Arctic Shorts Books In Order

Publication Order of Arctic Shorts / Greenland Crimes Books

Arctic Shorts by Christoffer Petersen
Author Christoffer Petersen writes the “Artic Shorts” series of crime novellas. The series began publication in the year 2017 when “Katabatic” was released. The stories range in length from sixty to eighty pages long.

The series stars Constable David Maratse, and follows him early in his career. Each story explores a case from his past, before the events of “The Greenland” trilogy and “The Greenland Crime” series, taking place before his early retirement. He is a police constable during this series, and the stories features aspects of Greenlandic tradition, culture, and the stunning natural environment.

While writing these stories, he allowed all of the stories by Jack London his writing style. Oftentimes, he will imagine just how Jack London might have approached writing crime novels.

His love of Jack London began when he was much younger. He would read London’s stories under the duvet at night with a flashlight when he mother would tell him to go to bed. He found he couldn’t drop the whole Arctic, Canada, and Alaska. And the mountains, something he finds to be wonderful to read about.

He finds that it is tough to truly get a feel for what Greenland is like without actually being there, since everything that you believe you know about the world is entirely different. The culture is different and it is a different mode of living or a lifestyle since you are so close to the edge. That’s what appeals to Christoffer in his writing, too; the environment truly is one of the characters.

After he wrote twenty of these novellas, he decided to create a new series that centered around Petra Jensen before she met David.

“Katabatic” is the first novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2017. This is a short crime tale set on Greenland’s East Coast. A local hunter kills his brother during a bar brawl, and Police Constable David Maratse has to bring the killer home before he takes one more life. His own.

The story is fast paced, keeps you guessing, and is very eventful, packing a massive punch into a short amount of pages. It is a read that is thought provoking and meant to inspire discussion from people. Petersen does a great job of capturing the sense of isolation, loneliness, and desolation of Greenland, along with telling a compelling story line.

“Container” is the second novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2017. While ice forms in the wake of the final supply ship before the winter, David gets a call from somebody inside one of the shipping containers.

It is from a girl, named Balikka Margrethe Neqi, that doesn’t have any food and has just a little water. The race is on to find her fast. The only clues are few and confusing. It is all up to Maratse to sort it out.

Petersen does a great job of making his stories believable, and this one is quite compelling.

“Tupilaq” is the third novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2018. Dark deeds are done once the winter sun has gone. David enlists a shaman to help locate a missing child.

Readers found this to be great to read around Halloween, and has all of the elements of a campfire story.

“The Last Flight” is the fourth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2017. One unscheduled flight, going to an isolated Arctic island, brings one unwelcome guest and a flurry of violence with some tragic consequences for David Maratse.

“The Heart that was a Wild Garden” is the fifth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2018. A young couple brings home a newborn, David has to care for their rather challenging nine-year-old girl, named Iiluuna, before the entire family self-destructs.

There is a social worker in Nuuk that can take her in. While she is with Maratse, she runs away, as does his oldest dog.

Fans felt like they could see Greenland’s beauty and the stark reality that grows between people that care.

“Qivittoq” is the sixth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2019. When the pattern for one Greenlandic national costume gets stolen, Constable David has to locate the thief before they get expelled out of the community.

Petersen clearly feels a strong connection to Greenland, and it shows in his writing; from the way he describes the land itself as well as the people that live there. This story evokes emotion and feeling out of the reader.

“The Thunder Spirits” is the seventh novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2019. A body is found during one evangelical visit to an isolated Arctic settlement, and David Maratse has to locate the killer before a frenzy of faith covers up their tracks entirely.

This is another well written short with the special quality that comes from its setting in Greenland. Maratse is a humble guy with a sharp mind and excellent strength of character.

“Iluliaq” is the eighth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2019. A tsunami wave from a gigantic iceberg threatens to swamp one entire settlement, Constable Maratse has to persuade an old hunter and his wife to leave their dwelling.

Fans find that each of these stories make you feel as though you are in Greenland, observing these characters and how they have adapted to their sometimes tough yet always beautiful homes.

“Scrimshaw” is the ninth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2019. An elderly artist disappears in Greenland’s capital, Constable Maratse takes a leave of absence so he can bring him back home before he gets ruined by the city.

“Asiaq” is the tenth novella in the “Arctic Shorts” series and was released in the year 2019. Two ships collide during some international Search and Rescue exercise taking place off Northeast Greenland, Constable Petra Jensen and Constable Maratse have to rescue a gang of journalists that is trapped below decks.