Skip to content

Susanne Jansson (1972) was born in Åmål, Sweden and later moved to Gothenburg to work in advertising and then to New York to study photography. After returning to Sweden, she worked as a freelance photographer while studying journalism, and spent her professional life combining her work as a photographer with being a freelance journalist focusing on reportage and profile stories in areas such as culture, film, music, and literature.

She made her debut in 2017 with the suspense novel The Forbidden Place which was published in 24 territories around the world.

Susanne Jansson passed away in the summer of 2019 after a courageous fight with cancer. Her second novel, Winter Water, was published posthumously by Wahlström & Widstrand in August, 2020.

Susanne Jansson Foto:Emelie Asplund

Reviews

“The atmosphere is what makes me fall, head over heels: a lonely woman who rents out her city apartment and heads out into the wilderness. […] Susanne Jansson skillfully builds mounting uncertainty. Is there something supernatural out there, in the mire? Or is there a person using the lore for their own purposes? Does Nathalie have more reasons for coming to the mire than she lets on? […] In the Mire is one of the best and most complete debut novels I’ve ever read.”
Lotta Olsson, Dagens Nyheter (SE)

The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson has captivated and fascinated me. I have devoured this debut novel packed with psychological suspense and forces of nature in one sitting. […] The milieu that Susanne Jansson portrays is astounding and the language with which she does so couldn’t be more beautiful. […] Simply magnificent!”
SR 3 Saarlandwelle (DE)

“The best book out there right now. […] Debut writer Susanne Jansson is an easter gift to all nature-loving suspense fans. […] What is buried in the mire does not decompose. It does not come to rest. But how do you satisfy the hunger of the dead? We wonder, feverishly turning the pages, and along the way we become experts in wetlands. And when In the Mire has dug deep enough through the mysteries, we finally get our answers.”
M Magasin (SE)

“Can a suspense novel about a misty bog be thrilling? Hardly, you might think. But then you’d be wrong. Because with her debut novel Susanne Jansson writes herself into the tradition of distinguished Swedish crime writers, who we hope to hear more from.”
Nordjyske Stiftstidene (DK)

“In the Mire navigates both the horror and suspense genres, and does not veer away from supernatural elements. As a contrast, it also offers interesting glimpses into Nathalie’s scientific work and police photographer Maya’s pondering about photo art. All in all this is a well-written and refreshing debut.”
Skånska Dagbladet (SE)

“The mysterious and mighty natural world plays a big part in Susanne Jansson’s debut suspense novel. […] The book’s strength is the suggestive atmosphere and the depictions of the forces of nature.”
Göteborgs-Posten (SE)

“Susanne Jansson’s debut novel is thrilling, at times both creepy and frightening. […] This book had shivers sent down my spine.”
Nya Wermlands Tidning (SE)

“A novel that bids for more. […] an enchanting tale of mires, legends, present, and past. […] Susanne Jansson succeeds astoundingly well in her debut. Her portrayals of the inhabitants of this backwater are warm and vivid. The milieu is the most important component when a mire is at the center. The author writes it so that you can feel the damp air vibrating.”
Dast Magazine (SE)

“Jansson paints an atmospheric and mysterious portrait of the mire with the help of mist, light, and old legends. It becomes a place where life and death collide, a sort of anteroom to the realm of the dead. […] Since The Forbidden Place is one of the absolute best suspense debuts this year, I’ll gladly return to the enthralling milieus of Dalsland and to the joie-vivant Maya and her way of seeing things through images again.”
Crimegarden (SE)

The Forbidden Place is Susanne Jansson’s debut novel and she offers a well-balanced combination of horror, suspense, folklore, and biology. […] Susanne Jansson skillfully incorporates this into her story to create a suggestive and cringing atmosphere. […] The Forbidden Place is a very interesting and distinctive suspense debut, and it leaves you begging for more.”
Johannas Deckarhörna, Blog (SE)

“A very well-written book with a thrilling plot. It’s a great book for anyone looking for a crime novel to fall in love with.”
Lieliska Lasamviela, Blog (LV)

“A very interesting read! The characters and their different lives and fates were captivating. The resolution was unexpected and steeped in mystery.”
Domu Graudi, Blog (LV)

“A powerful, evocative redemption story whose blend of psychological suspense and unsettling supernatural atmosphere is heightened by human obsessions and ghostly threats.”
Booklist (US)

“Set on the Swedish island of Orust, this disquieting tale of loss, grief, and rekindling of hope from Jansson (The Forbidden Place) hooks the reader from the start. (…) Jansson does a good job maintaining the uncertainty and the suspense. Horror fans will also want to check this out.”
Publishers Weekly (US)

“She skillfully balances between suspense and horror – and between the natural and supernatural that is hinted at, maybe just imagined, maybe it’s real.”
Blekinge Läns Tidning (SE)

“Susanne Jansson has written a book filled with suggestive atmosphere that grabs hold. She also succeeds with keeping up the suspense and the energy that makes me truly need to know what really happened to Adam. It is also a story about what long suffering, grief, and loneliness can do to a person. How grief affects us, both in our lives but also in our actions. What we are willing to do in the search for comfort. I’m fascinated by the amount of suspense that can be created in what looks like an ordinary community with ordinary people. Without a drop of blood, cruelty, or malignancy. Susanne Jansson writes with respect for her characters.”
Bohusläningen (SE)

Susanne Jansson has the gift of writing suspense with a hint of mysticism. Here it is the ocean that lures people with its dark depth. The text is often enchanted and nature is a given character in its own right. The author skillfully depicts both the island of Orust and the people who live there.
Dast Magazine (SE)

The author has written an incredibly suggestive and atmospheric story with delicately beautiful nature depictions and an undercurrent of something that might be supernatural while still remaining firmly anchored  in a realistic present with flesh and blood characters. The depiction of how parenthood is broken down by grief when a young son disappears is absolutely heartbreaking. The parents’ and Maya’s search for answers about what truly happened creates multiple nerve-racking twists and turns. Winter Water is a truly thrilling page-turner.
BTJ (SE)

Books

Press Images

Photo by Emelie Asplund Photo by Emelie Asplund
Susanne JanssonFoto:Emelie Asplund Photo by Emelie Asplund
Susanne JanssonFoto:Emelie Asplund Photo by Emelie Asplund

Paloma Agency is a boutique literary agency that represents Scandinavian writers at home and in the world.

Contact Us
Skip to navigation