The real Killing: Scandinavian criminologist reveals her secrets

A SCANDINAVIAN who performed at Eurovision threw in the life of glamour to work in the darker side of human behaviour as a criminologist. Here’s what she learned.

From pop starlet to crime fighter

JENNY Rogneby was a Swedish pop star with the world at her feet, performing onstage with Michael Jackson and representing her country at Eurovision.

But life in the spotlight made her curious about human behaviour, and she decided to leave the world of showbiz to learn more about what lurked beneath the glitz and glamour around her.

After studying criminology, sociology, law and psychology at Stockholm University, she found work as a criminologist with the city’s police force. Soon, the former starlet was immersed in a real-life version of the noir Scandinavian detective dramas that have hooked fans across the world.

Over the next seven years, Jenny investigated murders, robberies and rapes, experiencing what Danish hit The Killing or Swedish series Wallander would be like if you really lived them.

“I’ve always been interested in people’s psychology and behaviour,” the 40-year-old told news.com.au. “It’s interesting to know what happens in a person’s life to make them do these horrible acts, for society and because it’s important to know how to prevent them.

Jenny’s story echoes that of detective Sarah Lund in The Killing.

“I started seeing my environment in a different way, and thinking about people with difficulties. I wanted to know more about society, why some people have better lives than others.”

Jenny herself was adopted from Ethiopia as a one-year-old, by parents who were both in the Swedish army. She had a very different life to most other girls from her country of birth, taking piano and dance classes from the age of five. “It made me think, what is biology and what is society doing with us?” she said.

She believes we see people who deviate from social norms in every walk of life, “the music industry, or whatever”. Her job brought her into close contact with people from all sorts of backgrounds, as she routinely questioned every person connected with a range of offences.

The ex-girl band singer has seen the popular Scandinavian crime thrillers that have gripped the world, but says “some are more like reality than others”. Others, she and her colleagues simply could not watch.

She ticks off the misconceptions. “It’s far more difficult to investigate a crime than people think, to be able to get all the evidence for a person to be convicted.

“A lot of the technical things they have in crime series don’t exist in reality. It’s not that easy. An investigation could go on for years.”

A bleak Swedish setting works perfectly for crime dramas like Wallander.

She admits that her intimate relationship with the evil in humanity eventually took its toll. “It affects you, but when you’re working, you’re really focused on solving the case and getting to know what happened,” she said. “The more serious crimes, of course, you’re human ... Some stick with you.”

Jenny decided to leave the bleak landscape of Sweden’s criminal underbelly. She quit her job, sold her apartment and furniture and moved to the small, sunny island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

But rather than feeling traumatised by the violence and brutality she had seen, Jenny wanted to write about it. “This story came to me and wouldn’t let go,” she said. “A lot of crime writers don’t know much about police life. I know how criminal investigations work, how the law system works, these are places I’ve been.”

Her debut novel, Leona — The die is cast, follows female detective Leona Lindberg as she struggles to keep a grip on a strange reality and come to terms with her troubled past. The fictionalised account, based on Jenny’s knowledge of true crime, has become a bestseller in Sweden.

Jenny’s novel follows an eerie case based on her experiences.

“It is not the blood or the action that excites me most about the crime genre, it is how people deal with the ethical and moral questions that come from living on either side of the law,” she said. “Where are their boundaries and how do they justify their actions to themselves and to others?”

Jenny says she is as fascinated by the victim’s perspective and a witness’s point of view as by that of a criminal — but can she explain the global obsession with Scandinavian crime drama, having lived it?

“It’s when there’s some kind of mystery, something happens and you don’t know why. Everyone wants to know more about something they don’t understand.

“People have been interested in these stories since forever. Sweden is quite calm compared to many countries. In a calm society, people find they can relax and get into another world.”

It looks like the lethal cool of Scandinavian crime drama is set to endure for a long time to come.

Jenny Rogneby’s debut novel, Leona — The die is cast, is available now in Australia and New Zealand.

Originally published as The real Killing: Scandinavian criminologist reveals her secrets