Meet Max Seeck, the bestselling Finnish crime writer

The hall next to the library is packed with listeners waiting for the interview to begin.

Max Seeck is one of Finland's most popular crime novelists. His works have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold over 1,3 million copies. He has written ten books and has also worked on films, the most recent being a horror film titled The Knocking.

“I haven’t watched it,” says Seeck. “I get scared easily and have a lively imagination.”

Warm laughter ripples through the audience. Afterwards, many praise the discussion. Most had not heard of Seeck before, but everyone the Barents Observer speaks to is now keen to read his books. The library holds copies of four of his titles, all of which were checked out ahead of his visit. There should also have been a copy at the local bookshop, but it has disappeared.

“That’s very strange,” says the assistant. “But we can order a new one for you if you like?”

The Barents Observer meets Seeck for a special interview a couple of hours before the evening event in Kirkenes, the Norwegian border town. He is tall and fair, a buzz cut, urban Finnish man in his forties. The handshake is firm, the manner is open and easygoing. Light blue eyes quickly scan the surroundings. The left eye is a bit wild.

The Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø has had a significant influence on Max Seeck. Seeck began writing in 2013 after reading Nesbø.

“I liked the way Nesbø wrote, and it was very inspiring that he had a background in football and finance, among other things. I had studied marketing myself and worked in a bank, with start-ups, and run a marketing business, so I liked the idea that you could become a writer with a different background. I’m not a ‘literary broiler’, in the sense of having studied literature and then gone on to write my own stories.”

“There are artists in my family, though. My mother is an artist, my cousin is an artist, and my great-grandfather was an artist. So perhaps it’s in the blood. But there are even more Masters of Science in the family. This writing career came as a surprise to everyone, including me,” says Seeck.

“I like Norway,” he adds. “I’ve been here often and have always had good experiences. But I’ve never been this far north before, in Kirkenes. It reminds me of Iceland. I will be back.”

A crime-writing success story

Max Seeck’s first book was published in 2016. In ten years he has written ten books. 

His international breakthrough came with The Witch Hunter, the first instalment in the Jessica Niemi series. It appeared on the bestseller lists of both The New York Times and Der Spiegel, and his books have featured on Vogue’s list of the best Nordic noir. A Hollywood TV series is currently in development.

There are four books in the Jessica Niemi series, all of which have been translated into Norwegian. The most recent focuses on a group of children evacuated from Finland during the Second World War and what became of them. This resonates strongly with the audience, as children were also sent away from Finnmark during the war—and, indeed, are still being displaced in conflicts today.

“The last one is my personal favourite of the Jessica books,” says Seeck. “It is the most authentic.”

His next series, featuring an art gallerist named Milo, will also be translated into Norwegian and may become a television series in Finland next year.

Seeck is now working on something new.

“It’s written from a first-person perspective, a little in the style of Raymond Chandler,” he reveals. “You shouldn’t become too comfortable with your old ways of working. Or you can—but I don’t want to.”

“I wouldn’t rule out Jessica returning one day. But when you’ve written around a thousand pages about one character, their story is often told.”

“You can use crime fiction to explore other aspects of life,” says Seeck.

In his books, crime is always present, but there is also a deeper theme. His first novels dealt with the absurdity of war, trauma and revenge. In the Jessica Niemi series, he explored the madness of witch hunts, appalled that such events had ever taken place. Later, he became interested in the dangers of social media and harassment, incorporating these ideas into his work. In the Milo series, he addresses male infertility and the sorrow it can bring.

“It’s not something people talk about much. I’ve received a lot of thanks for highlighting the issue,” says Seeck.

Should writers speak out about society?

Literature is a humanistic field, and freedom of expression is one of its core values.

“I don’t know any colleagues who would support Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, for instance. But I don’t think writers are obliged to speak out or take a stand on everything. Some do it too much, and it becomes tiresome. You should choose your battles effectively,” says Seeck.

“Of course, I have noticed that Russian athletes, such as ice hockey players, haven’t condemned the war. It grates on me, because it seems so obvious that they should. But it’s easy to shout in a free society. If I, as a writer, want to criticize the Finnish government for anything whatsoever, I can do so without having to fear that grandma is going to fall out of a window", says Seeck. "That was a joke. My grandmother is already dead,” he adds dryly.

In today's Russia even children's books are seen as suspicious, as the Barents Observer has previously reported. 

Advice for aspiring writers

Max Seeck approaches writing with discipline. He writes from 9 to 5 every day, except when he doesn’t. Six to seven months of the year are devoted to writing; the rest is spent promoting his work, travelling, meeting people and thinking.

“Coming up with ideas is the easiest part,” he says. “I always have plenty. People even give me their ideas.”

He writes chronologically, from beginning to end.

“I don’t plan the structure in advance,” he explains. “It’s so easy to edit as you go. If I suddenly realise on page 350 that the murderer is Harry—but Harry doesn’t exist—I just create him and add him in. It’s much easier than it must have been for Agatha Christie, working with a typewriter and paper that was difficult to revise.”

Max Seeck is one of the few Finnish writers able to make a living from writing books.

“I wanted to bring a business mindset into it from the start,” he says. “I wanted people to buy my books. I never compromise on content, but everything else is geared towards selling.”

“There are persistent myths about artists—the struggling life, the red wine and so on. I think I’ve managed to challenge that. Still, there’s this idea that commercial success somehow diminishes artistic value, that you shouldn’t aim to sell. I’ve never believed that. Writing is a profession like any other. So is painting or visual art. It’s absurd that artists should have to survive on occasional grants. If someone can make a living from it, that should be celebrated.”

Many writers hesitate to promote their own work, but marketing is something that can be learned, says Seeck. Recently, he was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in his hometown of Espoo.

“That was very gratifying. It felt like recognition from the business world—that this field matters too,” he says.

Seeck is often asked how to become a writer. He usually begins by asking how far along people are—whether they have a manuscript ready to send to a publisher.

“What surprises me is that, more often than not, they haven’t written anything at all. Perhaps they just have a few bullet points. It amazes me that people dream of writing but don’t actually write.”

“So my first and best piece of advice is this: write. It may sound flippant, but I mean it—write. And then let’s hope it’s good.”

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This article is published as part of an exchange program financed by Svenska Kulturfonden in Finland.