Within the space of about a week last year, I received two emails from blogging friends about The Lake of the Dead (1942) by André Bjerke, voted in 2001 as the best Norwegian crime novel of all time and recently translated into English by James D. Jenkins.  The first email essentially said “Holy crap, you really need to read The Lake of the Dead!” while the second ran more along the lines of “Holy crap, whatever you do, don’t waste time on The Lake of the Dead!”…suffice to say, I was intrigued. Having now read it, I may side more with the latter perspective, but the book’s not without interest, especially in its gloomy atmospherics and intriguing first half.