Inspired by the release of Paul Baldowski’s Nordic Noir RPG Cörk Børd, I decided to delve into the start of the Harry Hole series. So Scandi Noir, it’s morally ambiguous, it explores the rotten underbelly of seemingly “civilised” societies, it shines a light into the psychological darkness of the protagonist as well as the criminals. It is bleak. It is slow and unshowy. It is cold, damp and above all, it showcases a range of chunky knitwear that no other genre can compete with.

Except, The Bat is actually not the most representative of Scandi Noir, set as it is in Australia - no cosy cardigans. His bosses have sent Harry to support the investigation of a Norwegian national who has been murdered. Harry has a lot of baggage, and it feels like he is a fish out of water, with his blunt, unemotional front, surrounded by the boisterous, piss-taking Aussies.

He teams up with an Aboriginal Police Officer, Andrew Kensington, who shows him around, acting as his de facto tour guide during the investigation, as well as mentoring him on the cultural and local traditions that affect the case.

Harry gets involved with Birgitta, a Swedish waitress at the Albury, a local bar. Slowly, we see Harry thawing, his deadpan humour, his eye for the ladies, but no drinking. Yet.

There is some decent police procedural as they shakedown suspects, follow leads and investigate crime scenes. It becomes clear there is more going on than just one murder. Andrew and Harry quickly become friends.

The book is fairly long for the story it tells, perhaps too long for my tastes, but you get a good background in Harry’s troubles - unrequited love, the death of a colleague, guilt, and repressed emotions. These all give reason as to why he spontaneously combusts at times, leading to periods of self-destruction and nihilism. He is a bit of a dick.

As mentioned, this is not a typical Scandi Noir. There are no socially embedded reasons for the crime; the crime is not explained through economics, politics or class. Instead, it leans heavily on Aboriginal myths, mythologising rather than demystifying the crime. No real moral resolution. I think even Nesbø suggests he doesn’t really find his voice until book three in the series; this is a bit of an experiment.

Fair warning, this book has some bleak and distressing scenes.

I gave it 6.0 out of 10.

TTRPG Thoughts

Lots of great investigative approaches here, almost fifteen years old, but the mobile phone triangulation worked well, and you can see that translating into a VTT, putting the circular range of each mobile mast on a map and seeing where they overlap to find someone’s location.

The clever killer also throws up many ideas on how to obfuscate a crime or to prey on people’s weaknesses.

I am wondering too, if Cörk Børd will lean on some of the flaws of the players, such as the struggle Harry has with controlling his emotions and dealing with his dark past. “You are in a bar, you have an overwhelming desire to down Jack Daniels and start a fight.” These flaws become more uncontrollable the deeper into the case a player gets.