Remembering Maxine: Leif Persson scoops Petrona Award

When I first became involved with crime fiction reviewing, interviewing authors, and then blogging (in 2008-2009), I quickly became part of an international community of lovers of this most thrilling of genres, who enjoyed sharing their thoughts online.

As part of reviewing for the excellent EuroCrime website, and then through comments on blogs and a cool FriendFeed forum, I came across Maxine Clarke, a fellow reviewer and blogger.

Maxine was well plugged into the online crime fiction community, and over the years we had some cool discussions, not always agreeing, about crime fiction of various types. Maxine was passionate about the genre, and a particular fan of Scandinavian crime fiction, promoting its merits far before it became globally popular, and continuing to introduce readers to terrific lesser-known authors beyond Larsson, Mankell, and the other 'big names' from Nordic Noir.

After a long battle with cancer, Maxine passed away in December 2012. In her memory, the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year was created. Now in its second year, it was announced at the recent CrimeFest that the winner of the 2014 was Leif Persson for LINDA, AS IN THE LINDA MURDER (translated by Neil Smith).  Smith also won the award in its inaugural year, translating Liza Marklund's LAST WILL.

It's terrific to see Maxine being remembered, and her passion for quality crime writing continuing through the creation and presentation of the Petrona Award. Please feel to share your memories of Maxine and/or some of your thoughts on your favourite Scandinavian crime novels.