Leena Lehtolainen

Leena Lehtolainen was born in Vesanto, Finland, to parents who taught language and literature. At the age of ten, she began her first book--a young adult novel--and published it two years later, followed by a second book at the age of seventeen. The author of the long-running bestselling Maria Kallio Mystery series, which includes--most recently-- Derailed and The Nightingale Murder , Leena has received numerous awards. Among them are the 1997 Vuoden Johtolanka (Clue) Award for the best...See more

Leena Lehtolainen was born in Vesanto, Finland, to parents who taught language and literature. At the age of ten, she began her first book--a young adult novel--and published it two years later, followed by a second book at the age of seventeen. The author of the long-running bestselling Maria Kallio Mystery series, which includes--most recently-- Derailed and The Nightingale Murder , Leena has received numerous awards. Among them are the 1997 Vuoden Johtolanka (Clue) Award for the best Finnish crime novel and the 2000 Great Finnish Book Club prize. Her work has been published in twenty-nine languages. Besides writing, Leena enjoys classical singing, her beloved cats, and--her greatest passion--figure skating. Her nonfiction book about the sport, The Enchantment of Figure Skating , was chosen as the Sport Book of the Year 2011 in Finland, where Leena lives with her husband and two sons. See less