More News from the North

Thanks to Martha P. for this story on "Easter Crime" week in Norway, in which people spend their Easter vacation skiing and reading mystery novels. Sounds like heaven. The novels part, anyway.

The hands-down most transcendent confluence of reading and atmosphere I have ever had was when Richard and I were in Lutsen, Minnesota, on the far northern shore of Lake Superior. We were staying in a cozy ski condo, and one early evening I was sitting on the porch reading Smilla's Sense of Snow while I could hear the fireplace crackling and see the Northern Lights do their thing over my head. I still drank then, too, and had a nice tumbler of bourbon in hand. That was heaven.