Murder Mystery at the Museum

Norway has its Easter traditions like much of the rest of the world - Easter eggs, candy and a big Easter dinner - but one tradition sets it apart: Norwegian Easter is about solving murder mysteries. For old and young alike, Easter means reading a murder mystery or watching one on TV. Or this year, from April 16-25, visitors to Oslo's Norwegian Museum of Cultural History can participate in solving a murder based on a Sherlock Holmes story through clues planted throughout the museum, courtesy of historian and detective novelist Hans Olav Lahlum. The museum is also hosting an accompanying exhibition on international and Norwegian crime writers that Lahlum has organized.

"When the museum wanted to do something different than the typical egg exhibition for Easter, they asked me to recommend a writer," says Ingunn Lindborg, communications director at Cappelen Damm. Lindborg had previously helped the museum with an exhibition about the history of Cappelen. "Hans Olav Lahlum was an obvious choice," she says. "He is a historian by profession and has written several political biographies for us. He debuted last year as a crime novelist with Menneskefluene [Human flies], a classic locked-room mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, and he's very knowledgeable and resourceful. He said yes immediately!"

Some 15,000 people visit the museum every Easter, and many are expected to take part in the murder mystery fun, says Lindborg. "It's a great way to promote Hans Olav as a mystery writer," she says.