The last section was good, but prior to that I felt that the book was much longer than it needed to be. Like 200 pages could have been cut out, and you would still have a decent story.

I had read all the available Harry Hole books except for The Redeemer when I started reading The Snowman and while it can stand on it's own, I wish I had read The Redeemer first for some of the back story since I found some aspects confusing. That aside, I really liked this novel. It's fairly graphic compared to some of his earlier works and as usual, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting. Of course, like his other novels, there are also some areas that you need to take with a grain of salt, like the creation of the snowmen or how a significantly wounded person could leave no traces of blood. So, if you can ignore some of the slight plot holes, it's definitely a good read.

Harry Hole, along with his new investigating assistant Katrina, are looking into a string of murders where women have been mutilated and murdered across Norway and a snowman is the calling card.
Highlights:
-It's discovered that the children of two of the murdered women have seen the same doctor, but that doctor refuses to reveal the reason. Then the doctor himself "commits suicide" - actually murdered and the police have egg on their face after declaring him the Snowman.
-A journalist who was in contact with the doctor had affairs with a number of the murdered women and, although he wanted nothing to do with the children, took them to a specialist because he had a hereditary illness he worried his children would inherit.
-A policeman who was on the track of the Snowman years earlier is found dead and mutilated himself in the small town where he lived.
-Turns out Katrina is that policeman's daughter and inserted herself into the police force and the investigation in order to solve her father's murder.
-The murderer has a close connection to Harry and even made himself a part of Harry's life in order to control the murders and their investigation.

Reaction:
LOVED! Deep, long yarn that can't fail to draw you in. I loved Harry, the range of characters and the depth of the murder case. I can't wait to read more in this series.

Just finished this and really enjoyed the twists and turns of this thriller.

I liked Harry Hole. He reminded me of other complicated and damaged-by-the-job detectives like Harry Bosch.

I think the systematic brutalization of mothers is just not a topic I want to read about for entertainment. Particularly in a post-Roe America.

I keep coming back to this series despite having a number of issues with it ... all of which are neatly on display in this book. The occasional example of what is either really bad writing or poor translation, a worrying attitude towards women, a worrying attitude to mental illness, and a ludicrous number of twists which render the plot pretty nonsensical. It's exciting and engaging despite all that, and the central character is well drawn ... but there are a lot of issues. But I'll probably be back.

Some parts scared me but overall it was super detailed and a good story.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. The Snowman is the seventh book in Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole mysteries. I haven't read any of the other books, but I didn't feel that kept me from enjoying this one!

Jonas wakes early one morning to find his mother missing, the only sign of her a pink scarf worn by the Snowman that has suddenly appeared in the yard. Norwegian detective Harry Hole believes this is not the first such crime, but rather the work of a serial killer. There is much made in the novel of the idea that there aren't serial killers in Norway, which does stretch incredulity a bit, since this is so obviously the work of such a killer.

My biggest problem with this book was that I figured out who the killer was halfway through. It's possible that this is because I read books from an analytical standpoint, and I couldn't figure out any other reason for that person to exist in the story. The killer's reasons for killing were perhaps a bit suspect, but I can forgive that because he is, after all, rather mad.

The translation was excellent - unlike many books, I didn't feel like I was reading something a bit clunky. I would probably read another Nesbø book, but I won't be rushing out at once. Highly recommended for fans of dark thrillers (particularly if you, unlike me, don't care if you figure out the ending early on!)

I'm generally a fan of Harry Hole and am hesitate to accept substitutes, but this one, at the start, kind of threw me for a little because I don't care too much for serial killers.... I appreciated the more culturally-grounded motivations of a book like Red Breast or a personal grudge like Nemesis, etc. I just wasn't intrigued by another book of muzzy psychology, which these kinds of stories always seem to evolve into.

But I shouldn't have worried-- the motivations might've been psychological and rooted in childhood traumas, but the procedural elements of this mystery are top notch, as Nesbo's thrillers usually are, and I really liked this, thought it was brisk and well-paced. In previous books, I felt Nesbo through in one twist too many on the way to a resolution, but this one seemed to not suffer that problem. I knew pretty well that the second to last suspect wasn't the guilty party, and I think Harry did, too, so no harm, no foul.