Jo Nesbø, Headhunterne (2008)

- mens vi venter på Harry Hole.

Hovedpersonen i Nesbøs enkeltstående krimi er Roger Brown, Norges bedste headhunter, og også en ganske dygtig kunsttyv. Hans velafprøvede koncept går ud på, at når han interviewer kandidater til sine topposter, fletter han nogle spørgsmål ind om, hvilken kunst de har på væggene. Det fungerer rigtig fint, indtil han møder en ny klient, hollænderen Clas Greve, som også er en mester indenfor sit felt.

Roger Brown som har alt, inklusiv en smuk, højtelsket hustru, men desværre også et stort overforbrug af penge, træffer nogle forkerte valg i sit forsøg på at redde økonomien og holde på hustruen, og selvfølgelig følger der en katastrofal nedtur.

Historien er for så vidt underholdende nok, men efter en række fremragende politikrimier med personligheden Harry Hole, virker Brown som lidt af en overfladisk letvægter. Der skal også trækkes et point fra for et par uoverbevisende detaljer: en ellers intelligent forbryder på flugt bruger sin mobil uden at tænke på, at den kan spores, og retsmedicineren står ikke ligefrem til forfremmelse.

Bogen kan på mange måder sammenlignes med Caroline Minuscule, Andrew Taylors debut fra 1982 om den charmerende svindler William Dougal, og de kommer begge indenfor kategorien ´hvem tager røven på hvem´.

Jo Nesbø, The Headhunters.
Norwegian art crime - while we are waiting for Harry Hole.

This stand-alone has not been translated into English yet. The main character Roger Brown, is Norway´s most successful headhunter, and also an efficient art thief. His concept is as follows: while interviewing the candidates for his top posts, he includes some questions about which paintings they have on their walls. Everything works very well until he meets a new client, the Dutchman Clas Greve, who is also an expert within his own field.

Roger Brown who has everything, including a beautiful, beloved wife, but unfortunately also a massive consumption of money, makes some wrong choices in his effort to keep his house and his wife. The down trip is inevitable.

The story is rather entertaining, but after a number of brilliant police procedurals with Harry Hole, Brown seems like a superficial lightweight. A point must also be deducted for a couple of unconvincing details: an otherwise brilliant criminal on the run uses his mobile phone without thinking of how easily it can be traced, and the forensic examiner is not exactly in for promotion.

In many ways the book may be compared to Caroline Minuscule, Andrew Taylor´s debut from 1982 with the charming conman William Dougal, and they both belong to the category ´who fools whom´.