Forget Scandi Noir fiction – try this Scandi Blanc

Alexander McCall Smith, who is well-known for his prodigious writing speeds, having now penned over 100 novels, has established a new genre, Scandi Blanc.

This contrasts with the oppressively heavy and relentlessly dark Scandi Noir.

McCall Smith’s latest page-turner makes for an easy and light-hearted read, even if it is still full of crime. We follow divorcee and detective Ulf Varg, whose department is tasked with solving crimes which are considered ‘unusual’ and outside the realms of ‘normal’ policing.

There is no shortage of these abnormal cases throughout the novel, featuring the stabbing of a man to the back of a knee, missing university students, a mystery boyfriend and a  case involving lycanthropy – all the while Ulf is battling a soft spot for his colleague Anna.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes, by Alexander McCall Smith, Little, Brown, £18.99

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