[1] Norwegian police officer Harry Hole is sent to Sydney, Australia to work with Australian police investigating the murder of a young Norwegian woman residing in Australia, Inger Holter.

Hole is assisted by Aboriginal colleague Andrew Kensington; together they find out that they are dealing with a serial killer who strangles blonde women.

As the story becomes more complex, Hole struggles to find the killer and falls deeper into alcoholism.

This order of publication caused an unintended spoiler, as Harry's reminiscences in a later book—published earlier in English—included the name and specific characteristics of the murderer in The Bat.

For me, the biggest insult to Nesbo was to see him advertised as “the next Stieg Larsson” when in fact The Bat was written eight years before The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.