Nordic Noir Locations: Sandhamn - The Roslagen trails 03 post 2of2

The Roslagen, Archipelago, Uppland and Sörmland trails.

03 Sandhamn post 2of2

In the trails of Viveca Stens Still Waters

In the steps of Thomas Andreasson, Nora Linde, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. by the Authors Viveca Sten and Stieg Larsson

In this trail I will mainly cover Viveca Stens NN novel Still Waters (I de lugnaste vatten) the film version in three episodes, Morden i Sandhamn 1- I det lugnaste vatten. And I also will do a comparison between the book and the filmed version.

The novel has been translated and published in over 20 countries.

In the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson that hardly needs any introduction, Mikael Blomkvist hides away to finish the book he writes of all the misdeeds committed by powerful men that they fight in the three Novels.

Also Lisbeth Salander shows up. They eat and drink at the Inn and Dykarbaren.

As they do in Viveca Sten’s novels. No 2 and 3 on the map.

Recently Viveca Sten changed the locations for her crime fiction to the Swedish skiing district. To Åre. But most readers know her work from the little Island in the outskirts of the Stockholm Archipelago Sandön with its village Sandhamn.

It is hard to describe Sandhamn. Because it is special in a surreal way. Isolated, surrounded by water. Not a rather big Island like Gotland, Åland or Bornholm. It is a rather small island where you walk it through in 35-40 minutes. With the Baltics on the south east side and Stockholm archipelago and Roslagen on the north west side.

I was really excited during the trip there, because I wanted to go to Sandhamn to do the trail, waiting for it through the many months of the Pandemic.

To be honest, I’m not comfortable being on the sea. I love to be beside the sea. Not in an oversized bathtub on it. But the crossing was stunning.

Still Waters at Trouville beach

as a homage to the book title of the book I will trail, Still waters. There were still waters.

Blue, still waters.

With a picturesque beauty as the Swedes ideal of a summer resort. In every inch you notice it in Sandhamn.

In my, trailing, eyes it can in a way be compared to Henning Mankell’s Ystad locations in his books about Kurt Wallander. But Skåne has much more of it.

Here it is more compact. The Trouville beach stands up to some of the Österlen beaches in comparison. And I totally disagree with Lisbeth Salander who thought of a visit to Trouville as a complete waste of time.

I did the trail before all the tourists appeared as they do in big numbers during the tourist season. Badjävlarna! As I so often do.

BnB Missionshuset

Harbour looked just as in the Tv series. And the first comparison is the second murder. In the novel the second corpse is found in Missionshusets BnB, no 1 on the map. A nice looking BnB a few steps away from the harbor. In the film it is in a red massive building in the harbor, no 2 on the map. I am not sure if it is a BnB in real life.

Nora Linde’s neighbor Signe’s house in the filmed version is rather plain. In the novel it stands out much more. No 5 on the map.

No 6 on the map.

first corpse is found in the waters on the west side in the novel. In the film Nora Linde swims into the corpse. That scene is a mixture from two corpse findings in the Novel. Because Nora finds a corpse at Trouville beach in the novel, but not the first one.