Finnish-Icelandic author Satu Rämö shares insights on upcoming Hildur detective series in Finland

Finnish-Icelandic author Satu Rämö, known for breaking readership records, has been visiting libraries in her native Finland this autumn to share insights about her work and her upcoming fourth installment in the Hildur detective series, set to be released in November. During her talks, she has revealed intriguing details, including that the character Jakob, a police trainee and Hildur’s partner, is inspired by a police officer from Finland’s Ostrobothnia region.

Rämö aimed to incorporate a Finnish touch into her stories set in the Westfjords of Iceland. Her inspiration came from a conversation with a Finnish couple years ago, who mentioned their foster child had briefly worked as a police officer in Iceland. This led Rämö to research a civil servant exchange program that enables police officers to work in Nordic countries. “I decided this is the connection I needed to bring a Finnish police officer to Iceland for training in the Westfjords,” she explained.

Rämö was recently caught by surprise when she met Sami Isoniemi, a Finnish police officer working in Iceland, while preparing for a live TV appearance. Isoniemi, who grew up in Kurikka and currently works as a crime inspector in Helsinki, highlighted the unlikely convergence of fiction and reality. “It was a fantastic moment to meet Satu and realize that, in a way, we know each other despite never having met before,” he said.

Rämö’s fourth book, titled “Rakel,” will be released in November, and her characters will also make their stage debut in a new play based on her works. Furthermore, there are plans for a six-part television series, produced as a collaboration between Iceland and Finland. Rämö’s works have been translated into 17 languages, and her latest novel received a warm reception in Iceland, becoming a bestseller in August and September.