Outside in World | Browse Books

Use our Book Finder to search for books by Title (or part of the title), Author, ISBN, Age Range, Keyword, or Continent/Country. Then simply click the magnifying glass to start your search.

If a title starts with 'The', leave this out as this is added to the end of the title in brackets. funny pictures funny images funny photos really funny pictures

‘We need the literature of other countries to expand our
horizons and stimulate our ideas. Without it, we are not only
diminished, we are starved’
(The Times, Magnus Linklater 29/06/05)

Please email us to sign up to our Newsletter

Title: Night Raven (The)

Author: Johan Rundberg

Translator: A. A. Prime

Illustrator:

Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids, (USA)

Date Published: 2023

Format: Hardback

Genre:

Book Category: Fiction

Age Range: 12+

Original Title: First published in Swedish as Nattkorpen, Natur & Kultur, Sweden, 2020

Country of Origin: Sweden

Night Raven (The)

by Johan Rundberg
Age Range: 12+

Set in Stockholm, Sweden in 1880, The Night Raven is the first book in the ‘Moonwind Mysteries’ series by award-winning Swedish author Johan Rundberg. It is the depth of winter and death lurks around every corner. Twelve-year-old Mika knows that everyone in her orphanage will struggle to survive. When a newborn baby is left at the Public Children’s Home in the middle of the night by a mysterious boy who quickly vanishes into the night, Mika is shocked by his cryptic message.

The following morning Detective, Valdemir Hoff turns up at the orphanage. He is investigating a gruesome murder and is impressed by Mika’s unique ability to notice small details. Having been forced to be analytical and attentive all her life, the skills Mika needs to survive in a dangerous city, she unwittingly finds herself being recruited to help Hoff with his enquiries. Mika knows she should not get involved but can’t help herself; she has nothing to lose with little hope for her future. As Hoff and Mika investigate, they realise that the recent murder resembles the work of a serial killer who terrorised Stockholm known as the Night Raven. The only problem is, he was caught and executed the previous year.

Rundberg has written a gritty and gripping fast-paced murder mystery rich in detail. His immersive storytelling recounts the merciless cold of a bitter winter where food and firewood are scarce, the snow so heavy that all roads are blocked, leaving the city’s inhabitants trapped. Then there’s the dark underbelly of the city with a serial killer on the loose, police corruption and the cruel indifference of some of its residents.

Mika is a brave and feisty protagonist and her unlikely pairing with the awkward and gruff Detective Hoff creates welcome humour as well as hope amidst the harshness of her life as an orphan. Full of atmosphere and riddles this is a book that is hard to put down.

As Rundberg explains in an interview with ‘The Children’s Book Review’ and Amazon Crossing Kids, the story is set in 1880 for a reason. The Långholmen Central Prison, which plays an important role in the story, was built on an island near central Stockholm and completed in 1880. All the locations in the Night Raven are real, except for “the Chapel” where Mika works, which is made up. He also acknowledged that many old-fashioned words and expressions were used which would have presented a challenge for any translator but A. A. Prime has done an excellent job in capturing the tone of the original.

Rundberg has written many children’s books ranging from picture books to middle grade. In 2021, he was awarded Sweden’s most prestigious literary prize, the August Prize, in the children’s and YA category for Nattkorpen, the original edition of Night Raven. It also won the Swedish Crimetime Award. There are now four titles in this series published in Sweden.

buy now from amazon