Bargain @ $2.99 for Canadians from Random House Canada (probably just for 1 day; this is the Kobo Daily Deal in the Canadian store for Nov 26th and while the other Canadian stores seem to have price-matched it, the last time a Kobo Daily Deal additional price-drop expired, it went back up in all the stores to the $4.99 "sale" it had been previously) @
Kobo (non-couponable),
Amazon,
Google Play, &
iTunes:
Cockroaches by popular Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbø (
SYKM,
Wikipedia), incidentally a finalist for the Edgar, Macavity, and International Dagger Awards, according to SYKM, and a Glass Key Award winner, 2nd in his Harry Hole series starring an Oslo police inspector, this installment set in Bangkok where he investigates an expat death.
I've read the entire series and while this one isn't nearly as good the ones set in Norway, I
thought it was still a pretty decent read with some interesting bits which sets up Harry's character and professional approach well enough, and this is a fairly reasonable price to pay for it, IMHO, which I myself will be doing so shortly. FWIW, I personally wouldn't have shelled out the $4.99 they were asking for it earlier this week when it discounted from the $13 or so CAD it was when I started reading the series both from sale purchases and from the library. For #6 in the series, which I didn't get as part of my two omnibuses, sure if they'd put it on sale, but that was a much better story.
NB: despite the blurb implication, this is not actually a direct sequel to the storyline in the 1st book (currently the MR Book Club selection of the month for November) and while it does pick up with Harry's life afterwards, it can be read perfectly well standalone. Also, the 1st book is very non-representative of the series (technically, so is this one, but to a lesser extent and it does introduce a few of his future Oslo colleagues) and simply not all that well written, so unless you're a stickler for reading things in strict order, you can skip that and begin with this and not miss out on anything really important.
The thrilling sequel to Jo Nesbo's debut novel, The Bat, The Cockroaches sees Harry Hole sent to Bangkok to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador.
Detective Harry Hole arrives in a steaming hot Bangkok. But it's work, not pleasure. The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy motel room, and no witnesses have come forward. The ambassador had close ties to the Norwegian prime minister, and to avoid a scandal Harry is sent there to hush up the case. But he quickly discovers that there is much more going on behind the scenes and very few people willing to talk. When Harry lays hands on some CCTV footage that will help him unravel what happened that night, things only get more complicated. The man who gave him the tape goes missing, and Harry realises that failing to solve a murder case is by no means the only danger in Bangkok.