Nesbo, Jo. The Snowman

Nesbo’s flawed but brilliant detective, Harry Hole, faces down Norway’s first known serial killer in this fifth entry in the series.  Dubbed “the Snowman,” the serial killer abducts and, presumably, kills women, one per year, taking his victims on the first snowy day of the winter. He’s been operating for years but because there were no bodies found, it took the police far too long to pick up on the pattern. But now, suddenly, the killer has escalated his efforts, leaving one victim’s head perched on top of a snowman and taking several others out of sequence. Now Harry, Oslo’s only detective to have caught a serial killer previously, must escalate his own efforts to not only determine how the killer is picking his victims, but who the killer is…before more women fall prey to the Snowman.

Fast-paced and littered with twists, red-herrings, and thrills, The Snowman is sure to appeal to mystery fans. Despite being book five in the series, a reader with no previous experience of Harry Hole’s misadventures can enjoy this title from the get-go.