Kalmann

This atmospheric crime thriller laced with humour is set in the village of Raufarhfn in the far north of Iceland. Kalmann Odinsson is the self-appointed Sheriff of his town. He is 34, neurodiverse and hunts Arctic foxes and catches gigantic Greenland sharks for a living. He was brought up by his grandfather who taught him how to hunt and fish and 'nearly everything else a man needs to know about life'. One of his many dreams is to find a wife. But he must first extricate himself from the mess he gets into when he discovers a frozen pool of human blood in the winter snow. When it becomes apparent that local bigwig Robert McKenzie has just gone missing, the hunt is on to find McKenzie's body and his murderer.

“Sjon : "Joachim B. Schmidt's novels show sensitivity to how the accumulation of seemingly small events makes up the drama of human life. In his recent works he has built literary bridges between his birth country Switzerland, and Iceland, the country he lives in. In them, as elsewhere, he proves that it is by telling our shared histories and sharing our individual stories that we overcome being strangers and instead meet eye to eye as citizens of a single world." Hallgrimur Helgason (101 Reykjavik): "A Swiss author writes a book that takes place in Raufarhofn (!) and creates characters that are more Icelandic than anything Icelandic. What kind of magician is this?" "Schmidt reveals himself to be an incredibly empathetic and skilled narrator with a strong sense for light humour"--Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich "That a Swiss author could write the best Iceland mystery novel of the year is something you deem improbable only until you read this book."--Krimibestenliste, Hamburg "A captivatingly charming blend of Fargo und Parsifal." - Horzu, Hamburg "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 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 "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." --FAZ, Frankfurt "Gripping, funny, empathetic, and cleverly structured." - Die Presse am Sonntag, Vienna "A novel that reads like an Icelandic Fargo. Crude, droll, bloody, very funny and with a multitude of surprising twists". - Radio O1, Vienna”

"Schmidt’s novels show a sensitivity to how the accumulation of seemingly small events makes up the drama of human life. In his recent works, he has built literary bridges between his birth country Switzerland, and Iceland, the country he lives in. In them, as elsewhere, he proves that it is by telling our shared histories and sharing our individual stories that we overcome being strangers and instead meet eye to eye as citizens of a single world." Sjón

Joachim B. Schmidt, born in 1981, emigrated from Switzerland to Iceland in 2007. He is the author of several novels and short stories and is also a journalist and columnist. Joachim, who is Swiss and Icelandic, lives in Reykjavik with his wife and their two children.

Jamie Lee Searle is a well-known translator from German and Portuguese into English. She has translated novels by Urs Faes, Anna Kim, Marc-Uwe Kling, Christoph Ribbat and many others. She lives in Winchester in the UK.

This atmospheric crime thriller laced with humour is set in the village of Raufarh

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