Jo Nesbo's The Redbreast: A Review

written by Vivian Murphy

If you're a person interested in Scandinavian crime novels, then look no further--this mystery had me thinking even after I finished the novel. Jo Nesbo has you covered with the third book in the Harry Hole series: The Redbreast. The book centers around a secretive assassination plot with an old man at its center. In order to understand his motive, Harry Hole delves deep--against his chief's desires--into neo-Nazi groups active in Norway while we the reader get to look closer into the old man's past. Nesbo keeps us entertained as we learn various possible identities for his person, all of whom are Nazi sympathizers fighting on the eastern front of WW2. By following both Hole and the old man through his past we learn that Norway's postwar history is more complicated than it might look at first glance.

This is not Jo Nesbo's first work, nor is it the first book in the Harry Hole series and proceeds The Bat and Cockroaches. However, I've come to find that The Redbreast makes do more than fine without the context of prior novels (I had barely realized that there were prior entries in the series while I was reading it), although I am aware some things from previous titles helped establish minor events in The Redbreast. Future entries in the series may rely on some elements established in the novel--especially surrounding a side plot introduced partway through the book-- so it's a great jumping-in point to the series.

While correctly classified as a Scandinavian crime novel, some may find that the social critique of The Redbreast is de-emphasized in comparison to other novels in the sub-genre, especially with classic Roseanna and more contemporary The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. You'll find that the critique of social policy still runs deep in its blood--but it's not at the front and center as you would expect. What is at the front and center is the book's mystery, which acts as a conduit for its critique of how society decides to handle reconstruction after such an ideological conflict, and how botching that operation can drive some people into very dark spaces. The mystery of the old man, his intentions, and his abilities drive the plot as well--and are written in a way where you're always wondering what his next move is, or how the next part of his plan fits into the puzzle. I found myself making my own detective theories for the old man's motive and identity throughout the story, which is one of the highest commendations I can give any literary work--especially as Harry Hole would confirm or deny my suspicions in his investigation.

For any of you itching for a good mystery that runs deep and will twist and turn like a killer driving a knife into your chest, The Redbreast is a fantastic next read. It might bring some strange ideas into the conventions of its genre, but what is there is still a fantastic tale that will leave you waiting for the last shot of the old man's gun to ring out.