Johana Gustawsson
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in political science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards.
Johana’s gothic historical thriller The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France and worldwide, shortlisting for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger in the UK. Yule Island – the first in the Lidingö Mysteries series, and based on a true story – has followed suit, winning the prestigious Livre de Poche 2024 Readers award, the Cultura Ligue de l’Imaginaire Award, the Gujan Thrillers Festival Readers’ Prize (Crime Novel of the Year) and Crime Novel of the Year at the Saint Laurent-du-Var Polar Festival, hitting number one on the bestseller list, and reprinting five times in the first two months after publication. A TV adaptation of Yule Island is currently under way. Winner of the 2025 Maison de la Presse prize for Scars of Silence, Johana is also the author, with Thomas Enger, of SON, featuring Oslo police consultant and body-language expert Kari Voss. Now published in more than forty countries, she lives in the Stockholm archipelago with her three sons.
Follow her on X @JoGustawsson, Instagram @johanagustawsson and facebook.com/johana.gustawsson.
