Published in 1998, ‘Cockroaches‘ is the thrilling sequel to Jo Nesbø‘s debut novel ‘The Bat‘, the second in the ‘Harry Hole series’. It sees Harry Hole sent to Bangkok to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador: he arrives in a steaming hot Bangkok, but it’s work, not pleasure. Norway’s ambassador to Thailand is found stabbed to death in a brothel on the outskirts of Bangkok, and no witnesses have come forward: he had close ties to the Norwegian prime minister, and Hole is sent there to help the Thai police solve the crime before the scandal hits the newspapers. He quickly discovers that there is much more going on behind the scenes, with very few people who are willing to talk. When Harry lays hands on some CCTV footage that helps him unravel what happened that night, things only get more complicated: the man who gave him the tape goes missing, and Harry realises that failing to solve a murder case is by no means the only danger in Bangkok.
Although only two preliminary chapters of ‘Cockroaches’ are set in Oslo, prior to Hole’s departure for Thailand, they are important in introducing many people and locales which play an important part in later books. ‘Cockroaches‘ also introduces the general atmosphere of intrigues and sinister power struggles in the higher echelons of the Norwegian government and Oslo police, which are a regular feature of the Harry Hole series. Despite being the second of the Harry Hole novels, it followed the same fate as ‘The Bat’, being translated very late into English, fifteen years after its original release in Norwegian: the British and American publishers chose to start by translating the later books first, set in Oslo, and only after these became very popular they came around to publishing the first and second books, set in Australia and Thailand.
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