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    The Man Who Died
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    The Man Who Died
    Unavailable
    The Man Who Died
    Ebook312 pages4 hours

    The Man Who Died

    By Antti Tuomainen

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    When Finnish mushroom entrepreneur Jaakko discovers that he has been slowly poisoned, he sets out to find his would-be murderer … with dark and hilarious results. The critically acclaimed standalone thriller from the King of Helsinki Noir…

    ***Shortlisted for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year***
    ***Shortlisted for the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award***

    ‘Right up there with the best’ Times Literary Supplement

    ‘Deftly plotted, poignant and perceptive in its wry reflections on mortality and very funny' Irish Times

    ‘Told in a darkly funny, deadpan style … The result is a rollercoaster read in which the farce has some serious and surprisingly philosophical underpinnings' Guardian

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    A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just thirty-seven years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What’s more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him.

    Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists.

    With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.

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    ‘The deadpan icy sensibility of Nordic noir is combined here with warm-blooded, often surreal, humour. Like the death cap mushroom, Tuomainen’s dark story manages to be as delicious as it is toxic' Sunday Express

    'An offbeat jewel … relentlessly funny’ Don Crinklaw, Publishers Weekly

    'You don’t expect to laugh when you’re reading about terrible crimes, but that’s what you’ll do when you pick up one of Tuomainen’s decidedly quirky thrillers' New York Times

    ‘A bizarre, twisty, darkly comic novel about a man investigating his own murder … a tightly paced Scandinavian thriller with a wicked sense of humour’ Foreword Reviews

    ‘Smart, sensitive, and engaging, and guaranteed to be unlike anything else in your crime fiction library …  the perfect blend of thrills, investigation, character development, and comedy’ Crime by the Book

    ‘Hugely entertaining and satisfying … like Carl Hiassen transported to Finland. It’s full of black comedy and has an unlikely hero in Jaakko, who you’ll root for to the very end’ Kevin Wignall, author of A Death in Sweden

    ‘A delightful mad caper of a story, which will make readers snort out loud with laughter and would have made an excellent 1930s screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra’ Crime Fiction Lover

    ‘Combines a startlingly clever opening, a neat line in dark humour and a unique Scandinavian sensibility. A fresh and witty read’ Chris Ewan

    ‘Dark and thrilling, funny and intelligent, this Fargo-like novel contains lethal doses of humour … and mushrooms' Sofi Oksanen, author of Purge

    ‘A book I will never forget’ Matt Wesolowski

    ‘This one is a winner right from the first sentence’ Booklist

    ‘Antti Tuomainen is a wonderful writer, whose characters, plots and atmosphere are masterfully drawn’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherORENDA BOOKS
    Release dateAug 10, 2017
    ISBN9781910633854
    Unavailable
    The Man Who Died
    Author

    Antti Tuomainen

    Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the prequel to The Moose Paradox, will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios.

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    Reviews for The Man Who Died

    4/5

    71 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      In the opening chapter of this clever, offbeat, action-packed mystery by Finnish author Antti Tuomainen, Jaakko Kaunismaa learns that he is dying, his bodily functions slowing shutting down due to long-term poisoning. Jaakko, who has attained success in the mushroom harvesting and distribution industry, with his business headquarters located in picturesque Hamina, Finland, is married to beautiful Taina, who also works for his company. After getting the bad news from his doctor, Jaakko heads home, intending to break it to his wife, but finds himself revising his plans on the fly when he walks in (and quickly out again without being seen) on Taina having sex with the mushroom company’s young truck driver Petri. A lesser man might crumble beneath the weight of two betrayals in the space of one lunch hour, but Jaakko is both shrewd and resourceful and carries on, seeking to find out who is poisoning him and why, and to get some measure of revenge against Taina and her lover. To make matters even more challenging, a rival mushroom company has set up shop just down the street, and Jaakko finds himself in immediate and constant conflict with the three men in charge of this firm, with their shadowy motives and apparently murderous intent. Tuomainen’s novel follows Jaakko as he deals with threats that crop up on multiple fronts, comes under suspicion for murder, and navigates a cautious path around those who can’t be trusted in his search for allies. The novel offers an intriguing mystery in an attractive setting while making wry, and occasionally wise, observations on life, death, friendship and love. In The Man Who Died, Antti Tuomainen takes the reader on an amusing and often hilarious ride that keeps us guessing until the very end.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this first taste of "nordic noir". This is the first novel I've tried from Antti Tuomainen and it won't be my last. I've seen this compared to Fargo and I can totally see that. When mushroom entrepreneur Jaakko Kaunismaa is told that he has been poisoned and is dying he sets out to find out who has poisoned him and why. This takes him into some bizarre situations that a normal person would not end up in, but when you find out you are almost dead perhaps you do things that you normally would not.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed it. Stylish, different and actually pleasant to read.like listening to good music.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely love this! One of the funniest and most enjoyable books I’ve read in many years. Couldn’t put it down and highly recommended to you :-)
    • 5/5
      This book was excellent!!! I am adding this author on my “one to watch list”. This book was witty, funny and twisted. A clever combination. It takes us through the determination of a dying man to solve his own murder and truly live his life in the last moments he has left.
    • 5/5
      Wow. Clichéd superlatives need apply. Roller coaster. Unputdownable. Read it in one sitting. Up all night. Whatever you can think of in praise, this book deserves it.

      This is the first of Tuomainen's books that I've read, and I'm now going to find the rest and read them. I won't spoil plot or ending, but you have to read this, even if Scandinavian noir isn't your thing (it wasn't mine until I read this!)
    • 5/5
      The Man Who Died – A Thriller full of Black HumourWhen you see on the blurb that this is the literary version of Fargo, you just smile and think not possible. Well Antti Tuomainen has successfully turned The Man Who Died into the Finnish version of Fargo. Mixed with the best of Scandinavian Noir and some very dark humour this thriller will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.Jaakko Kaunismaa is a successful mushroom entrepreneur, who is able to export his product to Japan where the mushrooms were highly regarded. The problem is that he is dying, he has been poisoned and his death will happen at any time. There is nothing that his doctor can do to help him, but he decides he will find out who wants him dead.Life is also going to get tougher as another company has set up in competition to him and wants to take all his custom away from him. He finds out at the same time that his wife is having an affair with his delivery driver, and becomes convinced they want him dead. It does not help that he has upset his new competitors whom want to take him to task, literally.As Jaakko begins his investigation into who wants him dead and why, he embarks on a journey that turns into a rollercoaster ride. What we get is from the bizarre to the sublimely weird customers, a cast of decidedly weird characters who will make you laugh out loud. There are some wonderful twists and turns, that you cannot see coming and do not know where it is going. At times reading this can be like driving a car blindfolded, you may know the road you just do not know what is coming up on you.This really is a fantastic read, a thriller that will keep you gripped while making you laugh. Who knew a death could be funny?