"Will die from it"

Crime writer Adler-Olsen terminally ill with cancer

Bestselling author Jussi Adler-Olsen is terminally ill with bone marrow cancer.(Bild: Public Address / Action Press)

The successful Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen ("Erbarmen") is terminally ill with bone marrow cancer. The 74-year-old announced this in an interview with the newspaper "Politiken". 

"I am doing well. According to the circumstances," said the author of the crime series about special investigator Carl Mørck from Special Squad Q. "So I'm going to die of this disease. It's incurable. For the time being, anyway." He is hoping for new treatment methods.

Still receiving chemotherapy
Adler-Olsen reported that he was admitted to hospital a year ago and later spent almost six months in a special ward at the renowned Copenhagen National Hospital. He is still receiving chemotherapy and morphine.

Jussi Adler-Olsen's crime novels are also true bestsellers in German-speaking countries.(Bild: Public Address / Action Press)

Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of Scandinavia's best-known crime novelists. His Mørck novels are considered to be one of the most successful thriller series of recent years, and have enjoyed great success in German-speaking countries in particular. His tenth and final installment in the series, "Betrayed", was only published in March 2024.

Series to be continued
The series will now be continued by the authors Line Holm and Stine Bolther - with Adler-Olsen in the background - as the bestselling author announced at "Politiken". The eleventh part of the series will be published in Denmark in March under the title "Døde sjæle synger ikke" (Dead Souls Don't Sing) - with a female protagonist.