There are 10 books so far in Norwegian Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole Series, beginning with The Bat. The gripping series follows an alcoholic police officer with the Oslo Crime Squad whose personal (and professional) life is usually a total mess, but despite his faults — or maybe because of it? — he's a protagonist you continue to root for. My personal favorite (so far) is Nemesis, which is about a murder during a bank robbery, as some of the fascinating elements of the plot have stayed with me to this day. The Snowman is another especially spine-chilling novel from the series that even has a film adaptation in the works. Nesbo cleverly weaves in the perspectives of different characters and time frames throughout the chapters, something you see in other Scandinavian crimes series. He never fails to pull you from the very first sentence.
