The Land of Dreams (Minnesota Trilogy)
*Starred Review* Winner of the Riverton Prize for best Norwegian crime novel, this transplanted Scandinavian thriller is set in Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior and is the first book of a trilogy. Lance Hansen is a police officer with the U.S. Forest Service, but his real passion is local history. While making his morning rounds, he finds the body of a young man who has been bludgeoned to death. No one can recall a murder in this part of Minnesota, and, indeed, Hansen has to go back almost 100 years to find another—oddly enough, in the same area. Hansen calls in the local sheriff, who quickly refers the case to the FBI. The dead man, it turns out, was a Norwegian tourist, and the friend he was traveling with is the prime suspect. FBI agent Bob Lecuyer flies in a detective from Oslo, Eirik Nyland, who befriends Hansen. Hansen is just as intrigued by the story of a murdered Native American in the 1800s as he is in the current murder, and finds some ominous ties to his own family. The landscape is a big part of the story, as is the history of the area, making this a fascinating look at Minnesota as well as a suspenseful thriller. The novel will certainly appeal to Scandinavian crime-fiction fans, but the vivid Minnesota setting should expand its audience considerably. A fine mix of history and mystery. --Stacy Alesi