Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is the latest crime thriller to join Netflix’s growing collection, and it hits the right spot. The rain-soaked Oslo streets, the raw addiction storyline, the moral rot running through the police department, all of it contributes to how good it is. The Norwegian crime thriller series is as much about Harry’s case-solving abilities as it is about painting a realistic portrait of Oslo in all its shades.
So it’s no surprise that viewers have been asking the obvious question: is any of this actually based on something that happened? Here’s the full breakdown.
Is Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole about a true story?
Short answer, no. The show is not based on real life but is instead inspired by Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole book series. But the longer answer is a lot more interesting than a flat denial.
Nesbø conceived of the character in 1997 while dealing with burnout, working simultaneously as a stockbroker and a musician. A thirty-hour flight between Oslo and Sydney ended up giving birth to Harry Hole and his entire fictional world. As for where the name came from, “Harry” was inspired by a football figure Nesbø admired as a child, while “Hole” came from a real police officer in his grandmother’s village. Nesbø never actually saw that officer growing up, so he built a mythologised version of him in his head, tall, imposing, unknowable.
That mental image eventually became Harry. Nesbø has also described the character as inspired by and a tribute to Michael Connelly’s fictional detective Harry Bosch. So Harry Hole is, in essence, a layered composite: childhood memory, creative burnout, a real name, and a beloved literary predecessor all folded together into one deeply damaged detective.
What is Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole about?
Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is a Norwegian crime drama series adapted from Nesbø’s Harry Hole novels, specifically the fifth instalment, The Devil’s Star. The series is a whodunit serial killer mystery led by Harry Hole, a brilliant but tormented homicide detective who struggles with his demons. Underneath the surface it’s a character drama about two police officers operating on opposite sides of the law, with Harry going head-to-head against corrupt detective Tom Waaler as the two navigate the blurred ethical lines of the criminal justice system.
Nesbø adapted all nine episodes for Netflix and serves as showrunner. Tobias Santelmann plays Harry Hole and Joel Kinnaman plays Tom Waaler.
Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is streaming on Netflix.
Edited by Nibir Konwar