How is religion portrayed in the novel? Is it a force for good, evil, or something in between?

Discuss how performance and theatricality are presented in the novel. How do characters such as Wilhelm Barli and Tom Waaler create illusions by performing specific roles? What does Barli’s revelation that the murders are an elaborate performance say about the nature of deception?

Analyze Harry’s unique ability to see patterns and solve cases when no one else can. What is the personal cost of the qualities that make him an exceptional detective?

Harry plays by his own rules, violates direct orders, and trusts his instincts. To what extent are these behaviors presented as necessary for solving the case? Is there an example of Harry going too far?

How does the novel portray sexuality and sexual desire?

Choose an example of a red herring (a false or misleading clue) from the plot. How does Nesbø create the possibility that this clue might be significant? What does the false clue obscure or conceal?

Is Waaler’s death necessary? Was there another way that he could have been brought to justice? Will this outcome bring Harry more or less peace than an arrest and conviction?

Analyze how the subplots and personal secrets of minor characters, such as Vibeke Knutsen, Anders Nygård, and Sven Sivertsen, contribute to the novel’s argument that profound dysfunction may hide beneath a facade of normalcy.