Mördaren i garderoben

Bilden av den omanlige mördaren i Steget efter och Nattsystern

Abstract

The Closet Killer: Illustrations of the non-masculine murderer in One Step Behind and Night Sister.

This article investigates themes of masculinity and sexuality in two Scandinavian crime narratives, One Step Behind (Steget efter) by Henning Mankell and Night Sister (Nattsystern) by Unni Lindell. The murderers in these novels reject traditional masculinity and instead invite femininity. This lack of masculinity is emphasized through the heterosexual frame narrative and is also linked to the violent crimes that are committed. Some heavy symbolism borrowed from the horror film genre is also investigated – such as mirrors and masks – and the use of these tropes, I argue, links the homosexual to the monster.