Hakan Nesser's The Inspector and Silence is a Nordic Noir novel with a difference. In this intriguing exercise in the crime genre, the author indulges in the practice, common among skilled writers, of exploring the act of literary creativity. Retaining all the usual elements of the murder story – corpse, brutal crime, murder weapon and more – Nesser takes the reader on a relaxing tour of what constitutes story creation. The chaos of anonymous crime is tamed by frequent ‘silences’ filled with food and music, books and other meditations. Indeed, any good book is like this – it provokes your interest in works that elevate the being. In a sense, is this not, then, a properly ‘cathartic’ work?