The first story in the thrilling Nordic crime series The Snow White Trilogy, an international success published in 52 territories worldwide and soon to be a Hollywood film.

'Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won't be disappointed' Publishers Weekly

The streets of Finland are frozen and white with snow. And nothing is as red against snow as blood . . . Seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson is hardly your average teenager. She lives by herself in the city of Tampere, Finland, and has a firm rule to mind nobody's business but her own. But that rule is put to the test when she happens upon five hundred washed euro notes hanging up to dry in her school's darkroom, and it is shattered once Lumikki realises who owns them.

Caught in an increasingly tangled web of deception, corruption and danger, Lumikki finds herself navigating Tampere's dark underbelly in her quest to expose its shocking connection to the international drugs trade. Lumikki is smart, but is she smarter than a master criminal? Can she bring down the infamous 'Polar Bear' - or will she become another one of his victims?

The first thing to say is that Salla Simukka tells a damn good story. Each of the books quickly caught me up in the complexities of Lumikka's life and character. She's tough and self-reliant, clever and resourceful. She's also extremely likeable. The plots in each of the books come together deftly, never straining credibility. I read them one after the other, happy to immerse myself in Lumikki's life and loves. This series goes way beyond my standard Scandi review of snow, angst, trees, murder. Yes, there was plenty of all of these, but the series offers far more than just standard fare!