

Marianna Fischer / Kleine Zeitung, Graz

"The likable Kalmann recounts his story in first person, he narrates thoughtfully and elaborately. The connection to real events and the precise description of Icelandic life weave it all into a gripping pageturner."

Marianne de Mestral / P.S., Zurich

"Kalmann is a wise fool. And all Kalmann fans can rest assured: no need to worry, Kalmann is still his old self in the new book."

Christoph Leibold / Bayern 2, Munich

"Schmidt’s Kalmann novels are different, and that’s what makes them so refreshing."

Zeitlupe, Zurich

“[…] Kalmann finds himself dragged into the aftermath of a Cold War mystery that once involved his grandfather, the Americans, and Russian spies – and what began as a gentle and amusing story finally changes pace and sails off to an explosive climax.”

Russell James / Shots Magazine UK

“A beautifully told Icelandic mystery that absolutely revels in its comedic timing, compassionate plot, and outstanding leading man. If you are looking for something a little different, then step into this feel-good mystery which is full to overflowing with gentle humour, pointed social commentary, and a delicious plot. […] As a leading character he is a triumph and as a narrator he is to be celebrated. […] Highly recommended, the powerful yet gentle Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain is an uninhibited firecracker of a read.”

Liz Robinson / Love Reading

“Another wonderful story about Kalmann. His gentle simplicity and naivety is so touching and engaging, but running throughout the novel is a darker undercurrent as well, sometimes in Kalmann himself, but more often in the events unfolding around him.”

Lee-Anne Fox via Goodreads

“Joachim B. Schmidt has written a new story about the police chief in Raufarhöfn, Kalmann Óðinsson ... Kalmann faces much grander events. He literally becomes a participant in a world-historical episode and is still our dear friend Kalmann, his grandfather‘s boy with the badge, even though the FBI is after him. The finale is epic, with James Bond retired in Langanes and no more about that.”

Halldor Gudmundsson, writer

“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

“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

“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

“He lets the Icelandic world shine from within and you grow fond of the main character.”

Manfred Papst / NZZ am Sonntag, Zurich

“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, Icelandic novelist (Red Milk and The Blue Fox), poet and Björk collaborator

“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

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English/worldBitter Lemon

IcelandForlagid