Dark and dreary settings for dark plots

Dear Readers,

I am, again, drawn to a novel written by a craftsman who has, again, sucked me into a plot that I do not particularly want to follow. And yet, may I use the word ‘again’ again, I’m two thirds through reading this novel about a run-down, rainy industrial town in Norway, perhaps, or elsewhere. Nesbo’s protagonist is going down the morality sewer while I say, “Don’t, please don’t.” I watch the descent and then watch the rise of another character whose moral compass had been in ques...