Breaking news: Joachim B. Schmidt won the illustrious Glauser Prize in Germany with his novel Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain.
“Joachim B. Schmidt’s novels show a sensitivity to how the accumulation of seemingly small events makes up the drama of human life.” --Sjón
“A Swiss author writes a book that takes place in Raufarhöfn (!) and creates characters that are more Icelandic than anything Icelandic. What kind of magician is this?”--Hallgrímur Helgason (101 Reykjavik)
"A beautifully told Icelandic mystery that absolutely revels in its comedic timing, compassionate plot, and outstanding leading man. If you are looking for something a little different, then step into this feel-good mystery which is full to overflowing with gentle humour, pointed social commentary, and a delicious plot. Following on from prize-winning and LoveReading Star Book Kalmann, our hero finds himself in trouble with the law and searching for answers about his grandfather who supposedly spied for the Russians. My advice if you haven’t yet, is to start with the first book, as well as being a fabulous read, it also gives the best introduction to Kalmann. I am a huge fan of his, Kalmann quite simply makes my heart smile. As a leading character he is a triumph and as a narrator he is to be celebrated. Jamie Lee Searle translates wonderfully again, I always feel it works well when the translator continues in a series, as of course they already know and understand the characters and have a developed relationship with the writing. While this mystery visits the USA and spends time at the Capitol riots, it is mostly centred in Iceland. The riots as seen from Kalmann’s point of view creates an absolutely fascinating and thought-provoking moment. Iceland, with its landscape, people, and history sings out and celebrates community. These aren’t traditional mysteries, they feel fresh, provocative, and this new book sits again as a LoveReading Star Book. Highly recommended, the powerful yet gentle Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain is an uninhibited firecracker of a read.” LoveReading (Liz Robinson)
"Second in the Kalman series, based on one the most unlikely heroes in crime fiction. Kalman, the very likeable narrator, was born and raised in an Icelandic fishing village, and is regarded affectionately by the residents as ‘retarded’ – despite which they have designated him as their supposed sheriff (his duties being little more than looking after the small supermarket car park). His narrative voice and behaviour, superbly drawn by Schmidt, seems classically autistic, and in this tale Kalman’s suspicion that his grandfather was murdered leads him, via his absent American father, across the Atlantic and into the heart of the 2021 Capitol riots. Back in his Icelandic village and now even more of a celebrity, Kalman finds himself dragged into the aftermath of a Cold War mystery that once involved his grandfather, the Americans, and Russian spies – and what began as a gentle and amusing story finally changes pace and sails off to an explosive climax. Easily the most addictive crime book I have read this year." SHOTS Magazine
“This book throws us right into the conflicts of the big wide world. Kalmann, the »Sheriff of Raufarhöfn«, involuntarily finds himself in the middle of the Capitol riots and in the FBI’s hands. Joachim B. Schmidt draws the funniest and most remarkable connections in Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain, with originality, with wit and eloquence. Kalmann never judges, he views things as they are. For this reason, he is in many ways wiser than we are. An absorbing, brilliant crime novel. Humorous. Never preachy.” Glauser Prize‹ Jury
“It was said that the first book put Raufarhöfn on the map, not only in the minds of Icelanders but also of foreign tourists, as the book was translated into many languages. If so, this one will put Langanesi and the Melrakka Plain firmly on the "bucket-lists" of readers around the world. […] Kalmann is a great fun book, and although it is to a certain extent about crime, there are so many other intriguing, interesting and exciting things in this writing that it can hardly be classified into one category.” lifdununa.is
“Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain is Joachim B. Schmidt’s second Kalmann novel, translated by Jamie Lee Searle from the original German. (Schmidt moved to Iceland from his native Switzerland in 2007.) It promises another “Icelandic mystery” set in the world of Kalmann Óðinsson, a neurodiverse young man whom we first met in Kalmann (2022), living in the remote fishing village of Raufarhöfn as its self-appointed sheriff, patrolling with a Mauser rifle and a few piquant chunks of hákarl, a fermented shark meat delicacy. As this new novel opens a series of distressing changes have just reshaped Kalmann’s life. His beloved grandfather dies after suffering dementia, his absent American father invites him to visit for Christmas in 2020 and he moves to a bigger town, Akureyri, where he lives with his mother, hunting stray supermarket trolleys instead of Greenland sharks. But everything is about to get even more complicated. Kalmann suspects that his grandfather was murdered; a communist great-aunt emerges from his family’s past; an American tourist is not all he seems; and what could his grandfather have meant by rambling in Russian about a “flying mountain”? Communist sympathizers (including the Nobel prize laureate Halldór Laxness) abounded in Iceland, despite its Nato membership, but could Grandfather really have been a Soviet spy? Why is an attractive FBI agent interrogating Kalmann? And why is someone killing to protect the secret of the mountain? Like the narrators of Graeme Simsion’s Rosie trilogy or Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003), who are both autistic, Kalmann learns acceptable behaviours. He has his own tagline (“Correctamundo”, from the television show Happy Days). But his unspecified condition limits his ability to process clues (and social cues). He trusts dangerous people: shooting practice in the West Virginia woods with his ex-military father and the latter’s racist best friend, Uncle Bucky, culminates in his unwitting attendance of the January 6 Maga march on the Capitol. Although his character’s naivety is balanced by sincerity and intuition, Schmidt shows with realism how Kalmann fails to control strong emotions. Overloaded by grief for his grandfather, he lashes out at his mother, smashing objects until two police officers restrain him: the aftermath involves heavy medication. Similarly, abandoned during the Capitol march, he suffers a panic-induced meltdown. Kalmann’s mother, absent for much of the first novel, gives this one its moral core: she is unfailingly protective of, and patient with, her son. The Kalmann books are full of quirky charm, but fewer plot lines and more shark fishing would have made this one easier to enjoy.” Times Literary Supplement
“A modern-day Charlie Chaplin. Kalmann's naive view of the world also makes the reader marvel. NZZ, Zurich
“It's a very, very amusing, very clever and incredibly exciting thriller with a great finale.” ORF, Vienna
