One story element which is brought to a close in that novel is Harry Hole's combative relationship with his colleague and nemesis, corrupt cop Tom Waaler.
Waaler, played by Joel Kinnaman, meets his end in the finale after kidnapping the son of Harry's partner Rakel, Oleg.
In a dramatic and gory moment, Harry traps Waaler's arm in an ascending elevator, leading to it being ripped off and Waaler ultimately dying of blood loss.
"It’s a pretty iconic death," Kinnaman said of his character's ending, while speaking exclusively with Radio Times. "This is what I love about Jo's writing – he just doesn't have boundaries to his imagination."
He continued: "It can get really brutal and violent, and there's something that happens… he just takes it really far and you don't feel in his writing that he's trying to create shock for the sake of shock, but his imagination just doesn't have those sort of boundaries, which makes it shocking."
While speaking with Radio Times, Kinnaman also spoke about what drew him to playing his "conflicted" character, and how he thought about him.
Joel Kinnaman in Detective Hole. Netflix
"I sort of define him as a malignant narcissist, which, on the scale of psychopathy, is the station right before a sociopathic narcissist," he explained.
"It's someone that doesn't have much empathy, and can act completely without empathy, but has the ability to sometimes feel it. I thought that was really interesting."
Tobias Santelmann leads the cast of Detective Hole, playing the titular role, while Pia Tjelta, Ellen Helinder and Maxime Baune Bochud also star.
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James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
