“Our stories are rooted in a sense of place, with cities like Oslo and Bergen becoming almost like characters in the books,” she said. “Norway’s scenery has dramatic mountains, deep fjords and scenery that fuels your imagination. If you start on the train from Oslo, you’ll travel from the east to the west of Norway and see all the changes in the landscape.”
Bestselling crime writer Gunnar Staalesen will be spending his Easter in a cabin solving a crime with his family. Staalesen is this year’s TINE mystery author, heir to a 30-year-old tradition. Each Easter, a Norwegian crime writer is tapped, along with an illustrator, to create a cartoon detective mystery that plays across Norway’s milk cartons over the period. Nine to ten million crime cartoon milk cartons are printed, making it the nation’s most read crime story.
“I know who did it, of course,” said Staalesen. “My whole family will be sitting around the table ready to solve my story, and I will be watching them. It’s not too hard to solve, and the children will probably get it first.”
AlamyThe dark, dramatic natural landscape of Norway naturally inspires noirish tales (Credit: Alamy)Does noir imitate life?
While Norway has one of the globe’s highest percentages of crime fiction readers, Statista deems it one of the safest countries in the world. Is it this very lack of crime that has fuelled a criminal fascination?