He is partnered with an Aboriginal detective, who takes Harry on a sightseeing tour of some local tourist attractions, restaurants, bars, and a stage show featuring a flamboyant character who performs as a clown, in drag, and a magic act. They visit a boxing match. There is a lot of filler about areas around Sydney. Harry is told Aboriginal folktales and legends and learns how indigenous children were separated from their families and divorced from their tribes and culture. Like many it was the adaptation of 'The Snowman' that alerted me to these stories, but that's the 7th book in the series.

A couple of years ago, the local bookstore I go to was pushing the Jo Nesbo books prominently, I had heard good things about them. I eventually decided to give the Harry Hole series a try and started with the first novel. Not knowing anything about the other books, which I hear are head and shoulders above this one, it read as rather a padded mystery with dipped into cliché. Harry, the foreigner, is teamed with another outsider, a senior aboriginal detective, and together they make inroads into the mystery killing. But it seems his fellow policeman knows rather more than he is willing to reveal. Although I love mysteries and thrillers, and have collected the Harry Hole series, this is the first mystery in the series that I have read. My procrastination meant that I could begin with the first book in Jo Nesbø's acclaimed series -- sometimes procrastination does pay off. A sudden, uncontrollable fury rose in him, and he cast around for something to smash. He snatched the whiskey bottle from the table and was about to launch it at the wall, but changed his mind at the last moment.We are presented with a human being at odds with himself but honest about his short-comings and still plagued by his errors, barely functioning as a cop; indeed should have been driven out of the force for misconduct.

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. I loved this pattern in The Redbreast, Nemesis and The Devil's Star but was growing a wee bit tired of it by The Snowman& The Leopard. (I would HIGHLY recommend those first three though.) His Australian colleagues call him Holy instead of Hoo-leh and Harry makes the decision that Holy isn’t too bad and doesn’t bother to correct their pronunciation. He prefers it to being called something most people associate with an orifice. Hole is assisted by Aboriginal colleague Andrew Kensington; together they find out that they are dealing with a serial killer who strangles blonde women.The passport official looked up from the special visa and studied him, but the pursed mouth was gone. Here we are,’ Andrew said suddenly. He pulled into the kerb, jumped out and took Harry’s suitcase from the boot.