Mats I Lundgren
Mats I Lundgren is an author who has written a series of crime stories in a distinctive style, where each book offers a unique and gripping reading experience unlike any other. The stories are set in and around the Swedish town of Nyköping.
Mats masterfully combines nail-biting thrillers with feel-good crime, creating a well-crafted and engaging crime series that keeps readers wanting more. What ties these compelling stories together is Detective Inspector Arne Olofsson and his colleagues at the Nyköping Police Department. The investigative team, led by their colorful chief and the headstrong civilian investigator Svante, consists of a charming group of characters with relatable moral strengths and weaknesses. Mats has a remarkable ability to create vivid, believable characters that come to life on the reader’s inner movie screen. His writing is further distinguished by carefully crafted narratives with strong momentum and excellent dialogue. The Nyköping Cases is a series of award-nominated police stories — enjoyable and suspenseful without becoming overly violent.
Born in 1958, Mats lives in Nyköping. As a retiree, he writes daily, combining his passion for storytelling with travel and his interests in classic cars and cooking. An outgoing bon vivant, he enjoys promoting his books by traveling to meet readers and signing copies in person. Mats is currently working on two book projects: the fifth installment of The Nyköping Cases and a standalone novel based entirely on true events set in northern Sweden during the 1950s.
The Invisible Thief was awarded the Selma Prize 2024.
The Nyköping Cases
Sara – The Girl Who Got Away (1)
Young Sara has lost her way and drifts around Stockholm. She feels unsafe and longs for a change. She meets Malin, a girl her own age from a wealthy family. After a conflict with her parents, Malin decides to take charge of her life, and together, the girls make a plan. When they meet a friendly man recruiting school students for a summer job at a manor outside Nyköping, they seize the opportunity. But it turns out to be a bad choice, and they end up in captivity.
Ten years later, a priest accidentally hits and kills a young woman with his car one night. Who is she? No one reports her missing, and the investigation team at the Nyköping Police Department is left without clues. Meanwhile, a local construction company owner is shot dead at the Nyköping golf course.Sara is a thriller about friendship and betrayal, about choices and consequences, and about standing up for oneself and taking charge of one’s life.
Sara was a finalist among 200 manuscripts for the Selma Prize, with the jury’s motivation: “A nerve-wracking thriller at its best — stripped down and intimate.”
The Giver (2)
Veteran detective Arne Olofsson starts his day at the Nyköping Police Department. It begins with young Miss Elin Jansson reporting her boyfriend Roger missing after he failed to return from a boat trip. Roger, a 42-year-old petty criminal and macho type, has vanished without a trace. The investigation stalls when Arne is injured in an attack on a newly opened restaurant and ends up hospitalized. Civilian investigator Svante Möller steps in to take over the case.
Both Roger’s disappearance and the restaurant attack prove difficult to solve. Though Svante is not well-liked by the official police officers, they are forced to work together to track down a cunning murderer and organized crime network. During the investigation, Svante makes connections that force him to confront painful memories from his past.
The Giver is a gripping crime novel about Fredrik, an overweight man who, after twenty-five years, encounters the boy who bullied him in school. It thoughtfully explores how childhood shapes us — into victims or perpetrators — and the lasting consequences it can have.
The Giver placed in the Top 10 for the Selma Prize.
Southwest of Ytterskär (3)
Monika and her two friends are deeply committed environmental activists and animal rights advocates. In the mid-1990s, they learn of an environmental scandal and decide to expose it.
In the present day, a diver’s body is found off the coast of Nyköping. Investigations reveal that the person disappeared twenty years earlier. The discovery causes a national stir, raising many questions. Detective Inspector Arne Olofsson and his colleagues at the Nyköping Police Department are assigned this unusually complex case, which also becomes deeply personal for Arne. His pursuit of the truth takes him back in time.
This story is based on true events.
The Invisible Thief (4)
Detective Lena Bergman of the Nyköping Police Department buys a house in central Nyköping with her wife. One day, their neighbor is found dead, seemingly the result of an accident. However, their other neighbors — Ulla and Rune, two tech-savvy retirees — have a different view and begin their own investigation.
The righteous old couple is energetic and gets dangerously close to the truth, while Arne Olofsson faces a life-shaking event.
The Invisible Thief is a multilayered story about cunning criminals and life’s fragility.
The Invisible Thief won the Selma Prize 2024 with the jury’s motivation:
Reading The Invisible Thief is like being invited to a cozy coffee gathering among good friends — whether colleagues at work or neighbors in the kitchen. So bring your coffee cup, settle into a comfortable armchair, and prepare yourself for a feel-good mystery with a little extra of everything.
Original title: Sara - The Girl who got away
Publication: Vulkan September 2017
Pages: 300
Original title: Den som ger - The giver
Publication: Vulkan September 2015
Pages: 270
Original title: Sydväst om Ytterskär - Southwest of Ytterskär
Publication: Vulkan August 2020
Pages: 352
Original title: Den osynlige tjuven - The invisible Thief
Publication: Vulkan Oktober 2023
Pages: 422
Rights sold: All rights available
Reading material: Full translation
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