The Redbreast

The Redbreast is a crime novel by the Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, published in Norwegian in 2000 under the title Rødstrupe, the third book in his Harry Hole series though the first to be translated into English, by Don Bartlett. The novel moves between a present-day investigation by detective Harry Hole in Oslo and an extended narrative set during the Second World War, following Norwegian volunteers who fought on the Eastern Front for the Waffen-SS during the Siege of Leningrad and the German occupation of Norway, using that dual structure to confront the historically contentious subject of Norwegian collaboration with Nazi Germany. Voted the best Norwegian crime novel ever written in a poll of Norwegian crime writers and readers, The Redbreast was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger and is widely regarded as the novel that established the Harry Hole series' international reputation.