An Inspector Vaara novel. First published as G. P. Putnam’s Sons hardcover edition in 2012. New York: Berkley Prime Crime 2013. Trade paperback, 355 pages.

Front cover:
”An impossible-to-put-down read… For all fans of Stieg Larsson.”—Booklist

Back cover:
”The narrative is exquisitely quick...Hard to put down.” –Houston Chronicle
Ispector Kari Vaara, recovering from brain surgery, is back to doing police work–under circumstances most cops only ream of. Reporting directly to the national chief, Vaara and his partners Milo and Sulo have been granted secrecy and autonomy for their new black-ops unit, and plenty of cash to work with, including whatever they can steal from Helsinki’s mobsters.
But the president of Finland outranks even the police chief, and he wants Vaara on a new case: the vicious assassination of a prominent immigrants’ rights activist. Against a backdrop of simmering hatred spreading across the country, Vaara must solve a case that involves the kidnapping of a billionaire’s children, a Faustian bargain with a former French Legionnaire–and Vaara’s own wife.
”In his dozen years of living in Finland...Thompson has absorbed enough cold, dark atmosphere for a spot on the roster of top Nordic crime writers-–Mankell, Nesbø, Indrioason and the like.”–The New York Post
”The laconic voice of Inspector Kari Vaara is at the same time dangerous and human, his world cold, barren, yet intriguingly exotic.”–Peter Høeg, New York Times bestselling author of Smilla’s Sense of Snow

About the author:
JAMES THOMPSON, eastern Kentucky-born and -raised, has lived in Finland for more than a dozen years; he now resides in Helsinki with his wife. His debut novel, Snow Angels, was selected as a Booklist Best Crime Novel Debut of the Year and was nominated for Edgar®, Anthony, and Strand Magazine critics awards. Before becoming a full-time writer, Thompson studied Finnish–in which he is fluent–and Swedish, and worked as a bartender, bouncer, construction worker and soldier.


James Thompson at Wikipedia
Finnish_American writer Jim Thompson is dead at Helsinki Times
Interview With James Thompson, The Author Of “Helsinki White” at Mystery Tribune
Helsinki White at Kirkus Reviews
Finnish Crime: “Helsinki White” By James Thompson at Mystery Tribune