Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian crime writer best known for the Harry Hole novels, a dark detective series centered on an Oslo investigator with a messy personal life and a sharp mind. If you’re looking for Jo Nesbø books in order, this guide covers Harry Hole, his other connected crime novels, standalones, short stories, children’s books, nonfiction, and screen adaptations.
His books are usually tense, gritty, and twisty, with cases that move between Norway and other parts of the world. Some titles also have alternate English names, especially in the Doctor Proctor series, so I’ve grouped those together where they refer to the same book.
Jump to:
- Jo Nesbø Books by Series
- Jo Nesbø Standalone Novels
- Jo Nesbø Short Stories and Novellas
- Jo Nesbø Children’s Books
- Jo Nesbø Nonfiction
- Jo Nesbø Book-to-Screen Adaptations
- Who is Jo Nesbø?
Jo Nesbø Books by Series
Jo Nesbø’s main series is Harry Hole, but that isn’t the only connected set of books in his bibliography. The Kingdom books should be read together, and the Blood on Snow books work best in publication order too.
Harry Hole
Harry Hole is an unorthodox detective with the Oslo Police. He’s brilliant, self-destructive, difficult, and usually a problem for his superiors even when he’s right. The books build on Harry’s personal life and past cases, so publication order is the best way to read them.
If you’re only here for Harry, I have a separate Harry Hole books in order guide with more detail on that series. I’m keeping the full Harry list here too because it’s part of Nesbø’s complete bibliography.
Kill Shot has different publication years by edition, so I’ve listed both below.
- The Bat (1997)
- Cockroaches (1998)
- The Redbreast (2000)
- Nemesis (2002)
- The Devil’s Star (2003)
- The Redeemer (2005)
- The Snowman (2007)
- The Leopard (2009)
- Phantom (2011)
- Police (2013)
- The Thirst (2017)
- Knife (2019)
- Killing Moon (2022)
- Kill Shot (2027)
The Kingdom
The Kingdom works best as its own two-book sequence. These books follow the Opgard brothers, Roy and Carl, and they should be read in order.
- The Kingdom (2020)
- Blood Ties (2024)
Blood on Snow
Blood on Snow and Midnight Sun are linked crime novels. They don’t follow Harry Hole, and they’re shorter than many of Nesbø’s other thrillers. Read them in publication order.
- Blood on Snow (2015)
- Midnight Sun (2015)
Jo Nesbø Standalone Novels
These Jo Nesbø novels stand on their own, so you don’t need to read them around Harry Hole or any of the connected books above. I still like publication order here because his standalones shift from tight crime thrillers to darker, stranger material over time.
- Headhunters (2008)
- The Son (2014)
- Macbeth (2018)
- The Night House (2023)
- Wolf Hour / Minnesota (2025/2026)
Jo Nesbø Short Stories and Novellas
Nesbø has also written short fiction and shorter works outside his main novel series. Some of these are easier to find in English than others, but they matter if you want a fuller look at his bibliography.
- Karusellmusikk (2001)
- The White Hotel (2007)
- The Jealousy Man and Other Stories (2021)
- Rat Island and Other Stories (2021)
Jo Nesbø Children’s Books
Nesbø’s children’s books are a big change from his crime fiction. The Doctor Proctor books are silly, strange, and full of bathroom humor, which makes them very different from Harry Hole.
Doctor Proctor
There are five main Doctor Proctor novels. A few have alternate English titles, so I’ve included those in the list instead of counting the same book twice.
- Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder (2007)
- Bubble in the Bathtub / Doctor Proctor and the Time-Travel Bath Bomb (2008)
- Who Cut the Cheese? / Doctor Proctor and the End of the World. Maybe (2010)
- The Magical Fruit / Doctor Proctor and the Great Gold Robbery (2012)
- Silent (but Deadly) Night / Can Doctor Proctor Save Christmas? (2016)
Other Children’s Books
This title connects to the Doctor Proctor world, but I wouldn’t count it as one of the five main Doctor Proctor novels.
- A.Y.W.D.N.E. (Animals You Wish Did Not Exist) (2010)
Jo Nesbø Nonfiction
Nesbø is best known for fiction, but he also co-wrote a nonfiction book with Espen Søbye.
- Stemmer fra Balkan / Atten dager i mai (1999)
Jo Nesbø Book-to-Screen Adaptations
Several Jo Nesbø stories have been adapted for film or TV. If you’re trying to pair the screen versions with the books, here’s the simple version.
- Headhunters is based on Nesbø’s standalone novel of the same name.
- The Snowman is based on the Harry Hole novel of the same name.
- The Doctor Proctor books have Norwegian film adaptations based on the children’s series.
- The Hanging Sun is based on Midnight Sun.
- Killer Heat is based on the short story The Jealousy Man.
- Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is based on Harry Hole.
Who is Jo Nesbø?
Jo Nesbø was born in Oslo in 1960 and grew up in Molde, Norway. He studied economics and business administration at the Norwegian School of Economics before working as a financial analyst.
Before his crime novels took over, Nesbø was already known in Norway as the vocalist and songwriter for Di Derre. He also played soccer when he was younger, but a knee injury ended his dream of playing professionally.
His first Harry Hole novel came out of a trip to Australia. He had planned to write about life on the road with his band, but the story that came out instead became The Bat.
Harry Hole remains his best-known creation, but Nesbø has never stayed in one lane. He writes standalone crime novels, horror, short fiction, children’s books, screenplays, and connected stories outside Harry’s world.
Looking for similar books in order?
If you want more mystery/thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Mystery Books in Order index.