Cockroaches - Jo Nesbo - Book Review

                I have been exploring a lot of Japanese thrillers and so thought it would be nicer to venture into newer locations. I got some recommendations on Norwegian thrillers which mostly featured Jo Nesbo and his Harry Hole series. I wanted to start with the first of his series 'The Bat'. But since that was not available at the library had to settle for the second one - 'Cockroaches'.
               The Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand is found murdered in a seedy hotel in Bangkok. The government assigns the case of Harry Hole a competent police officer with a drinking habit and has been particularly not to make much noise and create problems during the investigation as it is a diplomatic issue. He is not briefed much about the crime. In Thailand, he joins hands with the police force there. They form a task force headed by an American inspector, Liz Crumley working with the Bangkok police. In the course of the investigation, he gets to meet a myriad of odd characters - the ambassador's wife with a drinking problem, his one-handed daughter who is a swimmer, a psychotic Bangkok baddie, the Ambassador's driver with a hidden past, Norwegian embassy, a Norwegian financial adviser, a civil contractor apart from bumbling incessant traffic in Bangkok. Harry finds clues but also hits roadblocks during the investigation. Evidence leads to more confusion. How Harry overcomes the confusion and solves the crime in the city of Bangkok amidst the busy traffic, opium dens, and prostitution centres form the story.
                The book is an interesting read. Harry is not the perfect person. He had encountered some bad incidents in the past and has a problem with drinking and authority. The character arc and the way he thinks have been presented interestingly. There are quite a handful of characters who provides a long of suspects to us. The author is successful in keeping the suspect list growing and in turn, keeps us thinking about what could have happened. There is even an instance when the case is almost solved and Harry Hole has to go back and realize it is not. The odd characters are fun to read and keep us engaged throughout. Somehow, since the place of crime is Bangkok, we figure out that prostitution will be blended with the story. Usually, the author places the crime in his base location and proceeds with the investigation. The investigator will be knowledgeable of the terrain and culture. But having set the crime in a totally different continent and having the investigator feel the heat is a clever move. The suspense is well maintained till the climax. And there is ample violence in the story as in Swedish thrillers. 
This is my first try in Norwegian crime thrillers after some good books in Japanese and Swedish thrillers. A really good read indeed and a good writer to follow. A must-read for crime readers.