[ATDrake]

Finished Jo Nesbø's The Leopard, 8th in the Harry Hole, Dysfunctional Yet Brilliant Norwegian Inspector series.

Or perhaps I should say ex-Inspector, since this installment involves him having taken himself and his displaced addictions to Hong Kong* to recover from the aftermath of The Snowman, and having to reluctantly be persuaded to return to investigate a new apparent serial killer case which is baffling the Oslo police. Again.

There's a rather The Godfather-ish feeling to it: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…"

Anyway, Harry is eventually persuaded back, not for the crime's sake, but for his ill father. Which is probably just as well, since the actual crime case is riddled with interdepartmental in-fighting over who gets to actually investigate it (and end up with the ultimate credit), so Harry doesn't get his usual resources and backing and thus has to improvise.

This is seemingly another "themed" novel, with the major emphasis being on parent/child relationships, not only Harry's own, but also those of various suspects and victims in the cases and how their own relationships with their parents/children or the prospects of having them affect their motives and actions.

There's also a thematic undercurrent of how much culpability to allot not only to the active criminal (and other technically non-criminals who engage in or arrange for criminal acts), but also the guiding hand which enables and encourages them, from the career trajectory of former child soldier in the Congo, to an ambitious law enforcement official's use of certain types of officially-disapproved leverage, and the actual murders themselves. And also reputation† and what you'd do to preserve/enhance it in order to get where you've determined you want to go in life, if you happen to care that much.

I'd kind of wondered why the omnibus editions skipped from #3-5 to #7-9 (aside from also coming out from different imprints of the same house in English translation, which might affect matters).

And it looks like the reason for that is because just as #3-5 formed the linked "Oslo Trilogy" which followed up and eventually wrapped several particular threads which mostly started in the 3rd book, it seems that #7-9 are going to do the same with regards to the fallout from The Snowman case, as we see Harry's personal and professional lives directly drawing on certain callbacks to that, even at the apparent distance of a few years.

Although, since I've started on #9, Phantom, and so far no serial killers in sight or references to old serial killing cases being used to solve the crime as yet, I could be wrong about it and these are just a random convenient grouping made to encourage you to buy #6 standalone. Although it does seem like Harry's starting to climb out of the rock-bottom he hit, so #7-9 may actually be the mini-arc of his (latest) fall from grace and eventual recovery.

As for the actual murder case, it's a pretty clever setup with the usual multiple red herrings, but a surprising yet reasonable multi-part solution which can be probably be deduced from the provided clues for the various portions of it, despite the usual very deliberate misdirection meant to make you think that it's several other persons entirely.

Medium-high recommend. This is the 2nd best Nesbø Hole book since Nemesis, IMHO, perhaps because it has a great deal in common with that structurally and in terms of more serious examination of variations on lifestyle choices and the resulting character effects, alongside the usual thriller elements.

* And on a completely tangential note, I'd read years ago that Canadian and Hong Kong/Guangdong Cantonese had been diverging over the course of a generation or two, with Canada assimilating initial n -> l sounds in certain words and ngh -> mh for the negative particle. But I'd never actually thought I'd see evidence of it happen on page in a Nordic noir crime thriller, of all places.

† I'll just take the time to recommend Nesbø's standalone Headhunters, which plays with that theme very well, and has an entertaining and well-done film adaptation as well.