Harry Hole, arguably crime fiction's favourite policeman, is back in Oslo after a couple of years in the East working as a debt collector of sorts. Except he's no longer a policeman - at least, not officially.
He's no longer on the force, but in his heart he is still
a policeman, and always will be.
He's back because Oleg, son of Rakel, the woman he loves, has been arrested and jailed on a murder charge and the police are convinced it's an open and shut case. However, Harry remembers the boy he regarded as a son as being incapable of killing.
And so his unofficial investigation into the case begins, sometimes with the help of old friends still in the force. As with all Nesbo books, the plot is complicated and tortuous, the background the hard-drugs scene - its ruthless suppliers, the mules and carriers and the pathetic ruined wrecks who are the users. There's some graphic content here, and it's a powerful argument against drug use.
The novel demands great concentration, and easily gets it - Nesbo is such a fine writer and plotter. But even by his standards the ending is startling. Nesbo fans won't be disappointed. Graeme Barrow.
