The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbø is a title sent to me by the wonderful people over at Penguin Random House.

I’ve seen the name Jo Nesbø on bookshelves for decades, and accidentally fell into the life of Harry Hole when I read The Snowman – the seventh book in the series. I also read “The Kingdom” where the author masterfully wove a tale of love, loss, and betrayal. So when I got the chance to read Nesbø’s first collection of short stories, I was interested to see what he writes when the haunted detective isn’t at the centre of it all.

Inside The Jealousy Man

The master of crime writing skillfully draws the reader in as some of humanity’s most powerful emotions play out on the page. The stories tell of a Greek detective who has become an expert on jealousy as a result of some hard-won lessons in his personal life. This title story, The Jealousy Man, was my least-liked. I found it dragging on none of the characters particularly likeable.

In another tale, a taxi driver in another country discovers his wife’s earring in his boss’s car and sets out to figure out how it got there.

A favourite tells about a woman on a plane heading to London, about to take her own life as a result of her husband’s affair with her best friend, seated next to a mysterious man. Then, in a dystopian America, the upper-class elite awaits evacuation atop a skyscraper while the masses struggle for survival in the streets below.

You’ll also meet two best friends on their way to the bull races in Pamplona as they fall in love with the same girl, and finally, a psychologist who also happens to be an assassin in the epic and vicious finale.

I really enjoyed being drawn in by Nesbø’s wonderful storytelling. Have you read any of his books?