Book 2 in the
Internationally Acclaimed
Snow White Trilogy
Looking to escape the notoriety she earned for her part in taking down a notorious crime ring, Lumikki (“Snow White” in Finnish) departs for a few weeks in Prague, where she hopes to find anonymity among the throngs of summer tourists. Soon after arriving, though, she meets a strange young woman, Lenka, who claims to be her long-lost sister. Although she’s not convinced of Lenka’s story, Lumikki feels drawn to the girl. Soon she’s caught up on Lenka’s sad and mysterious world, piecing together a puzzle that takes her from the belly of a poisonous cult to the highest echelons of corporate power. On the run for her life once again, Lumikki must use all her wits to survive – but in the end, she might find she can’t do it all alone.
AS
WHITE AS SNOW by Salla Simukka * On-Sale Date: March 3, 2015
Price:
$9.99 paperback, $3.99 eBook * Skyscape
PRAISE
FOR BOOK 1 IN THE SNOW WHITE SERIES, AS RED AS BLOOD:
“Limned in stark red, white and
black, this cold, delicate snowflake of a tale sparkles with icy magic.”
– Kirkus Reviews(starred review)
“Simukka creates a tough, self-sufficient heroine in 17-year-old Lumikki Andersson in this first book in the Snow White Trilogy… Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won’t be disappointed.”
“Simukka creates a tough, self-sufficient heroine in 17-year-old Lumikki Andersson in this first book in the Snow White Trilogy… Fans of Nesbø and Larsson won’t be disappointed.”
–
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] YA novel in the tradition of Nordic noir—edgy crime novels set in frigid lands.”
“[A] YA novel in the tradition of Nordic noir—edgy crime novels set in frigid lands.”
–
Booklist (starred review)
“A compelling start, a strong female character, the rich background setting of Finland, and a hint of a Snow White retelling are highlights of this work.” – School Library Journal
“The Arctic setting of this import is used to full advantage, evoking a chilling mood and strewing genuine frigid weather obstacles in Lumikki’s way…The first entry in Simukka’s Snow White trilogy will tempt mystery readers back for more.”
–
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Salla Simukka is a YA author, translator, film & TV screenwriter, and winner of the prestigious 2013 Topelius Prize (Finland’s oldest prize in recognition of the best Finnish book for children and young people.) She is also the youngest recipient of the Finland Prize, which was awarded to her by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture in 2013 in recognition of her exceptional artistic achievement. Simukka lives in Tampere, Finland.
CHAPTER ONE
Thursday, June 16
Shirley
Manson’s voice flowed into Lumikki’s ears, assuring her that she only listened
to sad songs, only found comfort in black nights, and always loved bad news.
The sun shone in a perfectly cloudless sky. Eighty-two-degree heat sent sweat
trickling down Lumikki’s back. Her arms and legs were sticky. If she’d licked
the back of her hand, she would have tasted salt. Each strap on her sandals
felt like one too many. Her toes and the soles of her feet yearned for freedom.
Sitting down on a stone wall,
Lumikki took off her sandals, pulled up her legs, and wiggled her toes. A group
of Japanese tourists stared. A couple of the young women giggled. Hadn’t they
ever seen bare feet before? Hello, I’m
from the land of the Moomins. Moomins don’t wear shoes.
It wasn’t raining like in the
song. It hadn’t rained for five days.
Lumikki couldn’t sing along with
Shirley because then she would have been lying. She could be happy without
rain. Like now. The sun was shining and she was happy. She didn’t want things
to be complicated. She didn’t feel good only when things were going wrong.
Shirley could keep her doom and gloom. Lumikki switched off the music and let
the tourist chatter fill her ears.
Italian, Spanish, American
English, German, French, Japanese, Russian. In the melee of languages, it was
tough to pick out individual words, let alone phrases. It was actually a relief
because then she didn’t have to concentrate on the trivial repetition of
obvious banalities. Lumikki knew exactly what most people said at this spot.
What a view!
And it was. There was no denying
it. The view over Prague was stunning. Red tile roofs, treetops, church towers,
bridges, the Vltava River glittering in the sun. The city took Lumikki’s breath
away. Even after five days, she still wasn’t used to this sight. Every day, she
made her way to some high place just to gaze at the city and feel this
inexplicable joy.
Maybe it was the freedom of
detachment and solitude she felt. She was completely on her own. She wasn’t
accountable to anyone. No one was calling for her and no one wanted to know her
schedule. She didn’t have a single responsibility. Thoughts of preparing for
her senior year of high school and working for the second half of the summer
could wait until she was back in Finland. Now there was only her, the blazing
heat, and the city, which breathed deep sighs of history.
It
was June 16. Lumikki only had a week left of her Prague vacation before she was
supposed to return to Finland to spend a traditional Midsummer with her
extended family, this year in the Turku archipelago. She hadn’t known how to
refuse when her father assumed that of course Lumikki would come. She didn’t
have anything else going on, did she? A cabin rented with some friends? Special
plans with a special someone?
No, nothing. Lumikki would have
preferred to spend Midsummer at her apartment, alone, listening to the silence.
She didn’t yearn for merry schnapps songs, new potatoes, or herring. She didn’t
want to play the role of the diligent schoolgirl, smiling and chatting
politely, giving vague answers to questions about the future and boyfriends,
pushing away uncles who weren’t biologically related and hugged her just a
little too long.
