Softcover edition
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Author | Jo Nesbø |
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Original title | Panserhjerte |
Translator | Don Bartlett |
Country | Norway |
Language | Norwegian |
Series | Harry Hole |
Genre | Crime fiction |
Set in | Norway; episodes in Hong Kong, Rwanda, Congo (city of Goma) and Australia |
Publisher |
Aschehoug (Norwegian 1st ed.) Harvill Secker (English 1st ed.) |
Publication date
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2009 |
Published in English
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20 January 2011 |
Pages | 624 pp (English 1st ed.) |
ISBN | |
Preceded by | The Snowman |
Followed by | Phantom |
The Leopard is a crime novel by Norwegian novelist, Jo Nesbø. Its Norwegian title is Panserhjerte, which does not directly translate to The Leopard; it rather means something along the lines of "armoured heart". Moreover, "leopard" refers to the stealthy tread of the killer in the book, while "armoured heart" is what Harry Hole himself gains by his experiences. Panserhjerte is also a Norwegian term for Constrictive pericarditis. The Leopard is the eighth novel featuring Nesbø's crime detective, Inspector Harry Hole.
Following the traumatic events of the previous novel, The Snowman, former police inspector Harry Hole has exiled himself in Hong Kong. Kaja Solness, a new Norwegian Crime Squad officer, tracks down Hole and asks for his help in investigating a series of possible serial murders in Oslo. Solness convinces Hole to return when she tells him that his father, Olav, is seriously ill and will not live much longer.
Harry returns to the Crime Squad unit to find it engaged in a power struggle with Kripos—Norway's national crime investigation unit that investigates organized and serious crime. Its power-hungry head, Mikael Bellman, seeks to have all Norwegian murder investigations placed under his agency's jurisdiction. From the very moment of landing in Norway, Hole finds himself the target of Bellman's hostility—though the head of Kripos is not averse to obtaining the results of Hole's investigation and taking credit for them.
Harry is reluctant to become involved in the murder investigation until a female MP is found murdered in a public park. Contrary to Bellman's conclusions, Hole believes that the MP's murder is connected to the two other murders. He and Solness, teaming up with Harry's former colleagues at Crime Squad, start trying to find the killer, working under cover since the MP murder case is officially assigned to Kripos. While working together, Harry and Kaja find they have much in common and are increasingly drawn to each other, leading to a tempestuous love affair.