The Snowman: A Harry Hole thriller (Oslo Sequence 5) [Paperback]

You'd be forgiven for thinking that 'snowman' was a slang term for a cocaine dealer - but you'd be wrong. In this, the fifth Jo Nesbo to be translated into English, there's a particularly nasty, hyper-intelligent serial killer of that name; a man with serious psychological issues rooted in a past event. Nesbo's marvellous creation - detective Harry Hole - initially struggles to get a handle on his identity and makes wrong assumptions, but ... I'll not give away any more of the plot.

The book is full of incidental invention, and it was only after finishing the book, when I thought back on everything that occurred within its pages, that I fully appreciated the author's genius. And believe me, that is not too strong a word for what's on offer here. It's not difficult to work out who the killer is (I don't think it's meant to be) but it's what the author does with the plot that counts: he takes familiar elements and twists completely new shapes out of them. Indeed the last fifty pages or so are almost unbearably tense and are as exciting as anything I've read in the past three years.

No-one in the world of crime fiction is producing better stuff than Jo Nesbo and that includes Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos, James Lee Burke et al. He is THAT good. I can hardly wait for the next one and If I had the money I'd pay the excellent translator, Don Bartlett, out of my own pocket to get them translated quicker! Counting up my personal Amazon ratings, I make that 24 stars out of maximum 25 for the five Nesbo books I've read. This, for me is a prime indicator of not only his stellar talent, but the sheer consistent brilliance of his output.

Translated by Don Bartlett.

There is no doubt in my mind that THE SNOWMAN is the best so far of Jo Nesbo's series about Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo police. The novel is a very well-plotted, exciting story, initially about two women, both wives and mothers, who go missing - the start of a case with many complicated directions. But more than that, the protagonist (Harry) is an engaging character whose blend of tough vulnerability and funny subversions of authority make the reader strongly identify with him. As with many modern heroes of crime fiction, Harry stands up for what is right, and for intelligent, deductive police work, not for fashion, political correctness or toeing any organisational or party line. As the novel opens, the reader is given some hints that the women's disappearances may be related to other events during the past 25 years, and that the appearance of a snowman is a common theme to these sinister happenings. Even without this information, Harry is immediately convinced that a serial killer is at work, on the basis of a mysterious anonymous letter he has received referring in unnervingly precise terms to a case long ago in Harry's career, when he caught a notorious serial killer in Australia, making him famous in his native Norway*. Ever since, Harry has wanted to track down a serial killer on his home turf, but has never encountered one (regular readers of this series may think that this assertion stretches a point or two, based on some of Harry's earlier cases, but never mind).
What Harry is interested in is a battle of wits - the traditional serial killer of detective fiction who is highly intelligent and leaves complex clues as to his or her plan and motivation, a "worthy opponent". Convinced this is the case here, he, with newcomer Katrine Bratt, recently transferred to Oslo from the Bergen police, and his old colleagues Magnus Skarre and forensic expert Bjorn Holm, rush to follow up the serial killer hypothesis, leaving another department to carry out the traditional investigation of following up tips from the public and so on.
THE SNOWMAN is a complex, intellectually satisfying plot with many twists and turns. I half-guessed what was behind one aspect of it, guessed wrong on another, and failed completely to spot a third. Every time events seemed to be explicable, something else happens to cause further confusion - and these constant wrong turnings are so well dovetailed together in such an exciting manner, as flaws in the logic of one outcome lead directly to the next phase of the chase, that this book really is impossible to put down. Not once, but time and again, we are forced to re-think what we thought was true, as the author shows events from a range of views and cleverly reveals just enough to stay several steps ahead of the reader.
The novel is superbly translated by Don Bartlett, who conveys the author's naturalistic, humorous style - and perhaps most importantly, Nesbo's sensitivity to the human condition, to fathers' relationships to their children, and to the random cruelness of biology. It's always hard to point to flaws in a crime novel in case one gives away too much to those who have not yet read it, but as usual with this author, I found the main climax over-elaborate, and spotted one or two other slight inconsistencies. I am also surprised that Harry remains so trusting of people, both in his home and at work, given what's happened to him in previous novels.
But never mind - this book is fantastic. It really is a must-read, not least putting to rest the unfair cliche that Scandinavian novels are all about doom and gloom - but mainly it's just a brilliant police procedural novel, whose plot and characterisation can't be beaten. Do yourself a favour and read it.

*These events are told in the first Harry Hole story, THE BAT MAN, due to be published in English in 2012.

A full version of this review appears at Euro Crime.

THE SNOWMAN is the first book by Nesbo that I have read. In fact, reading this has been a break away from the genres that I usually turn to; I rarely read crime novels. What drew me to the book was how snow and snowmen could be made into scary things. With this book, I realised how.

Nesbo is a fantastic writer. His story grabs you at the very beginning and it truly does not let go. The plot is also slowly built up; different threads and possibilities are woven into the story, some of which you may realise straightaway that they are relevant, others take a little more time before you see why they were there. All of the characters are well drawn too. Although Harry Hole, the policeman who is the main character, is a divorced, alcoholic, he does not read like a cliche. The struggles he has with the case, himself and his ex-wife were well thought out and you do not need to have read the other books in the Harry Hole series to appreciate this one.

An excellent read. Will make me look at snowmen in a whole new light, but I would recommend anyone to read this book - even those like me who never normally would.