Forget chocolate eggs—Easter in Norway comes with a side of crime! Every year, Norwegians stock up on crime novels, retreat to mountain cabins, and immerse themselves in Påskekrim—“Easter Crime.”

A Crime That Fooled a Nation
This tradition began in 1923 with a brilliant marketing stunt. A fake newspaper headline promoted the novel Bergen Train Looted in the Night, tricking readers into thinking a real heist had happened. The buzz was so intense that publishers made crime fiction an Easter staple—and it stuck.

Today, crime dominates Norway’s Easter:

TV stations air detective dramas.
Newspapers publish serialized mysteries.

Publishers release dozens of crime novels just before the holiday.
Even milk cartons feature mini-crime stories!

Why? With long Easter breaks spent in remote cabins, there’s no better time to get lost in a thriller—a love reflected in Nordic Noir’s global success (*think Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman).

Want to celebrate Easter like a Norwegian? Skip the chocolate, grab a crime novel, and let the mystery begin! Current best-selling novels in Norway are:

Into Thin Air by Ørjan Karlsson

Snow Fall by Jørn Lier Horst

Stigma by Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indriðason

The Sins of Our Fathers by Åsa Larsson