The Winter Job

A desperate fathers Christmas promise sparks a wild Finnish road trip involving an antique sofa, unexpected passengers and danger … A darkly humorous and warmly touching suspense novel about friendship, love and death, The Winter Job flies at 120 kilometres an hour straight into the darkest heart of a Finnish winter night.
***WINNER OF THE CWA CRIME IN TRANSLATION DAGGER***
`Another wonderfully lean slice of European noir by one of its finest exponents. As darkly fun as any Coen brothers offering´ Vaseem Khan
`The king of the humorous crime caper´ Abir Mukherjee
`With echoes of writers such as Christopher Brookmyre and Carl Hiassen, this is delicious stuff, expertly juggling dark humour and quirky characterisation against the backdrop of a frigid northern landscape´ Financial Times
`A quirky, murderous road trip … Imagine blending a Donald Westlake comic mishap caper with some famous Nordic levity, and you might have something like The Winter Job´ Irish Times
The NEW standalone darkly funny, poignant and uber-tense thriller from `The funniest writer in Europe´ (The Times)
Fargo meets Carl Hiassen and Fredrik Backman … via the Coen Brothers
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Sofas, secrets and a snowbound road to trouble…
Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – hes desperate.
A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.
With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.
Thats when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.
And thats when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble…
A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving thriller about friendship, love and death – The Winter Job tears through the frozen landscape of northern Finland in a beat-up van with bad steering, worse timing, and everything to lose…
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`A madcap chase through a bleak winter landscape … damn hilarious and Tuomainens dark humour is displayed at its best in what must surely be the best road movie of the year´ CrimeTime
`This suspenseful tale of a desperate fathers journey across the frozen landscape is filled with Tuomainens trademark dark wit and unexpected thrills. Another winner´ Culturefly
`It may seem hard to find good comic crime-writers, but clearly we havent been looking in Finland´ Telegraph
`Are you ready for the latest dose of dark humour, clever plotting, great characterisation and touching insights into the human soul? … A joy to read´ Nordic Lighthouse
`Humour drier than a desert snakes belly´ Ian Moore
`You dont expect to laugh when youre reading about terrible crimes, but thats what youll do when you pick up one of Tuomainens decidedly quirky thrillers´ New York Times
`Laconic, thrilling and warmly human´ Christopher Brookmyre
`Right up there with the best´ Times Literary Supplement
`Finlands greatest export´ M.J. Arlidge
`A refreshing change from the decidedly gloomier crime fiction for which Scandinavia is known´ Publishers Weekly
`Charming, funny and clever´ Literary Review
`Thrilling and hilarious´ Liz Nugent
`A delight from start to finish´ Big Issue
`Tuomainen has a talent for creating offbeat characters that you cant help rooting for´ Guardian