This is Nesbø's first novel featuring the chain-smoking, alcoholic, Norwegian detective Harry Hole. Hole is sent to Australia to assist in the investigation of the murder of a young Norwegian woman. Soon the investigating officers realize her death is just one of a series of deaths involving young blonde women. While the investigation progresses, Hole finds himself in a romance with an ex-pat Swede. When things go wrong both romantically and the investigation goes deadly wrong, Hole falls off the wagon and must drag himself back into sobriety to figure out a way to catch the killer. This book was originally published in 1997 although not in English until 2012. I kept thinking how different the story would have been had cellphones and surveillance cameras been in common use. The audiobook was expertly narrated by John Lee who does a great job of differentiating the different accents although I'm sure native Aussies would criticize his attempt at their patois.
