''The Devil's Star'' ( no, Marekors, literally "The Nightmare Cross",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) is a

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

writer

Jo Nesbø Jo Nesbø (; born Jon Nesbø; 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian writer, musician, economist, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014; his work has been translated ...

, the fifth in the

Harry Hole Harry Hole (the surname pronounced as "HOO-leh"), whose name translates to "Harry Hill" in English and is also called "Harry Holy" by allies in the Australian police force,'' The Bat'' by James Nesbø, first novel of the Harry Hole series. Origi ...

series. An English-translated version of the book named ''The Devil's Star'' was translated by Don Bartlett. The story moves between two parallel themes – the appearance of a new serial killer terrorizing Oslo, and Harry Hole's ongoing feud with the corrupt and utterly ruthless fellow police officer Tom Waaler, which was already a major part of the plot of the two previous books, "

The Redbreast ''The Redbreast'' ( no, Rødstrupe, 2000) is a crime novel by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, the third in the Harry Hole series (although the first in the series to be available in English). A large part of the book is laid at the time of the Seco ...

" and "

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

". Eventually, the two issues converge – enabling Harry to resolve both in the course of a single cataclysmic night.

Plot introduction

A young woman is murdered in her Oslo flat. One finger has been severed from her left hand, and behind her eyelid is secreted a tiny diamond in the shape of a five-pointed star – a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...

, the devil's star. Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case with his long-time adversary Tom Waaler and initially wants no part in it. But Hole is already on notice to quit the force and is left with little alternative but to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor and get to work. A wave of similar murders is on the horizon. An emerging pattern suggests that Oslo has a serial killer on its hands, and the five-pointed devil's star seems to be the key to solving the riddle.

Synopsis

Pursuing his suspicions during the Nemesis investigation,

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

attempts to convince the

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is use ...

that his colleague, Tom Waaler, is a criminal

arms dealer The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and servi ...

known as 'The Prince'. Due to a lack of evidence, Hole is refused and goes on an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

binge Binge or Binges may refer to: Behavior Binge, a behavior engaged in excessively over a short period of time, such as: * Binge drinking * Binge eating * Binge-watching Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Binge'' (EP), a 2018 EP by Machine Gun Kel ...

. His superior reluctantly sends termination of employment papers to the Chief Inspector, but Hole gets a short reprieve as the Chief is on holiday for three weeks and thus cannot sign them. Meanwhile, a murder victim is discovered dead in her shower, shot in the head. Waaler is appointed to lead the investigation, but Hole and his former partner Beate Lønn are attached to his team. Hole, investigating the murder scene, discovers a small, red, five-pointed

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

under the

eyelid An eyelid is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human eyel ...

of the victim and that a

finger A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

is missing from her left hand. Another murder is presumed when the director of a theatre production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' reports that his wife has gone missing. Her finger is later sent to

Kripos The National Criminal Investigation Service ( no, Den nasjonale enhet for bekjempelse av organisert og annen alvorlig kriminalitet, previously ''Kriminalpolitisentralen''), commonly known as Kripos, is a special agency of the Norwegian Police Ser ...

; it has a ring on it with a small, red five-pointed diamond. A few days later a third victim is found, this time in the female toilets at a law firm, also on the floor and a five-pointed red diamond on the body. Yet again a finger has been removed. Waaler – who has heard about Hole's suspicions – offers to include him in his illegal dealings, dangling the large financial benefits of his criminal activities as an inducement. In return, Hole has to perform an

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

task. Hole is initially confused as to why Waaler is effectively admitting his guilt, but is reminded that, as an alcoholic, Hole's evidence would not be sufficient to convict him if he went to his superiors. Hole agrees to think about the offer. Meanwhile, a chance sighting of a

brings Hole a flash of inspiration. The five-pointed diamonds found on the victims are in a similar shape – known as a Devil's Star – and provide a major clue as to the next possible murder locations, which are kept under

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

: one is in a student residence hall and the other is a house on the outskirts of the city, owned by Olaug Sivertsen. While investigating this house, Lønn discovers that the likely murderer is Olaug's son, Sven. She informs Hole by phone as he and Waaler are checking out the other prospective crime scene. Hole gives this information to Waaler, who immediately leaves to assist Lønn. Hole, using recently installed

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

cameras, notices another pentagram on a student's door. Eventually, the body of the victim is found at the residence hall, and is determined to actually be the first victim of the serial killer, murdered five days before the first discovered victim. Meanwhile, Waaler apprehends Sven, but his threats to shoot him ultimately lead Lønn to realise that he intended to murder Sven instead of arresting him, leading her to agree with Hole's suspicions. Hole is given his task by Waaler: to kill Sven in custody using a poison capsule, as Waaler's influence is such that he can guarantee that Hole will get away with the murder. Waaler's argument for Sven's murder is that he would get a lenient punishment from the Norwegian judicial system, and that death would be a worthy sentence for his crimes. Hole realizes however that Waaler's desire to kill Sven is born out of a desire to eliminate a potentially dangerous witness to his role in the smuggling ring, and to this end he convinces Sven that he should trust him and not Waaler. He then breaks Sven out of custody with the intention of bringing Waaler to justice. Hole is now a hunted man, his future in the police - and quite possibly his life - depend on his being able to prove Waaler's crimes. Sven is willing to testify against Waaler, but he is adamant of his innocence of the murders, and consequently his testimony is wholly dependent on Hole exonerating him. Hole is faced with the daunting task of discovering the true murderer in a single day. However, a clue is provided by a seemingly irrelevant photograph which Sven shows Hole, and this combined with a very minute but precise piece of

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". H ...

points to a completely unexpected perpetrator. Leaving Sven chained up, Hole encounters his new suspect in the immediate aftermath of his committing yet another murder. Hole comes very near to being killed himself, but eventually the killer commits suicide. Just as Hole believes that he is in the clear, Waaler calls to inform him that he has kidnapped his surrogate son Oleg and demands that he trade Sven for the boy. Hole arranges a meeting at the residence hall. Using the CCTV cameras as a bargaining chip, Hole tries to convince Waaler that his position is hopeless. More and more outrageous stories are proposed by Waaler to explain how he intends to cover up what has happened, and when it becomes clear that Waaler will kill all three witnesses in the lift of the building, Hole enacts an escape plan and manages to overpower Waaler and rescue Sven and Oleg, with Waaler ultimately being killed in the ensuing scuffle. Having exposed Waaler and solved the case, Hole's termination of employment is rescinded and he returns to the force.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Star, The 2003 Norwegian novels Harry Hole (novel series) Norwegian crime novels Novels set in Oslo 21st-century Norwegian novels