Review by Corinna Christopher
The author is a musician and economist from Norway and this book is the fifth crime novel translated into English and featuring Harry Hole. They have been a great success achieving rave reviews and likened to the Millenium trilogy of Stieg Larsson.
It would be difficult to describe in detail the core plot of the book suffice to say it is all about the pursuit of “The Snowman”. Harry Hole is the crime Inspector of Oslo Police Force and has with his colleagues the task of solving a particularly nasty series of murders, mainly of married women who have children. In the police department we have a clutch of interesting characters including the enigmatic Katrine Bratt who is not who she appears to be and harbours a terrible secret.
There are some chilling scenes and uncomfortable scenarios for the reader to grapple with before the ultimate denouement. The elusive “Snowman” is built at the crime scenes to tantalise the Police and the serial killer always seems to be one step ahead of his pursuers.
This is a big exciting thriller of a book which engages one right from the start. Particularly good were the numerous red herrings, each time Harry Hole thought he had the killer in his sights it turned out wrong and we were led on with another nail-biting clue, It truly kept the reader on his toes and continually turning the pages.
“The Snowman” however, is quite different from the Steig Larsson books apart from the different Scandinavian countries. The characters bear no resemblance and neither does the plot. It should be judged entirely on its merit.
I found it slightly ironical that both Norway and Sweden with such small populations should have all these terrible crimes in their main cities and also that so many of the people had fractured and disturbed personalities /
If you love unusual thrillers with interesting backgrounds this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
review by Corinna
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