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/021
Whathappenswhen thekingandqueenofScandinavian
crimedramawrite theirfirstnovel?Asmashhit, surely
Words
⁄
Omer Ali Photo
⁄
Thron Ullberg
A
mid thecurrent glut of
Scandinaviancrimedramas
it canbehard to know
where to turn for thenext
Mammon
,
TheKilling
or
The
Bridge
.Maywe suggest
SpringTide
, the
first novel by husband-and-wifewriters
Cilla andRolf Börjlind, which is set to
become a 10-part TV series next year.
It’s fair to say theBörjlinds have
pedigree. Scandinavia’smost highly rated
crime-dramawriters havewritten26films
around thefictional Swedishdetective
MartinBeck, wrote scripts for
Wallander
andwere thewriters behind
ArneDahl
,
themost recently exported Scandi crime
smash. But theywanted a change. “We
wanted todo something completely our
own,” saysRolf of
SpringTide
, which
cameout in Swedish two years ago (as
Springfloden
) butwas released inEnglish
this spring. “Wewanted toplay god and
createour ownuniverse.”
That universedoes havemany of the
elements familiar to anyonewho knows
their Scandi crime. It openswith a sadistic
murder on abeach in theKoster Islands,
Sweden, beforewe’re introduced to
central characters Tom Stilton, a former
cop, andOliviaRönning, who fulfils the
strong, quirkywomanquota– the trainee
policewomanhas a squint, apet cat called
Elvis and awhiteMustang inherited from
her deadpoliceman father.
TheBörjlinds haveworked together for
20 years since theymet at Sweden’s STV
broadcaster in 1989 –Rolf was already
established as a screenwriter whileCilla
startedout as a script girl. They quit
together andbeganwriting scripts for
the
Beck
dramas basedon the novels
of Maj Sjöwall andPerWahlöö, another
husband-and-wifewriting team. “It’s not
that unusual in Sweden for couples to
write together, especially crime novels,”
says Rolf, now a very youthful-looking 70.
“It’s easier for twopeople todeal with
all the logistics involved, and you can
test your ideas and the structure.We
complete eachother.”
They took abreak from
ArneDahl
towrite
SpringTide
, holingup in
their 105-year-oldhouse just outside
Stockholm. “We knewwewanted themain
characters tohave very different ages and
sexes,” saysCilla, “andwewere tiredof
police stations, sowewanted tocreate
somethingoutside that.”
A secondbook featuringRönning
and Stilton,
Den tredje rösten
(
TheThird
Voice
), has already beenpublished in
Sweden, and theBörjlinds areworkingon
a third. “We’re in thecrimebusiness,” says
Cilla, beforeRolf adds, jokingly, “Wehave
an affection formurder.”
Spring Tide
ispublishedbyHesperus
hesperuspress.com
Thenext Scandi
crime sensation?
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A
