Agnes Lovise Matre

Since her 2012 debut Stroke My Hair she has published four novels and crime novels. Her first crime novel, Looks Can Be Deceiving, was published by Gyldendal in 2017. The book was the first in a series about Officer Bengt Alvsaker.   

Matre works as a teacher in Haugesund and has previously worked as a freelance journalist. She is a member of the Norwegian Authors’ Union and was also a member of the interim board that founded the Alliance of Norwegian Authors.

In 2020, Matre was awarded the Silver Dagger Award for the novel Ice Cold.

Her Dark Fjord-series is situated in the spectacular Hardanger landscape with the dark, elongated fjord, blossoming fruit trees and snow on the high mountaintops during the summer and fog, rain and huge amounts of snow during the winter. In these settings she uses the crime genre as a framework to talk about “forbidden” themes like shame, feelings of guilt, suppression and secrets.

Download sample translation and full presentation of her Dark Fjord series here: