Another Scandinavian author here but another good one. Detective Harry Hole (maybe the name isn’t so obnoxious in Norway) is a non-recovering drunk. He goes through periods of time where he abstains but is not really interested in changing his lifestyle. He has a reputation for being quite hard-nosed but also completely reliable when it comes to work, therefore he is requested on certain cases. This story opens with an odd bank robbery which turns to homicide. The thief is cool, calm and extremely collected. The bank is only a few doors down from the local police station and yet he has timed everything to perfection and gets away with the crime. Harry is assigned the case with a young hot shot computer geek police officer who spends hours looking at video of the incident.
Simultaneous to this case Harry is called by an ex-girlfriend who wants to get together one more time. He wakes up the next morning with a killer headache and has no memory of what happened the night before or how he got home. He later finds out the girl has been shot dead in her flat. Is he the prime suspect? He cannot find his mobile phone and fears the worst. So while trying to figure out the bank robbery he is trying to exonerate himself on the sly. Just as they think they are narrowing down the robbery at the bank, another takes place and so they feel as if they are back to square one.
The stories go back and forth but are very easy to follow and at one point even take the main characters to the barrio in Brazil in search of a mastermind criminal in hiding. I am not so sure that this would be sanctioned as not only the costs to the police department but also no extradition hence the hiding place of many crooks. Anyway it makes for an interesting interlude and maybe even a red herring or two. I won’t tell you how either story ends but I am pretty sure you will be flummoxed! Bring on the next Nesbo.