Character Harry Hole's favorite Oslo restaurant: Schroder.
NORWEGIAN NOIR MAKES A COMEBACK
Can’t remember if I’ve ever seen a Jo Nesbø novel properly make the leap to streaming. There was that chilly, misfiring film version of The Snowman years back, but nothing that quite captured the brooding weight of his books. That changes—decisively—with Netflix’s new series Jo Nesbø’s Detective Harry Hole, released March 26.
The nine-episode Norwegian noir is drawn primarily from Nesbø’s fifth novel, The Devil’s Star, a fan favorite that pits Oslo detective Harry Hole against a ritualistic serial killer while circling a far more dangerous threat—a corrupt cop within his own ranks.
What makes this adaptation intriguing is that the 65 year old Nesbø himself serves as showrunner, shaping his damaged anti-hero for the screen rather than watching others fumble with the material.
Tobias Santelmann plays Hole as a man worn thin by drink, instinct, and a moral compass that flickers but never quite dies. Around him, Oslo is rendered a backdrop but also as an accomplice—cold, luminous, and quietly menacing. The series pulls threads not only from The Devil’s Star but earlier novels like Nemesis and The Redbreast, giving longtime readers a layered payoff.
Early reaction calls it a “gripping” and “stylish” addition to the Nordic noir shelf, even if the plot occasionally dares you to keep up. That feels right. Nesbø has never been about easy roads.
Bottom line: this is the first time Harry Hole feels at home on screen—messy, haunted, and entirely watchable.
If Netflix stays the course, they may finally have their Scandinavian answer to the long-form crime saga.
And, of course, we have Norwegian noir to savor and then there's Oslo.
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| Oslo's Vigeland Park surrounding Torshovdalen |
