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 kilometres 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 `It may seem hard to find good comic crime-writers, but clearly we haven't been looking in Finland´ Telegraph 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 ____ 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 realises that he is transporting something truly special. And that's when Ilmari realises 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… ________ Praise for Antti Tuomainen `Humour 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 `Deftly plotted, poignant and perceptive in its wry reflections … and very funny´ Irish 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 `Fresh and witty´ Chris Ewan `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
