Lotte Petri lives north of Copenhagen in the small seaside town of Hornbæk. Following the immediate success of her first novel, Den 5. Plage (The Fifth Plague), which was published in 2009, she was nominated for the Danske Banks Debutantpris, a literary award for first-time writers.
She has a Master of Arts and a BCom in Economics and Marketing. She worked as head of marketing for the Danish Chamber of Commerce, located in the famous Børsbygningen in Copenhagen, for many years before deciding to embark on a career as an author. Since then she has written seven crime novels and one novella, all of which have garnered rave reviews. Her most recent crime novel, Black Notice, was named digital series of the year, and when Djævlens værk (The Devil’s Work) was published she was shortlisted as one of the 10 best crime authors in Denmark, featuring alongside names such as Jussi A. Olsen. Also in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 she was shortlistet along the best crime writers. Lotte Petri chairs the board of the Danish Authors’ Society and is a board member for the Danish Crime Academy. Petri often makes research trips to find inspiration for her crime novels, most recently visiting Gotland, Norway and Greenland. Lotte Petri also works closely with the police and forensic pathologists, whose help contributes to the criminal intrigue in her books.
Her novels The Sharman and the Specialist were nominated to Storytel Awards in 2020 and 2023.
The Devil’s work and the Man with the mask were published in Germany in 2020 (by Goldmann Verlag/Random house) and a second volume in the series will also be published at the German market and the rights are also sold to Inter in Kroatia and Euromedia (Czech Republik).
The novella Living dead has been translated into 8 languages and published in 14 contries. Black notice has just been published in Sweden.
The Specialist – the Preditor – (Storytel Original, 2022) has sold 50.000 copies and will be translated into several languages.
The series Black notice is being translated into English, Czech, Serbian, Spanish and Dutch in 2020.
The series Bloodangel is published in Scandinavia, The united States and Russia,.
”The 5th Plague” is the first volume in the series about the scientist and doctor Selma Eliassen. Selma is head of The Danish Epidemiology Institute and her task is to prevent biological threats against Denmark such as dangerous viruses and bacteria used for biological warfare.
In the 5th Plague Selma Eliassen suspects that terrorist are making plans against Denmark using the infamous anthrax-bacteria.
Water became Blood is the 2nd volume in the series. A man is found dead in his hotelroom. The autopsy reveals that he suffered from the dreaded Ebola virus causing haemorrhagic fever, which is cause for much concern, and once again, Selma Eliassen is faced with the challenge of finding the source of the disease in time.
Black Death – in Lotte Petri’s latest novel, a serial killer is infecting his victims with a genetically modified variation of Yersenia Pestis – the Black Death. It turns out that the case is related to the horrifying human medical experiments performed by the Nazis. “Black Death” is the 3rd volume in the series about Selma Eliassen.
The Lobotomist was published in March 2015 and is the 4th volume in the series with the scientist Selma Eliassen. The autopsy of a body reveals a terrifying mutilation of the skull: The pathologist finds evidence that the victim has had a lobotomy, a controversial form of psychosurgery, that became world famous in the movie by Miloŝ Forman: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. The evidence leads Selma to believe that they are dealing with a serial killer who collects morbid trophies in the form of biopsies of his victims’ brains.The novel has received excellent reviews.
More than a thousand skeletons are exhumed from a Danish cemetery in order to make space for a metrostation. The forensic anthropologist, Josefine Jespersen, is in charge of the project which many believe is opening a gate to hell. Shortly after her colleague is brutally killed – and the murderer has left a sinister sign, ingraved in her skull. The police has to consult an exorcist in order to solve the case.
The Devil’s work is published in Germany (Goldman Verlag), the Czech Republic (Euromedia) and Slovakia (Ikar).
BLOODANGEL I is a new series with crime investigator Sofie Engell. A skeleton is found with a big stone pressed into the mouth and the killer has removed the teeth. Soon a new body is found with almost identical mutilations.
BLOODANGEL II an arctic noir novel which takes place in Greenland. Sofie Engell is in charge of an investigation of several brutal murders in Nuuk. The killer is making strange dolls of bodyparts and animal bones initiating each murder. When a another doll is found the population fears for their life. BLODANGEL II is shortlisted for Mofibo Award 2020.
Black notice is an international thriller about a two bodies in wetsuit found in Norway and Holland. The story is based on a true story. Was nominated as the best series in 2018. Is translated into Swedish, English, Spanish, Finnish and Dutch.