Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole review | Nordic noir series plays the hits
A star rating of 3 out of 5. In the early 2010s, the entire world saw a Nordic noir boom, as the incredibly popular Scandinavian literary trend came to screens around the globe. The distinctive traits of the crime fiction sub-genre are as follows – each entry into it tends to follow a morally complex, troubled protagonist, who has a distinct knack for solving crimes amid a Scandinavian backdrop. They are also known for their presentation of particularly brutal violence and for their bleak, dark tone. With shows like The Killing and The Bridge dominating conversation, it wasn’t long before America and the UK tried to get on board the trend. A US adaptation of one of Jo Nesbø’s acclaimed Harry Hole books, The Snowman, was released in 2017 and was resoundingly panned. Now, almost 10 years on, comes a second attempt to bring Harry, one of Nordic noir’s most famous figures, to the screen. This time around, the adaptation is from Netflix, and they’re going right back to the source. A nine-part series, Detective …

