Scala Radio Book Club: Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo
The hunt is on, and the police are running out of time.
The world-renowned crime writer Jo Nesbo was Penny Smith’s first-ever guest in the Scala Radio Book Club on Thursday the 25th of May. Jo Nesbo chatted to Penny Smith about his latest Harry Hole novel Killing Moon, and how he went from working as a stockbroker to a bestselling crime novelist.
The hunt is on, and the police are running out of time.
Two young women are missing, their only connection being that they attended the same party, hosted by a notorious businessman. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.
They're facing a killer unlike any other.
And catching him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone. Struck off the force, down and out in Los Angeles, it seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry's life is put in grave danger, and he is forced to join the hunt for the murderer.
To catch him will push Harry to the limit.
He'll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to do what he can't do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye.
Penny Smith opened the interview by asking Jo Nesbo: ‘For those who are not familiar with your books, tell me about Harry Hole, this hard-bitten detective with a nose for crime, he can almost literally sniff it out, can't he?’
‘He's a tall guy, blonde. A stereotypical Scandinavian. I would think he’s a man of contradictions, he's this romantic cynic. He's working at police force in Oslo. He used to be married, but he lost his wife, so he's a widow. He's an outsider and has always been an outsider, an outsider looking in. In many ways, he probably feels more related to the criminals he is chasing than his colleagues at the police.’
Penny followed this by asking Jo Nesbo about his latest novel: ‘Tell us about Killing Moon. Where does Harry Hole find himself now?’
‘At the end of the last novel, Knife, Harry Hole had lost his wife and he had no reason to keep on living. At the end of that book, he rolls the dice and lets the dice decide where he should go, and he ends up in Los Angeles where his plan is to drink himself to death. And he is well on his way to succeeding when something happens.’
Penny quizzed Jo Nesbo about his writing style: ‘What I want to know is, do you start at the beginning? Are you one of those people who plots right from the get-go? Do you already know before you even put pen to paper or finger to computer. Do you already know the beginning, the middle, and the end?’
‘I usually will write a thorough synopsis of the book. Up to a hundred pages. When I start writing, I know exactly what the plan is. I may deviate a little bit from the plan, but the plot is there. I like the feeling of being able to tell my readers: “come sit closer because I have this story to tell you”. I like it when I get that feeling when I read a book, that it is planned. I'm not going along on the ride where the rider is just as excited as I am about where we are going. I mean that may for some writer’s work, but I'm the kind of writer who has everything to the last detailed planned’.
Penny Smith asked Jo Nesbo about how he got into writing: ‘You have got an incredible backstory, Jo, yourself. You have in the past played for a top Football club, you’ve worked as a stockbroker, and you were a singer songwriter in a band before you became a novelist. Remind us how you actually swung from that into writing a book which became a bestseller?’
‘I never gave up playing in the band. We're still playing. But this was back in 1997 and I really needed a break from everything because I was playing in the band, and I was the only one in the band with a day job. After an extremely busy year I needed a break. So, I was going to Australia, and I've been contacted by a girl I knew who worked at the publishing house and because I wrote the lyrics for my band, she had an idea that maybe I could write a novel. She wanted me to write a book about the band. I said, “I won't do that but maybe you'll get something else”. So, I went to Australia for a five-week vacation. And when I came back, I had the first version of my first novel, The Bat.’
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