Books
The Books Behind Backstrom
Backstrom is a new comic police procedural coming to Fox on 22nd January, and like many of our favourite crime dramas, Backstrom finds its roots in literature! Based on the books by Scandinavian novelist Leif G W Persson, the stories are being brought to live by the creator and executive producer of Bones – so we’re expecting great things.
Despite being darkly comic, the Backstrom series of books remain very real and authentic in nature due to Persson’s experience as a renowned criminologist and a leading psychological profiler. Since 1991, Persson has held the position of Professor at the National Swedish Police Board and is regularly consulted as the country’s foremost expert on crime.
There are a few obvious differences between Persson’s novels and Backstrom – the location and setting being one – but we always love to see how books and TV series compare when we discover a new show.
Here’s a brief introduction to each of the books in Leif G W Persson’s Bäckström series.
The Books Behind Backstrom
Linda, As In The Linda Murder
In the middle of an unusually hot Swedish summer, a young woman studying at the Vaxjo Police Academy is brutally murdered. Police Inspector Evert Bäckström is unwillingly drafted in from Stockholm to head up the investigation.
Egotistical, vain and utterly prejudiced against everything, Bäckström is a man who has no sense of duty or responsibilty, thinks everyone with the exception of himself is an imbecile and is only really capable of warm feelings towards his pet goldfish and the nearest bottle of liquor. If they are to solve the case, his long suffering team must work around him, following the scant few leads which remain after Bäckström’s intransigence has let the trail go cold.
Blackly comic, thrillingly compelling and utterly real, Linda, As in the Linda Murder is the novel which introduces the reader to the modern masterpiece that is Evert Bäckström, a man described by his creator as ‘short, fat and primitive’. He is, without doubt, the real deal when it comes to modern policing.
He Who Kills The Dragon
In this second instalment of Persson’s trilogy of police procedurals featuring Evert Bäckström, the grand master’s most appallingly repulsive (and funniest) character is finally given his fifteen minutes of fame by way of his patented combination of laziness, luck, and an unbelievable sense of timing.
A seemingly ordinary murder puzzles Bäckström, who is struggling with strict orders from his doctor to lead a healthier life. His gut feeling proves him right: within days, his team has another murder linked to the first on their hands, and reports of alleged ties to a Securicor heist gone out of control, killing two. The nation needs a hero, and the newly appointed head of the Västerort police force Anna Holt needs somebody to kill the dragon for her. Who better to heed to the task than Evert Bäckström: self-sufficient, ostentatious, devoid of moral, Hawaii shirt-clad, and, latterly, armed?
Untitled: Bäckström 3
The third title in the Bäckström series is coming our way in July 2015. Had it not been for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, Winston Churchill and Vladimir Putin, Detective Evert Bäckstrom of the Stockholm Police Department would never have found himself investigating the murder at the heart of this novel.
For this is a story about the final outcome of the actions of those four men over a period of more than a hundred years. Four men who never met, who lived their lives in different worlds, and where the oldest was assassinated forty years before the youngest was born.
And as so often before, regardless of the company or context he finds himself in, it is Bäckström that will put an end to the story.
Have you read any of the Bäckström books? Check out the trailer to Backstrom now and let us know what you think!
1 Comment
Join the discussion
Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use.
I have read all of Persson’s (English Language) books.
Outstanding. You must read in proper order to truly
enjoy Persson.
Cy
Louisiana
U S A