Liza Marklund Books In Order

Publication Order of Annika Bengtzon Books

Chronological Order of Annika Bengtzon Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

All best-selling authors have a couple of things in common. One is that their books have made the New York Times Best Seller’s List, another is that their books are sold around the world in different languages and the other is their books have been turned into films. Author Liza Marklund has accomplished all three feats which is why she is a #1 best-selling International author.

Dubbed Scandinavia’s queen of crime fiction, Marklund was born in Pålmark, which is a small village located near the Arctic Circle in Sweden. Born in 1962 as Eva Elisabeth Marklund, she first became known as Liza when her younger brother started to talk. Growing up she had nothing else to do but read books and write down the many thoughts and fantasies that went through her head as a child. Her parents both worked in town and there was no one else around for miles growing up in the middle of the forest where her only company was moose and salmon. Writing things down kept her from feeling lonely and to this day this attributes writing to staying sane.

Marklund left home when she was just 16 years old when she moved to Piteå, Sweden and worked as a waitress and chambermaid. She had her first child, Annika at the age of 21. Marklund met Annika’s father Michael Zev Spielman while in Israel on a kibbutz. Spielman, born in California, was five years older than Marklund. Most of his family, who was Jewish, died in the concentration camps in Germany. His parents were the only ones on either side who survived. Marklund found out she was pregnant with her daughter after just getting accepted into journalism school. Before Annika turned one year old, Spielman left leaving Marklund to raise their daughter on her own. After Marklund finished school, she and her very young daughter traveled to various places around the world like the United States, the Soviet Union and other places throughout Europe.

Eventually, Marklund landed her first writing job at a Swedish tabloid called Expressen which is also where she met her husband, Michael Aspeborg over a half-eaten meatball sandwich. It wasn’t long before they were sharing just sandwiches. In 1990, Annika’s half-brother Axel was born to the couple and three years later came little sister Amanda. Marklund focused her energy at the time on both work and raising her children.

Marklund worked as an investigative reporter for ten years and also worked five years as an editor for both print and television news. She continues to work for television by producing documentaries. Marklund has a heart for human rights and has done documentaries concerning children in Cambodia and Russia suffering with HIV/AIDS and has also produced a series on domestic violence. Besides writing books, Marklund also writes for different newspapers and has been a columnist for a total of 20 years. Her columns are published in Swedish and International newspapers and magazines such as Welt am Sonntag in Germany and Ilta-Lehti in Finland. She continues to do a regular column for Expressen, a Swedish tabloid and also Verdens Gang, a daily newspaper in Norway. She is also the co-owner of one of Sweden’s most successful publishing houses called Piratförlaget. She has written eleven novels and two non-fiction books. Her first book, Buried Alive was published in 1995. She co-wrote a book called “The Postcard Killers” in 2010 with James Patterson which reached the number one spot on the New York Times Best Seller’s List.

Marklund lives in Stockholm, Sweden and also owns a home in Marbella, Spain. Though she is a world-renowned author, Marklund and her family try to live as privately as possible. She tries to take advantage of her celebrity status by doing good deeds and has taken on the role as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Marklund’s most popular books revolve around a fictional female reporter named Annika Bengtzon who struggles to balance her time between her professional career and that of being a wife and mother. Marklund’s crime novels featuring Annika Bengtzon have sold over 15 million copies in 33 different languages.

Annika Bengtzon Series: The Bomber

Marklund’s first crime novel to feature Annika Bengtzon has sold half a million copies and is the most successful book to be published in Sweden. Journalist Annika Bengtzon is sleeping next to her husband when a call comes in just after 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s the Christmas season and it’s freezing cold outside but she gets out of bed and arrives at the crime scene. She takes photos of the rubble for that day’s edition of the newspaper. The rubble is the result of a bomb that has just destroyed Stockholm’s new Olympic arena just months before the summer Olympic Games were supposed to start. The whole city is on edge, fearing an act of terrorism but Annika receives an inside tip and she knows it is not the work of a terrorist. In finding out who the real bomber is, she puts everything aside, even her own family as she, the only female editor at a Swedish tabloid, fights to gain the respect of her colleagues. Will she catch the bomber in time before ending up on a list of the bomber’s next victims?

Annika Bengtzon Series: Studio 69

Marklund’s second book of the Annika Bengtzon series takes the gusty female reporter back in time to when Annika just began working for at the Swedish tabloid for a summer job. While trying to survive the fast-paced world of journalism, the newbie reporter learns that the body of a woman has just been discovered in a cemetery. The woman was raped and murdered. The prime suspect becomes a high-ranking official with the election just weeks away. The inexperienced journalist finds herself in a completely foreign underworld of sex clubs. Her first job could either be her first breakthrough story or the end of her career altogether.

Novels in Film

Eight of Marklund’s novels have been made for film. Both The Bomber and Paradise were filmed in Swedish and premiered in Sweden in 2001 and 2003. Six more of her novels, including Nobel’s Last Will, Prime Time, Studio 69, The Red Wolf, Lifetime and A Place in the Sun were all released on DVD in 2012.

One Response to “Liza Marklund”

1. Tony Clift: 1 year ago

   The 6 novels released on DVD are available on the steaming service MHZChoice available to watch in Canada and the US.

   Reply