JOHANNA MO

Intricate plots and vibrant characters

Crime fiction

THE BREAKER

THE TREMBLING GRASS

THE DARK ELM

THE SHADOW LILY

THE NIGHT SINGER

Children's fiction

THE LOST MEMORY – LODUR’S SHADOW BOOK 2

THE DYING TREE – LODUR’S SHADOW BOOK 1

Rights

Rights Crime fiction
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Romania
Sri Lanka
Sweden
UK
US

Rights Children’s books
Denmark
Russia
Sweden

Awards and nominations

2013 – The Golden Feather Culture Prize by The Barometer and Oskarshams Newspaper
2011 – Nominated to Swedish Radio’s (SR’s) short story Prize

Before achieving her childhood dream, to become an author, Johanna Mo worked as a freelance editor, translator and literary critic for over twenty years. Her main focus is on crime stories but she has also written praised literary novels and a children’s book.

Johanna Mo’s focus is always on the characters. She is intrigued by the interaction between people and in human relations, and interested in what happens when they face difficulties. Loss is a returning theme in her stories. Mo skillfully weaves intricate plots without ever forgetting the soul life and development of her characters.

In the summer of 2020, Mo published The Night Singer, the first book in a new series The Island Murders, set on the island of Öland.

Growing up, Johanna Mo spent a lot of time on her grandparents’ farm on Öland, where they raised trotting horses. In the Island Murders, where the readers meet the police duo Hanna Duncker and Erik Lindgren, she applies her winning crime concept to the barren summer paradise of the island. Rights to the series have been sold in 18 territories and the four titles have been instant bestsellers. The final book in the series was published in the summer of 2024 and immiditaly entered the bestseller list in Sweden.

Mo’s first crime series is set in Stockholm and features Helena Mobacke. Mobacke lost her son to a perpetrator she was chasing, and in the beginning of the series she returns to work after a long sick-leave.

When Mo writes series she likes to build them around a background story. The Island Murders is about what it’s like to be related to someone who has committed a serious crime. Hanna Duncker’s father was sent to prison for murder. Mo’s new children’s fantasy series is about how the loss of one parent often is felt like the loss of both.

Johanna Mo was born and raised in Kalmar and now lives in Stockholm with her family.