Which is, largely speaking, the case. Norway's cultural treasures are truly impressive. And in terms of crime fiction, the country's forbidding landscape - and the possibility for both the good and the bad to lose themselves in the vast reaches - is reminiscent of (but different from) the sprawling America of such writers as James Lee Burke. Similarly, the appeal may be that such canvases are a million miles away from the more geographically-restricted brand of crime fiction practised in the British Isles.
Among Oslo-based authors, Thomas Enger has already gained a reputation as one of the most unusual and intense talents in the field, with a cool eye for misanthropy. His novel, Burned (set to be released in New Zealand in October), has a provocative theme of religious fundamentalism.
"I am a product of my environment," Enger says. "As is my Burned protagonist, Henning Juul. Although he lives in one of the richest countries in the world, he is not at ease. He is an introverted man, a thinker, with a pronounced sense of responsibility and justice. Universal things, perhaps, but I think these are quintessentially Norwegian traits."
These days, however, few would argue that the uncrowned king of Norwegian crime fiction is Jo Nesbo. Books such as The Redbreast (2000) and his imposing 2007 novel The Snowman have propelled Nesbo to the heights. Apart from its narrative finesse, his work also provides a coolly objective guide to fluctuations in Norwegian society. There is also a universal feeling that his work is more strikingly individual than that of most of his Scandinavian colleagues. But that's perhaps inevitable, given the author's very varied background.
At 17, he made his début in the Molde football team, and dreamt of a glorious future at Tottenham Hotspur. But when he tore knee ligaments, Nesbo realised that his fate lay elsewhere. He decided to try music, and succeeded - his band's second album was a Norwegian bestseller for several years. Finally, though, on a 30-hour flight to Sydney, he began to write about detective Harry Hole.
Aware that this might be seen as "another crap book by a pop star", Nesbo sent it to a publisher under a pseudonym. The Bat Man (1997) was, in fact, published under his real name and won prestigious prizes. More have followed, including The Redeemer, Nemesis, The Snowman and The Leopard.
Harry Hole is a lone wolf, a chronic alcoholic separated from his wife and child but in touch with the zeitgeist of his country. And Nesbo gives us a sharp picture of Norwegian society in flux, crammed with relevant detail - as you might expect from an ex-freelance journalist, particularly where the role of the media is described.
If Nesbo is the king of Norwegian crime, there are two women vying for the title of queen. One is Anne Holt, the other Karin Fossum.
Fossum, who has worked in psychiatric wards and as a taxi driver, began her writing career in 1974. Her Inspector Sejer series, including Don't Look Back (1996) and He Who Fears The Wolf (2003), has been published in more than 30 countries. Fossum's Norway is an apposite setting for a long dark night of the soul. The latest Sejer mystery, being released here in September, is The Caller.
Fossum's first novel, Eve's Eye, was never designed to be a crime story.
"I made the decision half way through the book," she says. "And because it turned out to be a success, I continued in the genre ... I use the setting of a small rural Norwegian community - the kind of place that I know so intimately. I could never write a novel set in a big city, because, frankly, I don't know what it would be like. I believe I could commit a crime. We all can. It depends on which situations we find ourselves in. I would steal food if my children were hungry."
Anne Holt, a lawyer and for a time Norway's Minister of Justice, uses the traditions of mainstream crime fiction in playful fashion (Agatha Christie is a template), but largely stays within the culturally-received parameters of the field. But there is something subversive in the lesbianism of her investigator Hanne Wilhemsen. Hold (who shares her character's sexuality) has kept this aspect of Hanne on the back-burner - it is not necessarily the defining facet of her persona. However, the popularity of Holt's novel seems to suggest a ready acceptance of different sexual orientation.
She is aware of a particular Nordic literary legacy - the socially realistic and socially critical crime novel. "The diversity within this genre is greater than ever. Yet I would argue that most of us in the field have a Scandinavian foundation - something that is difficult to define. My novels are set in a rather rarefied stratum of society: a wealthy, highly educated, social democratic welfare state."
Yet there is a reluctance to foreground Norway - and Scandinavia more generally - in Holt's books. "I write about people," she says, "not about Scandinavia. I am less concerned about 'who did it?' and far more with 'why the hell did this happen?' It is never the principal goal for me to describe my own region - it is purely the means to a narrative end."
Holt's Fear Not is also due in New Zealand in September.
- INDEPENDENT
