Brottsplats Rom – om romerska deckare

Carina Burman gives an in-depth account of her two latest books, the 1950s detective novels Döden tar semester (2025) and Bittert, amore (2026), and of what it is like to write detective fiction set in the city of Rome.

On a snowy day in April 1956, detective fiction reviewer Florrie Granat collapses unconscious at the newspaper office in old Klara. The doctor recommends a trip south, and soon she is on her way to Rome by charter coach. The novel Döden tar semester is a playful take on the detective genre and a love letter to Rome. Before long, Florrie begins to suspect that something is wrong. Can a woman who has read everything by Christie, Sayers and Trenter solve a real crime? Of course.

In Rome, Florrie changes, and when the others return home, she stays behind. The novel Bittert, amore (2026) opens on the Aventine, but soon she finds herself at Rominstitutet. There is a heatwave, and things are hot at the institute. With help from her Watson from the coach trip, lecturer Georg Brandt, she sets about solving new mysteries. Trattorias, alleyways, bars and dangerous traffic situations also feature – all in the shadow of the great monuments.

Carina Burman is an author and Associate Professor of Literary Studies at Uppsala University. Among other things, she has written four major biographies – most recently Bellman. Biografin (2019) – and eleven novels. Rome recurs in her life and work. The city appears in several novels and in Vi romantiska resenärer (2016), which is about Ellen Rydelius, her guidebooks Rom på 8 dagar and the changes in the city of Rome.

The lecture is organised in collaboration with Svenska Rominstitutets vänner.