In the depths of winter, two young women are found dead, both drowned in their own blood. Inspector Harry Hole, deeply traumatised by an investigation that threatened the lives of those he holds most dear, initially wants nothing to do with the case but his instincts take over when a prominent MP is found brutally murdered. The victims appear completely unconnected to one another, but it's not long before Harry makes a discovery: the women all spent the night in the same isolated mountain hostel. And someone is picking off the guests, one by one...

Reviews

"If you feel that personal responsibility, cracks in the welfare state and the problems of parenthood are fair game for the crime novel, then Jo Nesbo is your man. . . . If, however, your taste is for tough and gritty narratives with a relentlessly page-turning quality, well . . . Jo Nesbo is still your man. That he is able to combine the urgency of the best storytellers with a keen and intelligent engagement with social issues may well be the reason why Nesbo is shaping up to be the next big name in Scandinavian crime fiction."
-- The Independent
"Once you read a Nesbo novel, you're hooked on this author."
-- "The Chronicle Herald"
"If you like Michael Connelly, you're going to like Jo Nesbo."
-- "ELLE (France)"
"The new Raymond Chandler."
-- "Metro (UK)"
"Nesbo is a master of grimly fascinating, multi-layered intrigue."
"" -- "Winnipeg Free Press
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"This is not only Norway's best crime novel. It may be the world's best."

Following the intensity of events in Nesbo's previous novel, The Snowman, Inspector Harry Hole has literally and figuratively run away from home. Harry hides in Hong Kong's underbelly, drowning his sorrows and painful memories. He only reluctantly returns home to Oslo after two women are violently killed and his father lay on his deathbed, both events demanding Harry's attention and singular expertise. Nesbo's exceptionally dark, detailed, and visual writing makes this a quintessential thriller. Enhanced by the cinema-worthy performance of narrator Robin Sachs, this audio rendering of The Leopard suggests continual images in the listener's imagination. VERDICT Those adoring the work of Norwegian writers Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell will enjoy Nesbo's tales; fans of the detailed procedurals of Ian Rankin and Patricia Cornwell also will be enthralled. ["This vivid, violent novel promises to speak on many levels to many readers and will be snatched up by Scandinavian crime fiction fans," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Knopf hc, LJ 11/1/11.-Ed.]-Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In Nesbo's outstanding follow-up to The Snowman (May 2011), Insp. Harry Hole reluctantly agrees to return home from Hong Kong, where he's been hiding out for months, after an Oslo Crime Squad colleague tells him his father is in the hospital. Considered an expert after catching the serial killer known as the Snowman, Harry is marginally intrigued by the possibility of another serial killer loose in Oslo. Back in Norway, little links two murdered women except the unusual stab wounds in their mouths. When a mid-level politician's body is discovered in a possible suicide that's soon dubbed murder, Hole realizes a single killer is at work and not yet done. Nesbo moves the action easily from Hong Kong to Norway, with side trips to the Democratic Republic of Congo, without ever losing the plot's sense of urgency. Hole, put through the emotional wringer in The Snowman, doesn't get much of a reprieve in this intense outing. By the end, he's ready to concede that what he most wants is "an armored heart." (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.