Blood on Snow

The undisputed king of Scandinavian crime fiction...I am so used to the energetic plot twists, fiendish violence and addictive verbosity of Nesbo’s writing that Blood on Snow, with its simplicity, brevity and unlikely poetry, comes as a welcome antidote. It is set in the 1970s, an era of increasing fascination to Nesbo, and has a first-person narrative that provides a window into its protagonist’s lonely, tortured soul

The Times

Pure, bloody, cold, atmospheric and engaging noir

CrimeFictionLover

A fine novel ...suspenseful. Blood on Snow has a lot of that romanticised masculinity one finds in for example mafia movies... it’s one of the contributing factors in making the best passages in this novel truly wonderful literature. If I were to highlight one particular quality, it would have to be how beautifully Nesbø has drawn up his main character and how effective Olav’s narrative voice is.

Dagbladet (Norway)

The story echoes many sources, for example mob films, Spaghetti Westerns, hard-boiled crime and social melodrama...The end, especially, is nothing less than a stylistic masterclass

Dagens Näringsliv (Norway)

Jo Nesbø’s unstoppable joy of storytelling has found a new avenue

VG (Norway)

Blood on Snow is Nesbø’s own “pulp fiction”, in two senses. It’s both a tribute to the simple, hard-boiled narrative style from the old days, but there are also parallels with Quentin Tarantino films... Nesbo’s joy of telling stories doesn't leave anything to wish for. As a tribute to the genre, Blood on Snow also succeeds in reminding us that many of these role models had literary qualities that should not be underestimated.

Dagsavisen (Norway)