WaPo Really Wants Norwegian to Be ‘Next Steig Larsson’: Do you like reading about dead Scandinavians? The Washington Post has your guy. Monica Hesse leads off Style by totally crushing on Jo Nesbo, the author behind a series of crime novels starring the alcoholic detective Harry Hole. Nesbo’s new book, The Snowman, came out yesterday, and you know it’s good because The Post included the cover of Nesbo’s last novel, complete with the Book World blurb, “Ranks with the best of American crime fiction.” Hesse observes Nesbo declining a reality show appearance, takes note of his home rock-climbing wall, and makes a lot of comparisons to Larsson. Except Nesbo was published in the U.S. well before The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo showed up; he’s only a big deal now because The Snowman is the “first of Nesbo’s to come to the States since the Larssonization of American bookstores.”

Dying for Their Equity: MetroStage’s production of The Real Inspector Hound features corpses. Well, living actors splitting the role of the cadaver lying under the couch. TBD’s Maura Judkis talked to the four actors taking turns to lie motionless on the stage for 75 minutes every night. For three of them, playing dead is their first gig in an Actor’s Equity production, putting them on track for higher salaries and benefits. “For the longest time, I considered myself a niche actor,” corpse portrayer Larry Levinson told Judkis. What does an actor do when pretending to be dead for more than an hour? “Sometimes I’m running lines for another show in my head,” Jim Epstein said. There’s also rug burn. Chaser: Judkis was one of 21 theater critics and reporters selected for the National Endowment for the Arts Theater Institute at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Best Band Gets to Play for Pizza-Chomping Drunks: The Hirshhorn Museum’s ARTLAB+ studio is hosting a battle of the bands for aspiring teenage rockers. The prize is a summer gig at Comet Ping Pong.

Yesterday on Arts Desk: The definition of Dope Body‘s Nupping. Film and Arts offices make their financial cases. D.C. promotes its dog-walkers in hopes of landing the next Katherine Heigl vehicle, perhaps?