We had better start ranking Heyer alongside such incomparable whodunit authors as Christie, Marsh, Yet and Allingham

Rarely have we seen humour and mystery so perfectly blended

Sharp, clear and witty

The wittiest of detective writers

'The wittiest of detective writers'

Nesbo, in his fifth, most wide-ranging novel, gradually tightens the narrative grip until, throughout the last 100 pages, the reader also finds it hard to breathe

Many authors know how to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Jo Nesbo's one of the few who keeps them there

Inventive and extremely creepy

A strong, pacey narrative with plenty of gruesome discoveries

The Snowman is a superb thriller. Jo Nesbo is astonishingly good; he knows how to grab you, by the throat and by the heart

Jo Nesbo conjures up such a gripping sense of terror in The Snowman that his tale of a perverted serial killer with a penchant for the titular figures leaves your wits scrambled

Chillingly adept...creepy, creepy stuff from the very first page

Nesbo handles the tension with aplomb

Nesbo's plotting and pared-back prose style effectively keeps the reader hooked as he ramps up the action to a gripping climax

Hole is all a fictional detective should be...each scene is succinct, dovetails with another, shifts the reader's perspective, and keeps the pace fast and interesting...he ensures his readers keep turning the page to read more

Norwegian crime novel that's as gripping as The Silence of the Lambs

The quality of the writing (and its translation) is so impressive

Nesbo is shaping up to be the next big name in Scandinavian crime fiction... With its tensile-steel narrative grip, this most ambitious of Nesbo's crime novels banishes any fears that the omniscient serial killer scenario has been exhausted

With Henning Mankell having written his last Wallander novel and Stieg Larsson no longer with us, I have had to make the decision, to my own satisfaction, on whom to confer the title of best current Nordic writer of crime fiction. After finishing Jo Nesbo's The Snowman, I hesitate no longer. The Norwegian wins... This is crime writing of the highest order, in which the characters are as strong as the story, where an atmosphere of evil permeates, and the tension never lets up

There is no doubt in my mind that The Snowman is the best so far of Jo Nesbø's series about Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo police... The Snowman is a complex, intellectually satisfying plot with many twists and turns... Do yourself a favour and read it

An ingenious, bizarre and exceptional serial-killer investigation...as riveting as The Silence of the Lambs

Readers wondering where to turn after finishing Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy would be well advised to give Jo Nesbo a try. His Oslo-set thrillers about troubled detective Harry Hole feature a similar mix of icebound settings, relentless action, sexual violence and social comment

My crime fiction book of the year so far

A must-read for Stieg Larsson fans, this pacey crime thriller blends enthralling storytelling with an insightful take on controversial issues

Nesbo effortlessly shows what can be done with the classic detective story, employing clever tricks to maintain almost unbearable suspense

Consolidated his reputation as a Scandinavian novelist ready to fill any Larsson-shaped holes. Nesbo, one ex-rock star who can write, fuses urgent storytelling with a keen engagement with social issues

A superb, tasty, huge page-turner... Seriously scary but a superior thriller

My big book discovery this time was The Snowman by Jo Nesbo - it's about a Norwegian detective who has to investigate a series of gruesome murders. What could be better for holiday entertainment

THE NEXT STIEG LARSSON

[A] dark, chilling, page-turner