Harvill Secker nets new Harry Hole novel from 'king of the cliffhanger' Nesbø

Harvill Secker has landed Jo Nesbø’s 13th Detective Harry Hole thriller Killing Moon. 

Liz Foley, publishing director, and Katie Ellis-Brown, deputy publishing for crime, thriller and crossover fiction, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Niclas Salomonsson at the Salomonsson Agency. The novel will be published on 25th May 2023. 

The publisher wrote: "Struck off the force and down and out in Los Angeles, Killing Moon will see Harry Hole drawn back to the city that haunts him to hunt down a killer unlike any other. Harry will need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives in Oslo to do what he can’t do alone: stop an unstoppable killer."  

The first Harry Hole crime novel — The Bat published in 2012 and translated by Don Bartlett — came about when a publisher commissioned Nesbø to write a memoir about life on the road with his band. Instead, Nesbø wrote The Bat. Knife (Vintage), the previous Harry Hole novel translated by Neil Smith, was published in 2019. According to Harvill Secker, Nesbø has now been published in 50 languages having sold more than 55 million copies of his books globally. 

Ellis-Brown commented: "Jo Nesbø is one of the world’s greatest, most celebrated crime writers and it is an incredible privilege to publish him. The ’King of the Cliffhanger’ never fails to deliver, and I cannot wait for Jo’s readers to discover what’s in store for the inimitable Harry Hole."