The rights to Satu Rämö’s Hildur series were sold to the United States

Finnish-Icelandic One Rämön The translation rights for the first three volumes of the Hildur detective series have been sold to the United States, informs the book industry agency Bonnier Rights Finland.

The first part of the book series, Hildurin, expected to be published in the US next year, Bonnier Rights Finland’s senior literary agent Toomas Aasmäe tells HS by email.

The translation rights were sold to the American company Union Square & co. It is a New York-based publishing brand of the Hachette Book Group.

A book series the first part published in 2022, Rämö’s detective stories have already sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

The translation rights of Rämö’s works have now been sold to 29 countries. However, the books themselves can be sold to even more countries. For example, the German translation is sold to Austria and Switzerland in addition to Germany, says Aasmäe.

In the release, the US sale is described as a significant milestone for Nordic crime literature.

“Achieving this three-book US deal and 29 international publishers is extremely rare [suomalaiselle kirjailijalle]”, Aasmäe states.

A book series success also extends to stages and screens. The detective series has been adapted for the stage in the city theaters of Helsinki and Turku. In addition, a TV adaptation based on the series has already been released in Iceland and Finland.

Hildur-series tells the story of police investigator Hildur Rúnarsdóttir, who investigates criminal cases in the landscapes of the Westfjords of Iceland.