Jo Nesbo, the internationally bestselling author of the Harry Hole series, is set to take on one of Shakespeare’s darkest tragedies in 2018.

Set in an unidentified, rainy northern town, Nesbo’s Macbeth pits the ambitions of a corrupt policeman against loyal colleagues, a drug-depraved underworld and the pull of childhood friendships.

‘A thriller about the struggle for power, set both in a gloomy, stormy crime noir-like setting and in a dark, paranoid human mind,’ said Nesbo of Macbeth. ‘A main character who has the moral code and the corrupted mind, the personal strength and the emotional weakness, the ambition and the doubts to go either way… Macbeth does not feel too far from home.’

Nesbo joins acclaimed and bestselling authors  including Anne Tyler, Tracy Chevalier and Margaret Atwood, in writing fresh versions of Shakespeare’s works for the Hogarth Shakespeare project.

Becky Hardie, who acquired Nesbo’s Macbeth for the Hogarth series, said that, ‘From the very start we wanted the Hogarth Shakespeare to surprise and excite readers of all kinds from all over the world,’ and that, ‘having an international thriller writer of Jo Nesbo’s stature and popularity on board is the perfect realisation of that wish.’

‘We can’t wait to see what Jo does with Shakespeare’s murderous play,’ said Hardie, Deputy Publishing Director at Chatto & Windus/Hogarth.

Jo Nesbo’s Macbeth will be published on 5th April 2018.