Have you read Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason? It's a crime fiction/police procedural set in Iceland that was recently translated into English. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book being translated and made available here.

Well, M. M. Kaye was born and raised in India, but of English parents.
Ngaio Marsh is from New Zealand, although her detective is British

I found this when I googled "Japanese mystery writers":
Another very well known and admired writer is Shizuko Natsuki who has gained an international reputation for her work. Many of her novels reflect Japanese family life. A number of her books have been translated and published in English including, Murder at Mount Fuji (Ballantine, N.Y., 1987) and The Obituary Arrives at Two O'clock ( Ballantine, N.Y., 1988). Miyake Miyabe is a younger, distaff writer whose novel, All She was Worth (Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1997) is a fascinating examination of a murder in a consumer-crazed society. The late Takagi Akimitsu was enormously popular for his mysteries focused on corruption in the business world - The Informer (Anthos Publishers, Queensland, Australia) and No patent on Murder (Playboy Press, 1977). He also wrote The Tattoo Murder Case (Soho press, N.Y., 1999) and Honeymoon to Nowhere (Soho press, N.Y., 1999), both rather grim and bloody tales. One of the more prolific writers is Masako Togawa who specializes in psycho-sexual suspense stories. A number of her books are available in English including Slow Fuse (Pantheon, N.Y., 1995); The Master Key (Simon Grove, N.Y., 1985); and The Lady Killer (Simon Grove, N.Y., 1986). Ms. Togawa is also a nightclub singer and entertainer. An example of a bloody and ghostly murder mystery that is well written and riveting can be found in the Togakushi Legend Murders (Charles Tuttle, Vt., 1994) by Yasuo Uchida.

How is your Swedish? Your plan sounded exciting to me so I did a search on The Big A for "mysteries" and "translated" and came up with The Detective Inspector Huss Translated from the Swedish by Steve Murray by Helene Tursten, and it has 4 stars and is a police procedural. The lists of books bought by readers who like... lead me to other Scandinavian writers and to a Brazilian. Pursuit : An Inspector Espinosa Mystery by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (5-1/2 stars, but the official review is less generous) lead me to The Smell of the Night (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery) by Andrea Camilleri about a Sicilian detective. And so it goes. Bet the UK site has even more.

Netla, sheeze, the last thing I needed were more books to read. But I feel a tug, a stong tug, back to the realm of mysteries....

Good Luck, and let us know what you find that is good.

I'm giving a very enthusiastic recommendation of Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xialong which I finished just a few days ago. The author was born in Shanghai, although he has lived in the U.S. since 1989. The mystery is set in 1990 Shanghai. Chief Inspector Chen Cao is an immensely likeable character, an honourable man who also writes poetry and translates English mysteries. Much more than just a mystery, the book is a fascinating portrait of life in China. I'm very much hoping for a sequel.

mumby, there are two sequels to Death of a Red Heroine by Qui Xiaolong: A Loyal Character Dancer and When Red Is Black. I agree that Red Heroine is fascinating and Character Dancer is almost as good. I haven't read the third one yet.

What about Boris Akunin's murder novels? Several of this Russian writer's period-piece (19th century) mysteries have been translated into English now. The only one I've read is The Winter Queen and I liked it.

Australian Garry Disher's Inspector Challis series are procedurals that I've found quite fascinating. He's a homicide detective in Melbourne. The Dragon Man and Kittyhawk Down are the two I've read.

Here are two mysteries that I enjoyed, though they are not murder mysteries and in fact don't really involve the police at all.

Paul Coelho - The Zahir
Coelho uses the disappearance of the protagonist's wife to examine the nature of love and relationships.

Jostein Gaarder - Sophie's World
Gaarder uses a mystery to present a history of philosophy.

These are both books that do not hide the fact that the plot is just a device to present the author's view of deeper ideas. Coelho does beat you about the head and shoulder's a bit with his discussion of love and relationships, but the plot is still intriguing. The Gaarder is well done and a fun review of philosophical thought to boot.

Just ordered Jar City from the library-I love placing reserves on line!

Thanks for the recommendations sor far. (And please keep them coming :-)

Colormeconfused, I've read all of Arnaldur's books except the latest, and they keep getting better. I especially recommend Silence of the Grave. It won him the British Mystery Writer's Association's Golden Dagger for 2005.

Friedag, I'm reading The Winter Queen now, and liking it.

Thanks so much Frieda - I'm very excited to hear about the sequels to Death of a Red Heroine - especially since a quick online library search indicates they have both of them.

Australian writer Kerry Greenwood has a series set in the 20s or 30s with a main character called Phryne Fisher - anyone know how to pronounce that given name? I've heard 'Frin' or 'Fry-knee' but have never come across the name before.
The books are very popular and apparently are quite racy.