Criminals and Criminologists

Abstract

To say that publishers are falling over themselves to find the next Stieg Larsson is something of an understatement; a headlong, frenzied, foaming-at-the-mouth dash might be a more apposite description. Hopes are pinned to an ill-assorted duo who have already enjoyed massive success in Sweden, but (as yet) not in Britain: one is a journalist and criminologist, the other a reformed ex-criminal. But just how good is Three Seconds, the heavily-touted novel from the authors who simply go by their surnames, Roslund and Hellström?