Slugger - Martin Holmn

The third hard-hitting Harry Kvist thriller - fresh out of prison, Harry's friend is dead, and the trail of guilt leads all the way to Hitler's Germany.

Stockholm, 1936. Harry Kvist, a bisexual ex-boxer now plying his trade as a debt collector, is bitter, angry and more alone than he has ever been. When his friend, Father Gabrielsson, is found brutally murdered by the altar Katarina Church, it doesn't look as if the police are interested in finding the culprit. So Kvist decides to do it himself.

As he investigates he uncovers a trail leading all the way to Nazi Germany where fascists are plotting a takeover in Sweden. But does Kvist have the strength to go to the final round with them on his own?

Born in 1974, Martin Holmn studied history, and now teaches at a Stockholm secondary school. Slugger is the third thriller in The Stockholm Trilogy, following on from Clinch and Down for the Count.

Longlisted for the 2019 CWA International Dagger Award

"Excellent series… gripping finale." -Crime Review

"Holmn's sharp dialogue and unerring eye for the grim details of everyday life are still there, as in 'Clinch' and 'Down for the Count', lending huge power to the story and adding a dimension that lifts this novel head and shoulders above the noir canon." -Thriller Books Journal

"Holmn is an author on the cutting edge of an art form, pushing deeper into the myre opened up by Jean-Claude Izzo, Derek Raymond and Massimo Carlotto. There is something genuinely cathartic about this reading experience." -New Books Magazine (5 out of 4 stars)

"Tragic and moving, with a spectacular denouement, it's a fitting ending to a superb trilogy." -Guardian


Praise forThe Stockholm Trilogy:
'Sin City meets Raymond Chandler in this atmospheric and compulsive series' - Attitude
'A brilliant new talent' - Sunday Times Crime Club
'A dark, atmospheric, powerful thriller, the best debut novel I've read in years' - Lynda La Plante
'Holmn has Raymond Chandler's rare ability to evoke a character in a few deft strokes' - Mail on Sunday, best crime reads of 2016
'Ferociously noir... If Chandler and Hammett had truly walked on the wild side, it would read like Clinch' - Val McDermid
'Gritty stylish Scandinavian noir from one of Sweden's hottest emerging authors' - Booklover
'Atmospheric Scandi retro, but Chandleresque to its core' - The Sunday Times Crime Club