Author of the week

Jo Nesbo

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he undisputed king of “Nordic noir”, Jo Nesbos crime novels starring detective Harry Hole are among the bestselling in the world.

And now in his latest book Wolf Hour the 65-year-old author is crossing the Pond to address the complicated issue of gun crime in the US, namely Minneapolis.

“My father grew up in New York so we always had a strong connection to the US; says Jo. But his decision to write about the state of Minnesota was no coincidence.

In the latter half of the 19th century, thousands of Norwegians emigrated there because of economic hardship in Norway and Minnesotas opportunities to own farmland.

“Thad relatives there, it's probably the state which had the largest contingencies of Norwegians,’ says Jo.

“[think it’s only compared with Ireland’ says Nesbo. “To me, Minneapolis felt like the most Norwegian state”

Visiting the city to research the book he says it felt like going back in time, ‘Around the Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, it’s like it had been stuck in the Seventies - they have kept up traditions long abandoned in Norway”