From Henning Mankell's Ystad in the south to Åsa Larsson's Kiruna in the north - for those who want to discover Sweden through literature, there are plenty of portraits of Swedish cities in crime novels.

- Swedish detective story writers are very good at portraying environments, nature and places. It is something you can trace back in the Swedish literary tradition all the way back to the medieval ballads, it has been a strong element in all Swedish literature, says Kerstin Bergman.

She is a member of the Swedish Detective Academy, editor of the anthology "The Swedish landscape of detective stories" from 2014 and associate professor of literary studies.

In some places, a tourist industry arises around the murder mysteries, for example in Camilla Läckbergs Fjällbacka, where several of her books take place. But there are also areas where the fictional crime mysteries shine with their absence.

- You could say that it reflects the population, there are fewer the higher up in Sweden we come and there are a lot of people who take place in Stockholm, says Kerstin Bergman.

Most violent crimes

The author Anders Roslund has chosen to place his crime commissioner Ewert Grens in the middle of Sweden's crime mecca, at the city police in Stockholm. For him, it is important that the crimes could actually occur there for real.

- I placed him in Stockholm because the largest number of crimes takes place in Stockholm and with the greatest variety, says Anders Roslund, and notes that the city police handle the most violent crimes in the country.

At the same time, he wants a global focus in his crime novels. Therefore, his literary figure Piet Hoffman has to travel around in various criminal networks around the world. The drug trade that begins in Colombia will reach both Stockholm and Fjällbacka, states Anders Roslund.

- Crime today ignores borders, crimes are no longer local but global. Weapons fired at a small town have crossed the border, he says.