Wolf Hour

Nordic noir master Nesbø (Blood Ties) sets his sights on the American Midwest in this exquisitely plotted, darkly funny thriller that tackles gun control, police corruption, and psychological trauma in contemporary Minneapolis. The narrative toggles between two main plotlines. In one, disgraced police detective Bob Oz probes the attempted murder of a crooked gun dealer in 2016, an inquiry that develops into a serial killer investigation as more bodies pile up. In the other, crime novelist Holger Ruch pays a visit to Minneapolis in 2022, hoping to conduct research for his new book about a Midwestern policeman of Norwegian descent. Nesbø constructs poignant parallels between the members of his sprawling cast: for example, Oz’s main suspect, Tomás Gomez, is a former hit man grappling with a family tragedy that mirrors the baggage of Mike Lunde, an overworked taxidermist who proves instrumental in providing Oz with clues. Meanwhile, interspersed among the main story threads are passages from the perspective of a killer who’s simultaneously deranged and frighteningly logical. As the narratives converge and Nesbø reveals the precise nature of Ruch’s connection to the case, readers will have no doubt they’re in the hands of a brilliant storyteller. This soars. Agent: Niclas Salomonsson, Salomonsson Agency. (Feb.)