Ane Riel is a Danish author. Her works include four fiction novels and, most recently, a short story collection:
- SMÅ STØD (Cuts and Bruises), short stories 2023
- URVÆRK (Clockwork), novel 2021
- BÆST (Beast), novel 2019
- HARPIKS (Resin), novel 2015
- SLAGTEREN I LISELEJE (Slagteren i Liseleje), novel 2013

Riel is often described as a new, exciting voice with a refreshingly quirky and original take on language and narrative. She likes to deal with the tortured or conflicted mind and enjoys pushing the plot to its sickest, darkest, even most grotesque limits. And yet the story never becomes unequivocally bleak or depressing since its characters and their actions are depicted with a degree of understanding, compassion and often, humour.
A fascination with contrasts and differ from the norm is a defining characteristic of Riel’s authorship. The same can be said of small, surprising twists that take the plot in unexpected directions.

Ane Riel debuted as a novelist in 2013 with THE BUTCHER OF LISELEJE (Slagteren i Liseleje). This humorous and grotesque tale won a debut award in Denmark and was soon sold to Germany and Norway.

However, Riel’s popular literary breakthrough came in 2015 with her second novel RESIN (Harpiks), a psychological drama about the little daughter of a hoarder.
RESIN has been sold to 31 countries including China, Spain, Germany and France. Also, the novel has won several national and international awards, including the Glass Key in 2016, claiming its spot as that year’s best Nordic thriller. Scroll down to read more about the awards.

It goes for both RESIN and THE BUTCHER OF LISELEJE that they were written and published in Denmark purely as works of literary fiction, and yet they were also welcomed into the crime genre. In some countries RESIN has since been presented as a thriller. Ane Riel herself regards RESIN as a psychological drama, not a thriller.

BEAST (Bæst), her third novel, is an epic story inspired by a true case of an unusually strong baby and with references to John Steinbeck’s work. The story is taking place in a rural setting somewhere in southern Europe. BEAST came out in Denmark in the Fall of 2019 and has been sold to six countries so far incl. Italy, Sweden, Germany and The Netherlands.

With her novel CLOCKWORK (Urværk) from 2021 Ane Riel returns to a setting of a tiny village in Denmark and a story involving only a very few people – unless you regard old clocks as people too. The novel is a loving portrayal of an old, demented woman living alone with an antique grandfather’s clock and the hazy memories of a marriage that didn’t end quite as it was supposed to. CLOCKWORK has been sold to the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Finland and Germany.

In 2023 Riel published her first short story collection, CUTS AND BRUISES (Små stød). All of the 11 short stories deal with death and loss, however in very different ways. Some tackle the subject with humor, others are melancholic, some are bizarre. In the end, though, all are dead serious. The final short story is a very personal account of the loss of a beloved mother.

To find out more about the books, read reviews, find press material etc. please go to
Ane Riel's official website (Danish and English)

AWARDS and nominations:

For CLOCKWORK
- shortlisted for the ThrillZone Award 2022

For RESIN
- The Glass Key / Best Nordic suspense novel 2016
- The Harald Mogensen Award / Best Danish suspense novel 2016
- Den Gyllene Kofoten / Best suspence novel translated into Swedish 2017
- The Golden Bullet / Best suspense novel translated into Norwegian 2017
- The ThrillZone Award (The Jury Prize) / Best thriller translated into Dutch 2019
- Finalist for The Danish Broadcasting Company’s Best Novel Award 2016
- Shortlisted for The Petrona Award 2018 / Best Scandinavian suspense novel coming out in the UK
- Nominated for The Readers’ Best Novel Award 2016
- Nominated