Coming in a bit late to this thread, but I see there are Jo Nesbo fans out there. I recently finished his first Harry Hole book and am now reading the second. But these haven't been translated into English yet, unfortunately. I've read all the ones that have been to date and when I read The Leopard in German, before it was out in paperback in English, I discovered that there were two books I'd never heard of - The Batman and The Cockroaches. So if you want to find out more about Harry's background and can read French, German or Norwegian (yes, I know it's a lot to ask - not sure if they've been translated into any other languages to date, either) then I suggest you get hold of them. Otherwise, I believe they'll be out in English in 2012. I recommend them both.