Harry Hole is not dead!

Were you left confused and befuddled by the ending of Phantom, the latest Harry Hole novel by Jo Nesbo? It ends rather ambiguously, with more than a hint that it might be the last Harry Hole novel. Well, fans of the series can rejoice because today Harvill Secker has announced Police, the 10th Harry Hole novel and the story takes up where Phantom left off.

Nesbo was in London two weeks ago for the Crime Thriller Awards, and was inducted into the Crime Fiction Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Agatha Christie, Val McDermid, PD James and Arthur Conan Doyle. Harry Hole’s life is somewhat less glorious and in Police we’ll find out what happened after he solved the murder of a junkie in Oslo and busted a Russian drugs ring that dragged in senior policemen. The new book will arrive in autumn next year and in it Hole will be trying to solve a series of murders in Oslo that appear to mimic previous unsolved cases.

For those addicted to Nesbo’s rough and tumble, recovering alcoholic cop, there’s even more good news. Shortly after Police comes out, Harvill Secker will also be releasing Cockroaches. This is the only remaining Harry Hole novel yet to be translated into English, and follows on from the very first Harry Hole novel The Bat. In Cockroaches – originally entitled Kakerlakkene – he’ll be in Thailand trying to solve the murder of the Norwegian ambassador to the country. We’d venture that the sleazy side of Bangkok will come into play somewhere along the line and throw Hole off course.

So far Jo Nesbo has sold over 15 million Harry Hole books worldwide, including three million in the UK. The books have been translated into 45 languages. Phantom reached number two on The Times bestseller list and stayed in the top 10 for seven weeks. Click here to read our comprehensive guide to the Harry Hole books.

Update: read our review of the latest Harry Hole novel, Police, right here.

Below is a video of Jo Nesbo talking about Cockroaches found on YouTube: