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The Winter Job
Paperback
HumorMystery & ThrillerGeneral Fiction
Publisher Price: $16.99
ISBN13: 9781917764346
Publisher: Orenda Books
Published: Dec 1 2026
Pages: 276
Language: English
A desperate father's Christmas promise sparks a wild Finnish road trip involving an antique sofa, unexpected passengers and danger ... A darkly humorous and warmly touching suspense novel about friendship, love and death, The Winter Job flies at 120 kilometers an hour straight into the darkest heart of a Finnish winter night.
Another wonderfully lean slice of European noir by one of its finest exponents. As darkly fun as any Coen brothers' offering -- Vaseem Khan
The king of the humorous crime caper -- Abir Mukherjee
With echoes of writers such as Christopher Brookmyre and Carl Hiassen, this is delicious stuff, expertly juggling dark humor and quirky characterization against the backdrop of a frigid northern landscape -- Financial Times
A quirky, murderous road trip ... Imagine blending a Donald Westlake comic mishap caper with some famous Nordic levity, and you might have something like The Winter Job -- Irish Times
The NEW standalone darkly funny, poignant and uber-tense thriller from The funniest writer in Europe (The Times)
Fargo meets Carl Hiassen and Fredrik Backman ... via the Coen Brothers
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Sofas, secrets and a snowbound road to trouble...
Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go - and no money - he's desperate.
A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.
With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.
That's when Ilmari realizes that he is transporting something truly special.
And that's when Ilmari realizes he might be in serious trouble...
A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving thriller about friendship, love and death - The Winter Job tears through the frozen landscape of northern Finland in a beat-up van with bad steering, worse timing, and everything to lose...
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A madcap chase through a bleak winter landscape ... damn hilarious and Tuomainen's dark humor is displayed at its best in what must surely be the best road movie of the year -- CrimeTime
This suspenseful tale of a desperate father's journey across the frozen landscape is filled with Tuomainen's trademark dark wit and unexpected thrills. Another winner -- Culturefly
It may seem hard to find good comic crime-writers, but clearly we haven't been looking in Finland -- Telegraph
Are you ready for the latest dose of dark humor, clever plotting, great characterization and touching insights into the human soul? ... A joy to read -- Nordic Lighthouse
Praise for Antti Tuomainen
Humor drier than a desert snake's belly -- Ian Moore
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
Laconic, thrilling and warmly human -- Christopher Brookmyre
Right up there with the best -- Times Literary Supplement
Finland's greatest export -- M.J. Arlidge
A refreshing change from the decidedly gloomier crime fiction for which Scandinavia is known -- Publishers Weekly
Charming, funny and clever -- Literary Review
Thrilling and hilarious -- Liz Nugent
A delight from start to finish -- Big Issue
Tuomainen has a talent for creating offbeat characters that you can't help rooting for -- Guardian
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