Knife

The twelfth novel in Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole crime series opens with the legendary Oslo murder detective at his lowest point. Rakel Fauke, Harry's wife, threw him out of their Holmenkollen home two months earlier, and he has plunged back into alcoholism, drinking to blackout most nights. His history with Rakel spans fifteen years and includes raising her son Oleg as his own. Katrine Bratt, the head of Oslo's Crime Squad Unit, assigns him low-level casework, but Harry wants to investigate Svein Finne, a serial rapist he first arrested decades ago. Finne, known as "the Fiancé," is in his late seventies, impregnates his victims, and kills them if they do not give birth to his child. Recently released from a twenty-year sentence, Finne warned Harry that his family should not feel safe. Harry found boot prints near Rakel's house and installed a hidden wildlife camera, but Katrine refuses to let him pursue the case.

Harry solves a domestic murder everyone else considered closed, deducing that a daughter, not her confessing father, killed her mother over a shared lover. Immediately afterward, Katrine and Police Chief Gunnar Hagen deliver devastating news: Rakel has been found dead in their home, killed by knife wounds. Forensics officer Bjørn Holm, Harry's closest friend, reports three stab wounds, including a fatal blow to the back of Rakel's neck. A knife is missing from the kitchen block, and the killer left no forensic evidence. The wildlife camera has been torn down, its memory card removed.

Oleg, now training as a police officer in northern Norway, reveals he had just asked Rakel to give Harry another chance. Sung-min Larsen, a young detective with Kripos (Norway's national criminal investigation unit) whom Harry once taught, confirms Harry's alibi: Witnesses and phone records place him at the Jealousy Bar, a bar Harry recently sold, until 22:30, after which Bjørn took him home. Forensics places Rakel's death between 22:00 and 02:00, and Harry is officially cleared.

In a parallel thread, Finne rapes Dagny Jensen, a teacher, in a cemetery and threatens retaliation if she reports the assault. Alexandra Sturdza, a forensic lab technician, discovers that Finne is the biological father of Valentin Gjertsen, a convicted murderer whom Harry killed during an arrest. This gives Finne a revenge motive. Harry recruits Kaja Solness, a former colleague now with the Red Cross, as his unofficial investigative partner. He persuades Dagny to wear a hidden microphone at a meeting with Finne, but Finne senses something wrong and leaves. Finne then sends Dagny a video showing a hand thrust into a bleeding wound, timestamped the night of Rakel's murder.

Harry photographs Finne at his son's grave, arrests him, and interrogates him in an abandoned bunker. After a brutal beating, Finne confesses and proves knowledge of the crime scene by describing a breadboard inscribed with a message from Oleg. The confession, however, is a trap. Finne's defense lawyer, Johan Krohn, brokers a deal exchanging a formal murder confession for three rape charges being dropped. A surgeon then reveals Finne was at a maternity ward the entire night of the murder, attending the birth of a child he fathered. The video clip showed that caesarean birth, not Rakel's killing. Finne engineered the confession knowing his alibi rendered it worthless, while the deal freed him from the rape charges. He is released.

Harry and Kaja investigate Roar Bohr, Rakel's boss at the National Human Rights Institution and a former Special Forces officer. Bohr's wife confirms he was not home the night of the murder and that he has severe PTSD. Bohr captures Harry and explains he has spent years watching over women to protect them from predators, driven by guilt over his younger sister's rape and suicide. He denies killing Rakel, and Harry confirms his alibi.

Harry investigates Peter Ringdal, the new owner of the Jealousy Bar, whose fingerprints appear on a glass in Rakel's dishwasher. Forensic analysis clears Ringdal, but blood on Harry's own trousers from the night of the murder matches Rakel's DNA, though Harry was not wearing those trousers when he visited the crime scene. He discovers a Tojiro kitchen knife, the one missing from Rakel's block, hidden on his shelf. He undergoes hypnosis with Ståle Aune, his longtime psychologist friend, and memories surface: waking on Rakel's floor beside her body, the door locked from inside. Harry concludes he killed Rakel during a blackout.

He writes a suicide note, burns it, and drives north intending to crash into a truck. At the last moment, a gospel song plays on the radio. Harry realizes someone changed his station from hard rock to country and pushed his car seat farther back than his own position. Someone else drove his Ford Escort that night. He wrenches the wheel. The car clips the truck, crashes through the barrier, plunges into a river, and goes over a waterfall. Harry survives and makes his way to Bohr's cabin.

Over thirty-six hours, Harry reconstructs the truth. The real killer arrived at Rakel's house before Harry's alibi window, stabbed her, and turned up the thermostat to delay the apparent time of death. The killer then went to the Jealousy Bar and slipped Rohypnol, a powerful sedative, into Harry's drink, drove Harry's car to the house, carried Harry inside, placed him in the blood beside Rakel, planted the knife on his shelf, locked the door from inside, and escaped through a basement window. The country music and reclined seat identify the killer: Bjørn Holm. Bjørn had secretly tested his son Gert's DNA and discovered the child's biological father was Harry, the result of a drunken encounter between Harry and Katrine during a brief separation in Katrine's relationship with Bjørn. Bjørn's humiliation and rage drove him to kill Rakel and frame Harry.

Harry returns to Oslo in disguise and confronts Bjørn, who does not deny it. Harry tells him no one else needs to know and hands him an untraceable pistol. Bjørn drives to the countryside near his childhood home, where he is later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Harry has set a parallel plan in motion. He arranges for Krohn, whom Finne has been blackmailing, to lure Finne to a lakeside bench. Harry tells Bohr that Finne confessed to raping Bohr's sister decades ago and provides the location. Bohr shoots Finne dead with a sniper rifle. Dagny Jensen watches from across the water, fulfilling Harry's earlier promise that she would see Finne die. Krohn tells police that Finne privately confessed to killing Rakel. Sung-min Larsen independently discovers forensic evidence that shifts the timeline and makes Finne a viable suspect, including Rohypnol in Harry's blood and an electricity anomaly at the house. Larsen tracks Finne to a remote cabin where a Tojiro knife with Rakel's blood sits on the counter, a knife Harry planted through an intermediary. Katrine holds a press conference exonerating Harry and naming Finne as Rakel's killer.

Harry visits Oleg in northern Norway. They go fishing and talk about Rakel. Oleg says he does not want the full details, only confirmation that someone other than Harry was guilty. Back at Oslo's airport, Harry sits at a bar with an untouched glass of bourbon, the departures board showing flights to cities where a man could disappear. Kaja calls from a Pacific island and invites him to Auckland. Harry pulls Finne's small metal dice from his pocket and rolls it along the counter.