For nearly four decades, Wendy Lesser's primary source of information about three Scandinavian countries—Sweden, Norway, and Denmark—was mystery and crime novels. Having never visited the region, Lesser constructed a fictional Scandinavia of her own making, disproportionately populated with cops and psychopaths. In 2018, Lesser finally booked a flight for these scenic locales, and in this "beautifully crafted inquiry into fiction, reality, crime and place" (NYTBR), she reflects on her journey and ponders how the happiest countries in the world became synonymous with murder mysteries.