The Perfect Setting for a Cold Winter Read:  Forty Days Without Shadow:  an Arctic Thriller by Olivier Truc

Winner of a number of international awards, this is a mystery set in the far north of Norway and Sweden, in what many uninformed (such as myself) would call Lappland (apparently a derogatory term like “Oriental”) but is more accurately referred to as Sapmi.  Although the narrative switches point of view throughout, the main lens is that of Klemet, a native Sami, and Reindeer Policeman.  Under the jurisdiction of the local police forces, the reindeer police largely settle disputes between the reindeer herders who populate Sapmi.  Life becomes a little more interesting for Klemet and his new partner, a young Norwegian woman named Nina, when an historic artifact (a Sami drum) is stolen from the local museum and, in short order, a reindeer herder is murdered. 

As the reader follows their investigation, one learns a tremendous amount about the culture, history and conflicts of this harsh, remote part of the world.  The disputes between reindeer herders when their reindeer wander into and mix with other herds are the least of the problems here.  There is the conflict between the herders and those who would like to vacation in the north with their snowmobiles, a threat to the local way of life as the machines are frightening to the reindeer.  There is also an historic religious aspect.  The Sami are, similar to many Native American tribes, polytheistic with shamans and mystical songs.  In earlier centuries when European Lutherans came to the North, they brought an extremely conservative version of their faith that advocated killing Sami who did not convert and destroying their religious objects like the drums.  Although in modern times when the story takes place, the pastors are less extreme, they are still hateful to and about the native people.  The region is also rich in ores and there is the conflict of mining and the get-rich prospectors whose efforts destroy the way of life of those who live there. 

The setting is a character in the novel with the title referencing the length of the day at the top of the world.  As the story begins, they are coming off of 40 days without any sun.  With each subsequent day, they gain about 30 more minutes of light.  Between the frigid temperatures (sometimes 40 below) , the abundance of snow and the lack of sunlight, it is a wonder that anyone survives there, much less thrives.

A long novel (at just a bit under 500 pages), it is not the page-turner that, say a Sue Grafton or Elizabeth George novel is, but I think it moved a little more slowly because, at least for me, the setting and culture were so unfamiliar.  That aside, I recommend the book; it is a solid mystery but an even more fascinating anthropological study of a place and a people with a rich history.