I liked listening to the first two Harry Hole books (not translated to English).
Read Rødstrupe (Redbreast) - meh. Listen to Sorgenfri (Nemesis), but didn't like it, and gave up halfway through (partly because of Tom Waaler). Haven't felt like going back to the series yet.
The two first books are set in Australia and Bangkok, and Hole is out on his own, working with the local police. Maybe this is why they worked better for me. In the others I found most people, and their actions irritating
