Helena Kubicek Boye is a Swedish author and psychologist best known for her psychological thrillers and fiction set in forensic clinics. She is the creator of the Anna Varga series, translated into German, Finnish, Spanish and English, and the author of Room 55 (2025), a suspense novel set in Sweden’s most notorious psychiatric hospital. She was awarded Innovator of the Year (2010) and was nominated for the Stora Psykologpriset the same year.
Helena Kubicek Boye was born in Lund, Sweden. She began her career as a reporter for Svensk Damtidning, Kvällsposten and Expressen. In 2005, she completed her psychology degree at Lund University and did her post-graduate training at the forensic psychiatric clinic in Säter. She later worked in psychiatry, primary care, organisational psychology and occupational health services.
In 2010, she was awarded the title Nytänkare of the Year for her work in digital mental health. That year, she was also nominated for the Stora Psykologpriset. She developed e-learning tools and psychological apps and gave lectures on health and sleep. In 2019, she gave a TEDx talk on sleep science.
Her early non-fiction works include Fri från depression (2008), Konsten att sova (2016) and Från depp till pepp (2016). She also wrote several children’s books, including Ballongerna — konsten att somna ditt barn (2017) and Sömnsagor (2019). In 2020, she wrote Sömnrummet for actor Mikael Persbrandt and has also written original stories for John Cleese.
Her fiction debut Innan snön faller (2018) introduced psychologist Anna Varga, working at a forensic clinic in Dalarna. The series continued with five more novels at Bokfabriken and gained international readership. Her fiction was described in Swedish media as “Sweden’s Twin Peaks”.
In 2023, she published De utvalda and Avdelning 21. She then launched a new series Profileraren, with Norstedts, following profiler Kattis Olsson and investigator Truls Reimer in southern Sweden.
In 2025, she published Room 55, a psychological thriller set in the Säter clinic. The novel follows Anna Varga, who arrives at the facility for a career restart. As she settles in, she becomes aware of disturbing rumours about Room 55. When a suspicious death occurs, she finds herself at the centre of a hidden story.
Photo credit: Martin Magntorn
