Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Cockroaches: The Second Inspector Harry Hole Novel by Jo Nesbo

Harry is a mess.  He still mourns his lost love and he's not quite out of the bottle yet.  He has no desire to go to Bangkok to solve an ambassador's murder.  He'll be even more angry when he finds out they really don't want him to...

Vintage Crime and Edelweiss allowed me to download an ebook of this story for review (thank you).  It will be published February 11th, so check with your local bookstore for a copy.

Mr. Nesbo doesn't write nice novels.  His are mean, ugly and very much on "the wrong side of the tracks."  Harry doesn't hang out at fancy hotels, his friends are weird and a bit unbalanced (just like Harry) and he's a pitbull when it comes to crime.  He also somehow does his job when others have set him up to fail.

The ambassador was knived through the back and left in a motel room waiting for a prostitute to show.  When she sounds the alarm, the investigation begins with Harry being sent to Bangkok.  Bangkok is well known for it's traffic in sex.  Anything or anyone you want there you can buy.  It's not a nice place to begin digging for facts and clues in someone's life.

Harry works with the local police chief, who is female and white.  They make a good pair and do a lot towards solving the crime.  Harry can tell he's getting close to the murderer because he suddenly hears the ambassador had a "heart attack" and he should head for home.  Do you think Harry listens?  If you do, you haven't read Mr. Nesbo's mysteries before.

There are a couple of things I like about Harry.  He's human; he has foibles, baggage and a few mental problems.  He's also a digger and refuses to accept the obvious answer.  He keeps looking for the holes in the story.  Or for enough evidence to close the door completely.  This makes a good police procedural even if it shows a hard side of life.  Nobody is innocent in this story; some just aren't guilty.

Happy reading.

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