Harry Hole

Harry Hole is a Norwegian police detective who is sent to Australia to help investigate the rape and murder of a Norwegian girl who lived there. He is a well-respected detective with excellent skills, but his background is somewhat checkered. A few years earlier, he drank heavily and was responsible for the death of his partner when he was driving drunk during a high-speed chase. Harry's guilt over this incident is exacerbated by the fact that he was never punished -- in fact he was rewarded in a sense because his superiors staged a cover-up to avoid bad publicity. As a result, Harry has punished himself by giving up drinking, but he relapses following the death of his closest colleague in the Sydney Police Department, Andrew Kensington.

Harry also has a checkered personal history. His failed relationship with a former girlfriend named Kristin continues to haunt him...