Harry Hole is a brilliant and obsessively driven detective who uses unorthodox and sometimes illegal methods in his investigations for the Oslo Crime Squad. A recovering alcoholic prone to depression, the stress Hole's mental health suffers is often a focus of the stories. He has few friends and often clashes with colleagues. While later recognizing his problematic behavior and leaving the police force, he continues to find reason to aid with new criminal investigations even when it endangers him and loved ones. Classic “loose cannon” thrillers, the Harry Hole books are regular NYTimes bestsellers.

#10 Police

Inspector Harry Hole investigates a serial killer targeting Oslo's police officers in this installment of Jo Nesbø's New York Times bestselling series.

For years, detective Harry Hole has been at the center of every major criminal investigation in Oslo. His brilliant insights and dedication to his job have saved countless lives over the years. But as the killer grows increasingly bold and the media reaction increasingly hysterical, the detective is nowhere to be found. This time, when those he loves and values most are facing terrible danger, Harry is in no position to protect anyone--least of all himself.

#11 The Thirst

In this electrifying thriller from the author of Police and The Snowman, Inspector Harry Hole hunts down a serial murderer who targets his victims . . . on Tinder.

The murder victim, a self-declared Tinder addict. The one solid clue--fragments of rust and paint in her wounds--leaves the investigating team baffled.

Two days later, there's a second murder: a woman of the same age, a Tinder user, an eerily similar scene.

The chief of police knows there's only one man for this case. But Harry Hole is no longer with the force. He promised the woman he loves, and he promised himself, that he'd never go back: not after his last case, which put the people closest to him in grave danger.

But there's something about these murders that catches his attention, something in the details that the investigators have missed. For Harry, it's like hearing "the voice of a man he was trying not to remember." Now, despite his promises, despite everything he risks, Harry throws himself back into the hunt for a figure who haunts him, the monster who got away.

#12 Knife

Brilliant, audaciously rogue police officer Harry Hole from The Snowman and The Thirst is back and in the throes of a new, unanticipated rage--once again hunting the murderer who has haunted his entire career.

Harry Hole is not in a good place. Rakel--the only woman he's ever loved--has ended it with him, permanently. He's been given a chance for a new start with the Oslo Police, but it's in the cold case office, when what he really wants is to be investigating cases he suspects have ties to Svein Finne, the serial rapist and murderer who Harry helped put behind bars. And now, Finne is free after a decade-plus in prison--free and, Harry is certain, unreformed and ready to take up where he left off. But things will get worse. When Harry wakes up the morning after a drunken night with blood that's clearly not his own on his hands, it's only the very beginning of what will be a waking nightmare the likes of which even he could never have imagined.