Viveca Sten has made a name for herself as one of Sweden's detective queens, thanks to the hit series "Morden i Sandhamn". Last year, "Åremorden", based on another of Sten's book series, premiered on Netflix.
Amid police investigations and murders, Sten publishes something completely new for her, the feel-good novel "Helena's Journey".
I went to bed at night and looked forward to starting to write the next morning, she says.
Yoga trip was the starting point
It all started when Sten traveled to Kerala, India, for a yoga camp. Places she fell in love with inspired her, which has also been the case with Sandhamn and Åre.
Viveca Sten knew the main character would be called Helena. At first she thought of a short story, until she realized the story had expanded.
It's feel-good, it's romantic, it's moonlight walks, quiet moments on the beach, yoga at dawn, says Sten, but she emphasizes that it also contains drama and life-changing decisions.
Is the detective genre a closed chapter?
Not at all. I have just finished writing the first version of the Åre book that will be released in October, says Sten and assures that she still loves "Åremorden" and its characters.
Hiding behind the format
Viveca Sten is in Åre and has been working on the series over the winter. She moves on crutches due to complications after breaking her leg in a serious skiing accident three years ago.
But I hope I can get rid of the crutches soon.
Now she hopes for a warm reception for “Helena's Journey.” The fear is that people will think she “should have stuck to detective stories.” For a long time she thought she wouldn't be able to write a novel; that it was too difficult.
If you're writing a crime novel, you can hide behind the format. You create suspense through a police investigation, a perpetrator, and a victim. But how do you create the page-turning feeling in a novel when you don't have those tools?
She debuted in 2008 with the crime novel "In the Calmest Waters", the first part of the popular book series "Morden i Sandhamn" which has also become a TV series on TV4.
Another success is the series "Åremorden", which was adapted into a film and premiered on Netflix in 2025.
She has sold more than 11 million books, with publications in more than 60 countries including the Nordic countries, Germany, France, Japan, the Netherlands, England and the USA.
"Helena's Journey" will be released on June 2.
