Quick Facts
Biography
Jan Arnald (born 11 January 1963) is a Swedish novelist and literary critic, who uses the pen name Arne Dahl when writing crime fiction. He is also a regular writer in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
He published Barbarer (2001) and Maria och Artur (2006) under his own name, but under his pen name he has written a series of crime novels about a fictional group of Swedish crime investigators, called "A Gruppen" in Swedish and "the Intercrime Group" in the first English translation. The books are translated into several languages. The first five books were made into 180-minute films, screened as two 90-minute episodes per story. The first, Misterioso, was screened on SVT1 in Sweden on 27 and 28 December 2011, with the following four stories shown in eight weekly instalments between October and December 2012. The series was picked up by BBC Four and screened on British television on Saturday nights as part of BBC Four's foreign crime series season starting in April 2013.
Works written
As Jan Arnald
- Chiosmassakern (novel, 1990)
- Nalkanden (poetry collection, 1992)
- Genrernas tyranni (thesis, 1995)
- 3 variationer (prose, 1996)
- Klä i ord (stories, 1997)
- Barbarer (novel, 2001)
- Maria och Artur (novel, 2006)
- Intimus (novel, 2010)
As Arne Dahl
Intercrime series
- Misterioso (1999); English translation by Tiina Nunnally: Misterioso, (2010 - US title) / The Blinded Man (2012 - UK title)
- Ont blod (1998); Bad Blood (2013 - UK title)
- Upp till toppen av berget (2000); To the Top of the Mountain(2014 - UK title)
- Europa blues (2001)
- De största vatten (2002); Many Waters / "Watching You" (2017 - UK title)
- En midsommarnattsdröm (2003); A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Dödsmässa (2004)
- Mörkertal (2005)
- Efterskalv (2006)
- Himmelsöga (2007)
Opcop quartet
- Viskleken (2011); Chinese Whispers
- Hela havet stormar (2012); Musical Chairs
- Blindbock (2013); Blindfold
- Sista paret ut (2014); Last couple out
The fourth installment of the series came out in spring 2014.
Other books
- Elva (2008); Eleven
Arne Dahl TV adaptations
The ten Intercrime novels have all been dramatized by Swedish production company Filmlance, the first five in 2011 and the rest in 2015. Filmlance is also responsible for the series Bron (shown in the UK as "The Bridge") and for the later Martin Beck detective programmes. Each story has been dramatized in the form of a two-part miniseries, each with two ninety minute episodes (series 1) or two one hour episodes (series two).
Series 1 (2011–2012)
A 2011 TV adaptation of five of the Arne Dahl stories was produced by Filmlance International (in co-production with several other European companies. Outside Sweden, the series was broadcast in the UK on BBC Four between April–June 2013,along with numerous other countries. The series is currently being broadcast in the United States through MHz Networks, most recently from November 2013 to January 2014.
| Story No. | Episode No. | Title | Original Swedish air date | Original UK air date | Swedish ratings | UK ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Blinded Man, Part 1" "Misterioso, Del 1" | 27 December 2011 (2011-12-27) | 6 April 2013 | 1,554,000 | 900,000 |
| 1 | 2 | "The Blinded Man, Part 2" "Misterioso, Del 2" | 28 December 2011 (2011-12-28) | 13 April 2013 | 1,449,000 | 736,000 |
| 2 | 3 | "Bad Blood, Part 1" "Ont blod, Del 1" | 21 October 2012 (2012-10-21) | 20 April 2013 | 1,114,000 | 683,000 |
| 2 | 4 | "Bad Blood, Part 2" "Ont blod, Del 2" | 28 October 2012 (2012-10-28) | 27 April 2013 | 995,000 | 581,000 |
| 3 | 5 | "To the Top of the Mountain, Part 1" "Upp till toppen av berget, Del 1" | 4 November 2012 (2012-11-04) | 4 May 2013 | 1,062,000 | 762,000 |
| 3 | 6 | "To the Top of the Mountain, Part 2" "Upp till toppen av berget, Del 2" | 11 November 2012 (2012-11-11) | 11 May 2013 | 1,034,000 | 695,000 |
| 4 | 7 | "Many Waters, Part 1" "De största vatten, Del 1" | 18 November 2012 (2012-11-18) | 18 May 2013 | 1,151,000 | 656,000 |
| 4 | 8 | "Many Waters, Part 2" "De största vatten, Del 2" | 25 November 2012 (2012-11-25) | 25 May 2013 | 1,046,000 | 649,000 |
| 5 | 9 | "Europa Blues, Part 1" "Europa blues, Del 1" | 2 December 2012 (2012-12-02) | 1 June 2013 | 1,022,000 | 658,000 |
| 5 | 10 | "Europa Blues, Part 2" "Europa blues, Del 2" | 9 December 2012 (2012-12-09) | 8 June 2013 | 1,117,000 | 666,000 |
Series 2 (2015)
The last five novels in the Intercrime series were adapted for Series 2 of the popular Arne Dahl TV series, produced by Filmlance. They premiered in February 2015 in Sweden. The BBC began airing the second season on BBC Four in October 2015.
| Story No. | Episode No. | Title | Original Swedish air date | Original UK air date | Swedish ratings | UK ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Part 1" "En midsommarnattsdröm, Del 1" | 15 February 2015 (2015-02-15) | 17 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 1 | 2 | "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Part 2" "En midsommarnattsdröm, Del 2" | 22 February 2015 (2015-02-22) | 17 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 2 | 3 | "Requiem, Part 1" "Dödsmässa, Del 1" | 1 March 2015 (2015-03-01) | 24 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 2 | 4 | "Requiem, Part 2" "Dödsmässa, Del 2" | 8 March 2015 (2015-03-08) | 24 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 3 | 5 | "Hidden Numbers, Part 1" "Mörkertal, Del 1" | 15 March 2015 (2015-03-15) | 31 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 3 | 6 | "Hidden Numbers, Part 2" "Mörkertal, Del 2" | 22 March 2015 (2015-03-22) | 31 October 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 4 | 7 | "Aftershock, Part 1" "Efterskalv, Del 1" | 29 March 2015 (2015-03-29) | 7 November 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 4 | 8 | "Aftershock, Part 2" "Efterskalv, Del 2" | 5 April 2015 (2015-04-05) | 7 November 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 5 | 9 | "Eye in the Sky, Part 1" "Himmelsöga, Del 1" | 12 April 2015 (2015-04-12) | 14 November 2015 | N/A | TBA |
| 5 | 10 | "Eye in the Sky, Part 2" "Himmelsöga, Del 2" | 19 April 2015 (2015-04-19) | 14 November 2015 | N/A | TBA |
Prizes and Awards
- 2003 The Palle Rosenkrantz prize, for Europa Blues
- 2005 Deutscher Krimi Preis, for Upp till toppen av berget
- 2006 Deutscher Krimi Preis, for Europa Blues
- 2007 Chosen by Reader's Digest as Europe's best crime novelist
- 2007 The Swedish Crime Writing Award
- 2010 The Radio Bremen Crime Fiction Award
- 2010 Nominated to European Crime Fiction Star Award 2010/11
- 2011 Best Swedish Crime Novel Award (Bästa svenska kriminalroman) for Viskleken