The Exiled

When an old man is found dead on the road – seemingly run over by a Hungarian au pair – police investigator Anna Fekete is certain that there is more to the incident than meets the eye. As she begins to unravel an increasingly complex case, she’s led on a deadly trail where illegal immigration, drugs and, ultimately, murder threaten not only her beliefs, but her life.
Anna’s partner Esko is entrenched in a separate but equally dangerous investigation into the activities of an immigrant gang, where deportation orders and raids cause increasing tension and result in desperate measures by gang members – and the police themselves.
Then a bloody knife is found in the snow, and the two cases come together in ways that no one could have predicted. As pressure mounts, it becomes clear that having the law on their side may not be enough for Anna and Esko.
Chilling, disturbing and terrifyingly believable, The Defenceless is an extraordinary, vivid and gripping thriller by one of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction.


‘Tough and powerful crime fiction’ Publishers Weekly

'The Finnish Kati Hiekkapelto deserves her growing reputation as her individual writing identity is subtly unlike that of her colleagues' Barry Forshaw, Crime Time

’There is something fresh and slightly subversive about Hiekkapelto’s writing in The Defenceless. there is something of that restless energy here, a nod to anti-authoritarian and countercultural ideas that makes the novel stand out from the pack’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue

’A taut and provocative thriller with a raging social conscience … cements Kati Hiekkapelto’s position as one of Scandi-noir’s most exciting and important new voices’ Eva Dolan

'Dark-souled but clear-eyed, Kati Hiekkapelto’s edgy, powerful novels grip your throat and squeeze your heart. Addictive.’ A. J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

‘An edgy and insightful chiller with a raw and brooding narrative. Skilfully plotted and beautifully written, Hiekkapelto has given us an excellent and suspenseful crime novel’ Craig Robertson

‘A writer willing to take risks with her work’ Sarah Ward

‘Seriously good! The taut elegance of the writing brilliantly contrasts the grit of the subject matter. Kati Hiekkapelto is the real deal’ Anya Lipska

"Without a shadow of a doubt Kati Hiekkapelto has taken a firm place in the Nordic Noir sphere, creating tense, vivid and compelling stories, with strong characterisation . . . and a very contemporary social commentary. The novel, in perfect translation by David Hackston, is so beautifully multifaceted that I'm already rereading it." —Crime Review on The Defenceless

"intriguing."  —Publishers Weekly

“[A]uthor Kati Hiekkapelto . . . has quickly elbowed her way into must-read status for fans of elegantly written, socially conscious mystery writing." —Mystery Scene

Kati Hiekkapelto was born in 1970 in Oulu, Finland. She wrote her first stories at the age of two and recorded them on cassette tapes. Kati has studied Fine Arts in Liminka Art School and Special Education at the University of Jyväskylä. The subject of her final thesis/dissertation was racist bullying in Finnish schools. She went on to work as a special-needs teacher for immigrant children. Today Kati is an international crime writer, punk singer and performance artist. Her Anne Fekete series, including The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled have been translated into eighteen languages and both were shortlisted for the Petrona Award in the UK. The Defenceless won Best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key. She lives and writes in her 200- year-old farmhouse in Hailuoto, an island in the Gulf of Bothnia, North Finland. In her free time she rehearses with her band, runs, hunts, picks berries and mushrooms, and gardens. During long, dark winter months she chops wood to heat her house, shovels snow and skis. The Embers, the fourth in the series, will be published in 2020.