A couple of people have told me that if I like Scandinavian crime fiction, and I do, then I should try Jo Nesbo. So as i'm giving a talk "Wallander and Beyond" I thought I had better catch up with this Norwegian writer.
Nesbo's main character is Harry Hole a Detective with a drink problem (why do fictional detectives always have a drink problem are all real detectives alcoholics as well?). Harry is bit old school unashamed of acting on hunches and intuition but he is extremely intelligent and joins dots that his colleagues don't even realize are dots.
The Devil's Star, on the face of it, is the story of the hunt for a serial killer but it is in fact much deeper and cleverer than that simple premise suggests.
Nesbo is very good storyteller and I would highly recommend this series.
I've read a few Norwegian writers now and unlike Swedish writers they don't seem to place a great emphasis on a sense of place and atmosphere. These stories are set in Oslo but it could be London or Paris or any European city. For Norwegian writers the story rather than the place seems to be the important element.
On to the second one in the series now
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