Land Of Dreams, Sundstol - B -

                                               This is the first book of a Norwegian trilogy set in Minnesota, and my initial thought was, how odd is that?  Considering all the things Americans write about, clearly I was suffering from some sort of literary nationalism.  The story is set in and around the Duluth area, the westernmost point of the Great Lakes and in Superior National Park. The principal character and storyteller is Lance Hansen, a Park Service police man and local historian. The book goes into pleasant details about the Norwegian character and the history of the community.  It's an enjoyable tour of a part of the country I know next to nothing about. A Norwegian canoeist is found bludgeoned in the park and the investigative team is joined by a policeman from Norway.  The question is posed as to whether or not there had ever been a murder in the county before.  Lance, as the local master of the topic, begins to look into the the disappearance of an Indian in 1892.  Although it was never proved he was murdered, Lance slowly concludes he probably was - and by Lance's very own great-grandfather.  The murder is wrapped up with a suspect arrested (although he is innocent) about three-quarters of the way through the book.  Considering all of the mysteries I've read over the years, one might assume that I've developed some detection skills.  Not so. I never figure out "whodunit" - except here where it was clearly telegraphed.  I'm thinking of Groucho Marx's famous line about not wanting to be a member of any club that would take him. I'm not sure about the rest of a series, when it was so easy to figure out.