Monday, December 04, 2017

The Leopard by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2009, 2011: eighth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover

"In the depths of winter, a killer stalks the city streets. His victims are two young women, both found with twenty-four inexplicable puncture wounds, both drowned in their own blood. The crime scenes offer no clues, the media is reaching fever pitch, and the police are running out of options. There is only one man who can help them, and he doesn't want to be found. Deeply traumatised by The Snowman investigation, which threatened the lives of those he holds most dear, Inspector Harry Hole has lost himself in the squalor of Hong Kong's opium dens. But with his father seriously ill in hospital, Harry reluctantly agrees to return to Oslo. He has no intention of working on the case, but his instinct takes over when a third victim is found brutally murdered in a city park.

"The victims appear completely unconnected to one another, but it's not long before Harry makes a discovery: the women all spent the night in an isolated mountain hostel. And someone is picking off the guests one by one. "


Review

Leopard has the usual suspenseful thrills, twists-within-twists, and engaging and/or chilling characters as the two Harry Hole novels that preceded it. The bad guys are not hard to spot, but Leopard is more about the whys and hows the crimes were committed. This latest book runs a bit long in the end. That said, it is a minor nit, one that did not ruin my overall enjoyment of Leopard. Followed by Phantom.

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