This paper analyzes the most important conventions of detective fiction, which originates from Edgar Allan Poe and his first detective story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". Ever since then, the genre has been very popular in American and British literature. However, the detective genre has only recently become very popular in Scandinavian literature, which “has become a familiar brand in North America and Europe in 1990s” (Arvas and Nestingen 1). The Swedish detective and crime novels were highly popularized by late Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, who very quickly drew attention to their novels. Their “inheritor” Norwegian Jo Nesbø shares a similar style, topics and popularity. The three of them are highly responsible for huge success and interest in Scandinavian detective fiction and have “made the Scandinavian crime novel a brand name for antiheroic police inspectors, social criticism, and compelling examples of the genre” (Nestingen 14). This paper deals with conventions of detective fiction in general, and explains some of the novelties and originalities presented by Scandinavian writers of the same genre. It concentrates on Nesbø’s detective novels describing detective Harry Hole and his adventures. The main aim of this paper is to analyze and elaborate Nesbø’s novels and to show which standard conventions of detective fiction are present in his work, and which innovations does he have to offer.