It is our pleasure to announce that Hans-Gunnar Axberger’s critically acclaimed book The Assassination of the Prime Minister – a painstaking inquiry into the Olof Palme murder investigation – has been awarded the Grand Non-Fiction Prize 2022. The prize is awarded annually to a work that promotes education and knowledge and is administered by the Axel and Margaret Ax:on Johnson Foundation. Here is the jury’s motivation:
By applying a prose characterised by austere elegance, the author offers an informed solution to one of the biggest riddles of our time: how come Olof Palme’s murderer was never caught? The portrayal moves effortlessly between the details of the investigation and the more comprehensive level, transforming itself into a blistering and solid judgment on the shortcomings of the judicial apparatus and public governance culture.
The book was also shortlisted for the August Prize in the best non-fiction category.