Author: Torsten Pettersson
 
  
When Torsten Pettersson added the final full stop to his first novel and enclosed it in an envelope, not many people would have guessed that this respected poet and professor of literature had just taken the first steps to becoming a crime writer. Upon receiving the manuscript, even Pettersson’s publisher, Söderström, did not know the identity of the writer, as he had sent it to them anonymously. The manuscript won the silver medal in Söderströms’ crime thriller competition. The jury felt Pettersson’s story did not pale in comparison to the Swedish masterpieces with its carefully crafted plot, unique voice, and authentic insight into the mind of a serial killer.

Torsten Pettersson was born in 1955 in Turku, Finland. He was raised among Finland’s Swedish speaking literati, who are famed for their literary creativity, despite their small numbers. In the 1990s Pettersson moved to Sweden with his son and started teaching at Scandinavia’s oldest and most respected university, Uppsala. Besides working and taking care of his son, the professor wrote short stories and nine collections of poetry. The crime novel The Eye Catcher (orig. Ge mig dina ögon, 2008) is Torsten Pettersson’s debut novel, and the first part of his crime trilogy. The second part of the trilogy, Göm mig i ditt hjärta, will be published in autumn 2010. Torsten Pettersson’s books are known for their lyrical style and carefully crafted characters. His crime novels delve into the deepest recesses of the human mind, and deal with the eternal conflicts of good versus evil, and life versus death.


 
Bibliography
1985 Besvärjelse
1987 Ser du dem inte?
1989 Solen är en tunnel
1991 Vargskallen och andra berättelser
1994 Livets namn är alltid
1999 Det finns inget annat
2000 Varje dag
2005 Mörkret. Det börjar. Glansen. Den varar: En diktsvit
2007 Jag ser en stjärna: Ett diktat porträtt av Carl von Linné
2008 Ge mig dina ögon
2009 Seendets rike
2010 Göm mig i ditt hjärta
"A great thriller. Whatever you do, do not miss this one!"
- Jury
"Pettersson’s writing is intimate and believable. The Eye Catcher is an expertly written crime novel, but it is also a notable work of fiction in its own right with a humane perspective of the world in which we live."
- Östra Nyland (Finland)