Stella Blomkvist: A Sexy Sam Spade With A Law Degree

Óskar Thór Axelsson, one of the directors of Trapped (Ófærð) has been brought on board by Sagafilm to oversee an adaptation of the Stella Blomkvist novels which follows a hard-nosed lawyer who takes on mysterious murder cases and delves into the murky waters of Icelandic politics. The first book by the pseudonymous Stella Blomkvist, The Murder in the Ministry, will form the basis for the first series.

Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, head writer for the series told Variety: “She manages, somehow, to be the detective and the femme fatale in one package – she has that life-weariness and sexiness, combined in one character. She has flexible morality, she’s clever, she’s ruthless, she’s very witty – she’s a person who is navigating through the world on her own.”

“She’s in it for the money, but she has this one niggling problem – she has a conscience and a soft spot for the underdog. She’s kinda like Sam Spade, with a law degree and sexuality. We’re very proud of Stella, and we’re looking forward to introducing her to the world.”

“There are eight books in the series, currently – the latest book came out just this Christmas, I think. We’re adapting the first book first, and then we’ll see what happens – how well that goes. Then hopefully we’ll do the rest. There will be a book per series.”

“The first book, and the story we’re adapting, partly, involves the prime minister and it involves a murder in the prime ministry itself, and as we introduce the character, we are immersed in a lot of scandalous things.”

“In most of the work I’ve done previously, we’ve gone closer to reality than we are doing in this series. We are trying to go for a more stylistic look, with more stylistic touches in the format and the presentation of the series itself. We’re going to be using a narrator, we’re going to be using flashbacks.”

The series has so far been pre-bought by Icelandic broadcaster SkjárEinn and is in pre-production.