History YMMV / HarryHole

* GrowingTheBeard: ''The Bat'' and ''Cockroaches'' are not particularly highly regarded, as they suffer from a great deal of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and Jo Nesbo was still clearly finding his feet as a writer. It is the third book, ''The Redbreast'', which was the first that was set in Scandinavia, where Nesbo truly comes into his own, and the series vastly improves in quality from there.

* AccidentalInnuendo: English speakers may have to be forgiven for initially assuming these books are satirical or even pornographic based on the name of the protagonist. It ''really'' doesn't help that the ''[[Film/TheSnowman2017 Snowman]]'' film actually pronounces it as "hole" rather than the proper "ho-lay."

* CriticalResearchFailure: A plot point in ''The Redbreast'' involves a character on trial in South Africa and threatened with execution, and at the end [[spoiler:he is sentenced to death]]. The problem is that South Africa had abolished the death penalty well before 2000, when the novel takes place.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: It can be hard to care about following the series when everything just seems to get progressively worse with each book (with some exceptions), and nearly every case Harry solves can feel like a PyrrhicVictory, given how many people die or suffer by the end. It says something that [[FanonDiscontinuity if Harry actually had ''died'' at the end of ''Phantom'']] then the series might have still been ''lighter'', given what happens to him and his supporting cast in the subsequent three novels.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: It can be hard to care about following the series when everything just seems to get progressively worse with each book (with some exceptions), and nearly every case Harry solves can feel like a PyrrhicVictory, given how many people die or suffer by the end. It says something that [[FanonDiscontinuity if Harry actually had died at the end of ''Phantom'']] then the series might have still been ''lighter'', given some of what happens to him and his supporting case in the subsequent three novels.

* GrowingTheBeard: ''The Bat'' and ''Cockroaches'' are not particularly highly regarded, as they suffer from a great deal of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and Jo Nesbo was still finding his feet as a writer. It is the third book, ''The Redbreast'' where Nesbo truly comes into his own as a writer, and the series vastly improves in quality from there.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: It can be hard to care about following the series when everything just seems to get progressively worse with each book (with some exceptions), and nearly every case Harry solves can feel like a PyrrhicVictory, given how many people die or suffer by the end.

* CaptainObviousReveal: In ''Phantom'', it doesn't come as much of a surprise that [[spoiler: Cato is Dubai. His recurring appearances and the way he speaks to Harry suggest that he's a character who will be important later. Him being Gusto's father is also easy enough to guess because Gusto constantly addresses his father in his narration, and it's noted that Dubai seems unusually fond and trusting of him.]]

* IronWoobie: Harry, big time -- especially in the last few books.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: It can be hard to care about following the series when everything just seems to get progressively worse with each book, and nearly every case Harry solves can feel like a PyrrhicVictory, given how many people die or suffer by the end.

* CriticalResearchFailure: A plot point in ''The Redbreast'' involves Svarre Olsen on trial in South Africa and threatened with execution, and at the end [[spoiler:he is sentenced to death]]. The problem is that South Africa had abolished the death penalty well before 2000, when the novel takes place.

* IronWoobie: Harry, big time -- especially in the last few books.
* GrowingTheBeard: ''The Bat'' and ''Cockroaches'' are not particularly highly regarded, as they suffer from a great deal of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and Jo Nesbo was still finding his feet as a writer. It is the third book, ''The Redbreast'' where Nesbo truly comes into his own as a writer, and the series vastly improves in quality from there.

* CriticalResearchFailure: A plot point in The Redbreast' involves Svarre Olsen on trial in South Africa and threatened with execution, and at the end [[spoiler:he is sentenced to death]]. The problem is that South Africa had abolished the death penalty well before 2000, when the novel takes place.

* GrowingTheBeard: 'The Bat' and 'Cockroaches' are not particularly highly regarded, as they suffer from a great deal of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and Jo Nesbo was still finding his feet as a writer. It is the third book, 'The Redbreast' where Nesbo truly comes into his own as a writer, and the series vastly improves in quality from there.

* IronWoobie: Harry, big time -- especially in the last few books.

* AccidentalInnuendo: English speakers may have to be forgiven for initially assuming these books are satirical or even pornographic based on the name of the protagonist. It ''really'' doesn't help that the ''Snowman'' film actually pronounces it as "hole" rather than the proper "ho-lay."

* AccidentalInnuendo: English speakers may have to be forgiven for initially assuming these books are satirical or even pornographic based on the name of the protagonist.

* CompleteMonster: Among Nesbø's many monstrous villains, Valentin Giertsen from ''Police'' [[spoiler:and ''The Thirst'']] sticks out as quite probably the worst. A gleeful and utterly unrepentant sadist, serial rapist, and serial killer, Giertsen is dreaded even by other hardened criminals.

* CompleteMonster: Among Nesbø's many monstrous villains, Valentin Giertsen from ''Police'' [[spoiler:and ''The Thirst'']] sticks out as quite probably the worst. A gleeful and utterly unrepentant sadist, serial rapist, and serial killer, Giertsen is dreaded even among other hardened criminals.

* CompleteMonster: Although the killers in ''The Snowman'' and ''The Leopard'' are both given [[FreudianExcuse Freudian Excuses]], their actions still propel them well into Complete Monster territory.