More Prime Time Crime for Sweden's TV4

Sweden's TV4 is planning a new slate of prime time crime.

Six episodes of Annika Bengtzon, based on a character created by crime novelist Liza Marklund, are being produced. (It isn't clear if these are based on any of the author's novels or not.) In the books, Annika Bengtzon is an investigative journalist in Stockholm.

Another crime novelist, Dagmar Lange, is having her books adapted in a series titled Maria Lang, which is the pen name she used. Quite honestly, we know little about this author, who died in 1991, and don't even know if her mysteries include a series character. Six episodes have been ordered.

Two of romantic suspense author Viveca Sten's books are being adapted for two 3-part episodes of The Sandhamn Murders, Sandhamn being a resort community on island of Sandön off Sweden's east coast. We don't believe any of this author's books have been translated into English — from her website, we can see that four have been published between 2008 and 2011 — and can't determine which of them are being adapted for this series.

Finally, TV4 has commissioned six new episodes of Wallander, which will begin filming this summer. Based on a character created by Henning Mankell, the series stars Krister Henriksson as police Inspector Kurt Wallander. This will be the last season for the series. (These episodes are not to be confused with from those produced in the UK for BBC, which star Kenneth Branagh in the title role.)