But she knew Dad really wanted
her to come. Mom too. Only three and a half months had passed since Lumikki was
in the hospital. She’d been shot in the thigh, but luckily the bullet had only
grazed the skin. Much worse was the frostbite she got from lying in the snow.
Working to unravel the mystery of a trash bag full of blood-soaked cash thrown
into her classmate Elisa’s backyard had gotten her in trouble with a network of
drug smugglers. Tracking Elisa’s dad, a narcotics cop on the take, had led
Lumikki to a lavish party at a carefully guarded mansion. There, she’d learned
that the leader of the smuggling operation, known as Polar Bear, was actually
two women who were identical twins. Lumikki had been forced to flee when Boris
Sokolov, Polar Bear’s thug, recognized her.
Based on Lumikki’s testimony,
Sokolov and Elisa’s father both ended up behind bars, but no one could touch
the Polar Bear twins. After everything that happened in March, Lumikki had
decided that, from now on, she truly was never going to stick her nose in
anyone else’s business ever again. She had been chased, nearly frozen in a
freezer, and shot. That was quite enough, thank you very much. No more blood.
No more sleuthing or running for her life through the snow in slippery combat
boots.
For a while, Lumikki’s mom and
dad had wanted to keep her at home in Riihimäki, north of Helsinki. They’d even
pushed to give up her tiny apartment in Tampere, but Lumikki wouldn’t hear of
it. She spent all spring delivering newspapers to cover the rent, convincing
her parents to keep the apartment “just in case.” For the first few weeks,
though, there was no point trying to get them to let her stay there overnight.
Lumikki just accepted the situation and took the train all the way to Tampere
for school every day. Gradually, her parents saw how impractical the commute
was, and Lumikki started slowly moving her things back to the apartment. One
overnight there turned to two, two turned to three, and eventually, in May, she
announced that she would only be dropping by Riihimäki every once in a while.
Period. Her parents didn’t say anything. How could they have stopped her? She
was practically an adult, after all. Lumikki could pay the rent from savings
and her small student stipend if she had to.
After school ended, Lumikki wanted a break.
She booked a ticket to Prague, looked for an inexpensive room in a hostel,
packed her backpack with just the bare necessities, and left.
The moment the airplane took
off, she could feel the relief in her gut. Time away from Finland. Away from
her parents’ constant anxiety. Away from the streets where she sometimes still
flinched when she saw a man dressed all in black. Lumikki had spent her whole
life fighting fear. She hated fear. As she walked off the plane at the Prague
airport, she felt the heavy chains loosen their grip. Her posture straightened
and her steps became surer.
That’s why Lumikki was happy.
That’s why she turned her face toward the sun, closing her eyes and smiling to
herself. Breathing in the scents of Central Europe. Digging through her
backpack, she pulled out a postcard of the Charles Bridge lit up at night. She
decided to write a quick note to Elisa, who was “Jenna” now because she and her
mother had changed their names. That was the only way for them to stay safe
after what happened with Elisa’s father. Lumikki still thought of Elisa as
Elisa, though. They lived in
Oulu now, in the north of Finland, and Elisa was studying cosmetology. She
wrote to Lumikki from time to time to keep her up to date. In the last letter,
Elisa had written about finally visiting her father in prison and how it hadn’t
felt as bad as she had imagined it would. It had been important to see her dad.
In her letters, Elisa sounded surprisingly calm and a little more mature than
before. The events of the winter had forced her to grow up and take
responsibility. She couldn’t be daddy’s little party girl anymore, and surprisingly,
that seemed to fit her much better than her previous role. Lumikki was pleased
that things were going so well for her, given the circumstances.
Actually, Elisa had made this
trip possible. She’d sent Lumikki a thousand euros from the thirty thousand
thrown into the yard before turning most of the rest over to the police.
Lumikki told her parents that she was paying for the trip from her savings, but
Elisa’s gift meant she didn’t need to touch them. It felt good to get the blood
money used up and out of the secret compartment in her dresser where it never
seemed to leave her alone.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over her
face. The scent of incense with a hint of hemp soap overpowered the general
smell of the city. Lumikki opened her eyes. Next to her stood a girl in her
twenties wearing white linen trousers and a loose, long-sleeved shirt made of
the same material. Her brown hair was done in two braids that wrapped around
her head to form a crown. There was uncertainty in her gray eyes. The girl
fingered the worn leather strap of her shoulder bag, which was the color of
cognac.
Lumikki felt mild irritation.
She had seen the girl a few
times before. She’d been watching Lumikki, apparently thinking she wouldn’t
notice. They kept visiting the same tourist spots and crossing streets around
town at the same time. The girl looked a couple of years older and was also on
her own. Probably some sort of hippie looking for a traveling companion to sit
with in parks drinking warm, cheap red wine and discussing the deep
interconnectedness of the universe.
Not that there was anything wrong with that,
but Lumikki had come to Prague specifically to be alone. She didn’t want any
new friends.
When the girl opened her mouth, Lumikki had already
planned what to say. It would be brief, polite, and cold. Cold always worked.
Despite the hot weather, though, by the time the girl reached the end of her
sentence, a different kind of cold had crept up Lumikki’s spine and given her
goosebumps. “Jag tror att jag är din syster.”
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