MODUS on BBC4

It is once again time for fans of Scandinavian crime thrillers to rejoice as MODUS, the fantastic television adaptation of Anne Holt’s Vik/Stubo crime series is coming to BBC4.

MODUS draws from Fear Not (book 4 of Holt’s Vik/Stubo series), following the investigation of a number of disturbing deaths during Norways frigid Christmas season. The series has been directed by award winning Lisa Siwe (The Bridge) and the high profile cast includes Melinda Kinnaman (The Bridge) as Johanne Vik, criminal researcher and police profiler, and Krister Henriksson (Wallander) as her husband Superintendent Adam Stubo. These names will be familiar to anyone who has observed BBC4’s campaign to bring Scandinavian Noir to British audiences and no doubt this series will continue to increase the rapidly growing profile of the genre.

The first series has already been a success in Sweden where it has been nominated for a Kristallen award in the Best Television Drama category and a best actor nomination for Krister Henriksson. The Kristallen (The Crystal) is Sweden’s official television award, created in 2005, recognises the most innovative and original television broadcast in Sweden. Therefore the nomination for such a prestigious award demonstrates that Anne Holt’s enormously popular series is enjoyed by television audiences and critics as much as it is by readers.

Holt’s first novel was published in 1993 and since then she has sold over seven million copies worldwide and become a bestseller across Europe. Drawing on her experiences in the Oslo police department, founding her own law firm and serving as Norway’s Minister for Justice  between 1996 and 1997, Holt’s work is dark, masterful and steeped in realism. Fans of Val McDermid, Stieg Larson and Jo Nesbo will find her work the perfect thrilling read and  is well worth a try for anyone interested in seeing just how dark it gets in Scandinavia.