Leena Lehtolainen’s worldwide success

We are thrilled to share great news about Leena Lehtolainen’s worldwide success:

The Brazilian Portuguese rights to Leena Lehtolainen’s Maria Kallio crime novels My First Murder and Snow Woman have been acquired by Autêntica/Nemo.

The World English rights to the Maria Kallio series and The Bodyguard Trilogy are previously sold to Amazon Publishing – My First Murder will be published in the US in December 2012. The Bodyguard Trilogy will be launched in 2013.

The Bodyguard Trilogy was recently sold to Hachette Livre in France where the publication of The Bodyguard is planned for Spring 2013. In Russia Azbooka-Atticus will publish The Bodyguard Trilogy from 2013 onwards, and in The Netherlands Unieboek | Het Spectrum bought the Dutch rights of The Bodyguard also for publication in 2013.

The rights to Leena Lehtolainen’s crime novels are now sold in 26 languages:

LEENA LEHTOLAINEN MARIA KALLIO SERIES
Rights sold:

WORLD ENGLISH, Amazon Publishing
BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, Autêntica/Nemo
CZECH, Hejkal
DENMARK, Bazar
FINLAND, Tammi
FRANCE, Gaïa Editions
GERMANY, Rowohlt/Kindler
HUNGARY, Animus
ISRAEL, Penn Publishing
ITALY, Fanucci
JAPAN, Tokyo Sogensha
NETHERLANDS, A W Bruna/Signatuur
NORWAY, Bazar
POLAND, Rebis
ROMANIA, Hardcover & Paperback
RUSSIA, Ast
SPAIN, Destino
SWEDEN, Bazar
SWEDEN, Albert Bonniers Förlag
TAIWAN, Linking Publishing
TURKEY, Bizim Kitaplar

*Leena Lehtolainen’s works have previously been published in: ALBANIA, CHINA (Simplified Chinese), ESTONIA, LITHUANIA, SLOVAKIA, UKRAINE

Please contact the agency for reading materials in English, German and French!

About author


Leena Lehtolainen

Leena Lehtolainen is the top female crime author in Finland: her new titles always head straight to #1 on the Finnish bestseller lists.

Lehtolainen created her successful protagonist, detective Maria Kallio, in 1993. Having already featured in 16 novels and a complete TV series, a new Maria Kallio TV reboot series was launched in Fall 2021 on C More. Lehtolainen’s novels have been translated into 30 languages and have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.

And just like the events in Bodyguard, a that takes the heroine Hilja Ilveskero all around Europe, Lehtolainen’s own work takes her to book festivals, exhibitions and other events across the globe.

Leena Lehtolainen has also published outside the crime genre; her book The Charm of Figure Skating was voted sports book of the year 2010 in Finland, and A Life in Six Scenes showed her return to literary fiction.

The Crossing of the Green Dragon is her first title for YA audiences.

In her free time, Lehtolainen enjoys all kinds of music and follows lynx trails in the forests – just like Maria Kallio.

Photo credit: Ville Juurikkala

Bibliography


2025, Crime & Suspense

The Snow Leopard's Heart

Leena Lehtolainen


2022, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

The Crossing of the Green Dragon

Leena Lehtolainen


2016, General Nonfiction, Memories & Biographies

The Charm of Ice

Leena Lehtolainen