Scandinavian noir

Scandinavian noir or Scandinavian crime fiction, also called Nordic noir, is a genre comprising crime fiction written in Scandinavia with certain common characteristics, typically in a realistic style with a dark, morally complex mood. According to one critic, "Nordic crime fiction carries a more respectable cachet... than similar genre fiction produced in Britain or the US". Language, heroes and settings are three commonalities in the genre, which features plain, direct writing style without metaphor.

The novels are often of the police procedural subgenre, focusing on the monotonous, day-to-day work of police, though not always involving the simultaneous investigation of several crimes. Examples include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels by Stieg Larsson, and Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander detective series.

Common features

Some critics attribute the genre's success to a distinctive and appealing style, "realistic, simple and precise…and stripped of unnecessary words". Their protagonists are typically detectives worn down by cares and far from simply heroic.