Book #100: The Devil's Star

Title: The Devil's Star
Author: Jo Nesbo
Enjoyment: 7/10
Source: Ordered new from Amazon
Referral: The next in the series of Nesbo books

I wish that I had a great review for my hundredth book this year, but I don't. That's not to say that The Devil's Star wasn't an interesting read, because it was. The book definitely kept me reading. I actually think it may be my favorite of the three Harry Hole books I've read so far. But I don't remember the details well enough to do the book justice. In The Devil's Star, women start turning up dead in Oslo. One has a ring with a star-shaped red diamond on her severed finger, another has a star-shaped red diamond placed under her eyelid. Pretty soon it's evident that there's a serial killer at work in Oslo, and it's Harry Hole's job to find him, which distracts Harry from what has been his main objective for several years-- finding his former partner's killer.

Harry's lucky, because in The Devil's Star, he's finally able to figure out what we have known since The Redbreast-- the identity of the killer. And Harry's also lucky because the two investigations converge in The Devil's Star. The book is exciting and a little gruesome and while it's painful to watch Harry in a tailspin (he's in an alcoholic stupor for much of this book) it's also fun to see him be able to put one of his ghosts to rest. One of the things I've realized while reading the Harry Hole books is how connected Norway is to the former Eastern bloc countries. This is the second book that has a significant connection to Eastern Europe (and the next book continues in the tradition). The books have made me want to visit Oslo in a big way.