by Jo Nesbo
Knopf 2013
448 pages Fiction
I dropped into the middle of the Norwegian Harry Hole series
of mysteries with the tenth book, Police. According to the review in the New
York Times, I shouldn't have done that. I was confused for quite a while, so I
would suggest, along with the Times reviewer, that you begin with Phantom, the
book that precedes Police. That being said, if you love dark, twisted mysteries
and police procedurals, you are going to love Jo Nesbo and Police. By far, it's
the best mystery I read this year.
Harry Hole is an incredibly intuitive police detective, and
although he doesn't appear until the middle of the book, his presence fills the
pages, and when he finally does show up, the plot thickens so rapidly that the
reader is left holding her breath, glancing out the window for intruders, and
making sure her husband is secure in the next room. The intensity is awe-inspiring.
There are grisly murders, unexpected deaths, suspenseful
moments, and unlikely escapes. At the same time, there is the political maneuvering
that one would expect in an urban police department, no matter where the story
takes place. The characters are all multidimensional and clearly drawn, but this
is one of those books where I needed to keep a list of characters. First of
all, they were all introduced in previous books, and then they all have
Norwegian names that don't slip off an American tongue--even one with a
Norwegian sister-in-law. Bad things keep happening to these interesting
characters, and I had to keep scratching them off the character list. As I said
before, it is intense.
If you need more than my recommendation, I would suggest
that you look over this brief review from Booklist: "Police officers in Oslo are being
murdered by a serial killer with a bizarre agenda: each victim is discovered at
a crime scene that mimics the scene of an earlier unsolved murder. Not only
that but the new victims all participated in the investigations of the earlier
crimes. Is the killer a fellow cop? Working as an off-the-books task force,
Harry’s former colleagues—Beate Lønn, Stale Aune, Bjorn Hølm, and Katrine
Bratt—set out to find the answers. It’s clear that Chief of Police Mikael
Bellman and his henchman, Truls Berntsen, are dirty, but are they killers?"
Hope that piqued your interest!
The reviewer in the Boston Globe says that Nesbo "never
fails to surprise" just like his hero, Harry Hole never fails to surprise.
P.S., The book is extremely well translated.
There is an interesting interview with Nesbo in the Chicago
Tribune. Here is a link: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-20/features/ct-prj-1020-jo-nesbo-police-20131020_1_harry-hole-crime-fiction-printers-row-journal
New York Times Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/books/review/jo-nesbos-police-and-more.html?_r=0
Boston Globe Review: http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/10/24/book-review-police-nesbo/6tep8MIY6BAIQsIVTSGJyI/story.html
Jo Nesbo's website: http://jonesbo.com/en/
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