Book review: Cockroaches, by Jo Nesbo

by Jo Nesbo
Harvill Secker
4 stars
Guy Haydon

Finally. English-language fans of the 10 Norwegian thrillers featuring insubordinate detective Harry Hole can now read translations of all of the books by Jo Nesbo.

Nesbo's novels, featuring nail-biting tension, shock twists and turns, and brutal, bloody killings - often carried out by his relentlessly violent, recovering alcoholic protagonist as he metes out his own form of justice - have been hugely successful around the world.

Yet his English publishers' curious decision to begin the translations partway through a series that started in 1997 means that only now do we get the chance to read Cockroaches, the second book in the series, which first appeared in 1998.

Norway's ambassador to Thailand has been found murdered in a cheap Bangkok brothel with an exotic knife stuck in his back. Local police have found no suspects and precious few clues.

So Hole, regarded as a celebrity crime-fighter in Oslo after hunting down a serial killer, is asked by the Norwegian government to solve the crime, but - more importantly - avoid any embarrassing revelations from being made public.