The Petrini Detectives Mysteries

The story of Marten Sanden's The Petrini Detectives began in 1999, when The Hideout (Swedish title "Gomstallet") was published and sold out within a few short months. Since then, every year has seen
a new book in the series, which to date has sold well over 100.000 copies in Sweden, Denmark
and Finland.

The Petrini Detectives mysteries combine the athmosphere and suspense of classic mystery series, such
as Enid Blyton's Famous Five, The Hardy Boys, or the Boxcar Children Mysteries, with the pace and
depth of modern childrens' literature. The series has been characterized as a "loving up-date" of a
popular, but long-neglected genre. The main characters are unique and distinctly portrayed,
as are their real life surroundings in Lund and elsewhere. The meticulously constructed
plots are adapted for kids, without ever being childish.

In the first book of the series, twins Peter and Petra Petrini have just turned twelve and their lives are
about to change dramatically. That summer, they move with their family from Manhattan's Upper West
Side to their Swedish father's home town of Lund. Needless to say, it's a pretty big change. Peter and
Petra are bilingual in English and Swedish, but apart from occasional visits during summer holidays, they know very little about their father's native country. But Peter and Petra, feisty New Yorkers raised in
the midst of a sprawling Italian-Jewish family, soon make themselves at home and start looking
for adventure.

Original covers of the first three books: The Hideout (1999), The Heir (2000) and The Jewel Thief (2001)

About Peter and Petra (and Lucy)

Twins Peter and Petra outwardly resemble each other enough to fool even the sharpest criminal minds
if needed. When it comes to personality, however, they are worlds apart. Peter, the narrator of the books,
is a philosophical, easygoing (his mother would say lazy...) boy whose greatest loves are music, books
and movies (and Lucy). His sister Petra rarely has time to sit down, much less read a book. She's an
energetic, logical and adventurous (her mother would say reckless ...) girl who often manages to coax her
more timid brother along. Ever since she read her first detective story, Petra's greatest dream has been to
solve mysteries and bring criminals to justice. For an ordinary girl of twelve, this would have remained a dream, but Petra most definitely is not an ordinary girl.
As the third member of their detective club, The Secret Eye, Peter and Petra recruit their classmate Lucy Devereaux. United by their common background - Lucy has a Swedish mother, but spent her early
childhood in Vancouver - and their love of adventure, the three youngsters display an uncanny ability to
get involved in various kinds of mysteries and foul play. Thanks to Petra's fearlessness, Peter's sharp mind
and Lucy's boundless energy, they manage to get out of them, too.

The Phantom (2002), The Ghost Ship (2003) and The Magpie (2004)

A Brief History of the Petrini Family

One beautiful Spring day, visiting the top of the Empire State Building, the young Swedish immigrant David Petrini fell unexpectedly in love. The beautiful creature that captured his heart turned out to be
Leah Capra, youngest daughter of West Side fruit merchant Salvatore ("Sally") Capra and his pianist
wife Jeanne. Their encounter was viewed with some reserve - not to mention alarm - by Leah's older twin sisters, Debbie and Connie, who were supposed to take her shopping that morning. But after a closely chaperoned cup of coffee in a nearby diner it was unmistakably clear to everyone involved that this was
no ordinary flirt. David's and Leah's meeting turned out to be one of those rare things in life that
are truly meant to happen.

Less than six months later, David and Leah were married, and just a year after that the still teenaged Leah
gave birth to their first son, Max. In the first step towards his later career as an entrepreneur in ecological technology, David moved his young family to Kenya to sell solar-powered cookers, and in Africa, their daughter Rebecka was born. After yet another continent (South America) and another child (son Ricky),
the Petrinis moved back to Manhattan. An attempt to round out the family with a fourth child produced
twins Peter and Petra, and five years later the birth of baby sister Juliet brought the number of children
to a grand total of six.

When the Petrinis move to Lund, Rebecka is in her late teens, Ricky is fifteen, Peter and Petra twelve, and Juliet six, going on seven. Max, old enough to have his own life, stays on in Manhattan, where he works for the UN and is sorely missed by his younger siblings. Pleasantly surprised by Swedish real estate prices, the Petrinis move into a gigantic, rambling apartment in the absolute center of the Old Town. All the kids can finally have a room of their own, Leah can set up her sculptor's studio in a back room, and there's still
plenty of space for David to work from home.
Both David's parent are passed on by now, and he has lost touch with the rest of the family. His aunt Lili, however, still lives in Lund and soon becomes a fixture in Peter and Petra's lives. Lili is the youngest sister
of David's mother, but actually just a few months older than David himself. Growing up together, David
and Lili avoided the embarrassing aunt-and-nephew-situation by claiming they were cousins.
Apart from being a welcome substitute for the daily contact with their American grandparents and aunts,
Lili also gets Peter and Petra's detective carreer going by introducing them to her friend Olle Jacobsson,
an inspector with the Lund Police department.

The latest titles: The Twins (2005) and The Midnight Star (2006)

The Ancient City of Lund

Lund, like Manhattan, is very much a real place and situated in the southernmost part of Sweden, a short
train ride from Copenhagen, Denmark. The cosy, yet cosmopolitan town is over a thousand years old and
has around 100.000 inhabitants. The romanesque Cathedral dates from the Middle Ages and Lund's very
vital University was founded in the seventeenth century. David Petrini's family has lived in town longer
than anyone can remember, and his father was a clergyman and later dean in the Cathedral. It was actually
David's reluctance to follow in his father's - and several generations of grandfathers' - clerical footsteps
that made him move to the United States.
Lund may be small, but it is far from boring. For centuries, the town has been a cultural center in the region and its internationally renowned University, its easy access to continental Europe and thriving businesses continue to draw people from around the world each year.
Small and safe enough for kids to move around freely, yet filled with tradition, cosmopolitan influences and
a million secrets behind its venerable facades - Lund may in fact be one of the best settings for children's mystery novels around!

Links

contact

swedish site