With unanimous acclaim, I hereby announce that we're going to go with The Snowman by Jo Nesbø.

We have plenty of time to get the book and order it from wherever, and if anyone has an electronic version (.mobi or .epub or the like) that they want to share with us, please let me know.

I've finished reading this book, and, while it was a very enjoyable read, I found it, at times, very hard to follow. The author jumps around in his timeline often enough that it can get confusing unless you're paying attention.

I also found Harry Hole to be a downer of a character. He doesn't inspire, even when he does good, like quitting alcohol, then it still isn't a high point in his life. He's got so many things going for him that could make him a brighter character, but, instead it's as though he chooses to wallow in his own self-destruction.

The plot is inspired and the way it twists is interesting. There are enough clues along the way so that you're always thinking about the solution, however, it wasn't immediately obvious.

The differences between North America and Norway are very noticeable in the novel, especially where the police are concerned.

I apologise but I can't find my copy of the novel! I read it about eighteen months to two years ago and loved the atmosphere Nesbo creates. I think one of the main problems people might have with this book and the character, Harry Hole, is that it's the fourth or fifth book in the series. Even though it's a "stand alone" story I think you need to read the others to gain an appreciation and understanding of Harry.

I'm about three quarters of the way through, should finish it this weekend, and then I'll comment.

Having now finished it has left me wanting to read others, but I think in order would be the best way. I loved the atmosphere created, something which a lot of the Scandinavian writers seem very good at. The differences in Police procedure weren't as marked for me as they were for LDV, possibly we in the UK are nearer to Norway in that respect. The plot was sufficiently devious to keep me guessing, and although I do agree that Harry is a bit of a depressing character in some ways I think that again this is a Scandanavian fiction thing. Look at the female detective in "The Killing", she has mental health problems and seems always on the edge of depression, OCD, combination of both. "The Millenium" series is also pretty downbeat in a lot of ways so I think Harry is a reflection of the Scandanavian genre.

I wouldn't have read this had it not been for the book club, so it has pushed me in a new direction, and I will definitely seek out others by this author.

Sorry I haven't contributed much to the discussion this month, but I spent over half of it trying to find the book and for the last week I got completely absorbed in the new Daily Challenges and just ran out of time! I agree with your comments Christinap, this was the first novel I read by Nesbo and I went out and bought the preceeding ones as soon as I had finished it.

I think I see what you mean about the Scandinavian fiction. I think that they let the emotions be much more pronounced in their characters rather than making them seem like the western ideal of 'heroic'.

Yes, as a sweeping generalisation, American detective fiction has the hero, who at worst,is a drunk, but still goes charging in all guns blazing to save the day. In the sort of golden age of British detective fiction you had the talented amateur, very popular, but again heroic, might tut tut over the frailties of the human condition but displayed very few themselves.

Scandinavian fiction though seems to interweave the mood of the detective right into the heart of the plot, and it allows them to be depressed, drunk, introspective, full of doubts about themselves. Perhaps it's something to do with living with 6 months of winter and darkness. I think it's something that Northern Europe may relate to rather more perhaps than America.