The most ham-handed exposition ever: Dragon Tattoo

Everyone says I have to read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Why? Because it's about a journalist (I was a journalist). It's set in Sweden (I lived in Sweden). It's a book about a guy in Sweden (I wrote a book about a guy in Sweden). So at last I started Dragon Girl last night. Okay, first of all, it's not really the kind of book I usually read, but like many readers I think I'm drawn to this one by the locale, the very cool title (totally different from the original Swedish title, which is something like Men Who Hate Women - this one being far more appealing and an effective brand for the 3-book series). What is the strong connection between police procedural/thriller/mysteries and Scandanavia? What are readers so drawn to this connection? There is some way in which the darkness, stillness, austerity of the north, coupled with the Bergmanesque fatalism and spiritual gloom links to the noirish figure of the lone detective. Books (and films) that would in another setting be mere genre pieces gather a patina of literary excellence in the northern light (Smilla's Sense of Snow, books by Ullman [Liv's daughter], that DiNiro movie transposed to Alaska, can't remember title). So what about Dragon? It upsets the stereotype just a little bit by having the detective be a punkish (tattooed) waif - we'll see what becomes of her. But I have to say: I read +100 pages of the most hamhanded exposition I've read in years, maybe ever. Long, long stretches of characters explaining stuff, telling back story, ostensibly to fill in another character but really to us, it was almost comical, unbearable. Perhaps by page 150 the book will get moving - it must! - but so far the story setup, girl disappears on remote island and 48 years later wealthy industrialist hires disgraced writer to find the killer - seems wildly improbable. You just have to throw yourself into it and hope for the best.