A truly eerie, fascinating tale where the mind of the criminal is explored as fully as that of the victim and where the tables can so easily turn with extraordinary results. Highly regarded in her native Norway and, although a series featuring Inspector Sejer, of which this is the third, it does not rely on place for atmosphere as Donna Leon or Ian Rankin do, just on extraordinarily good character development. Highly recommended.
Pulling a handbag from a pushchair handle, two teenage trouble-makers, Zipp and Andreas, unwittingly commit murder when the baby inside is thrown to the ground. Unaware of what has happened, the pair move on to their next target. Having followed home Irma, an elderly lady who lives nearby, Andreas enters her house armed, with his trusty flick-knife. Zipp waits nervously outside, but his friend never reappears. He will never see him alive again. Fossum toys with the roles of victim and killer and pens the inner monologue of her characters to chilling effect. There are no red herrings in this narrative as the crime is played out on the page, but it is the mental processes behind the murderer's sinister act that are the real pieces of this puzzle. Gradually, they fall into place as Irma and Andreas talk to each other.
We are forced to question the familiar stereotypes: people are not always what they seem and it is not always bad people who do bad things. While the reader knows the truth of this crime, the police remain flummoxed.
There is no reason for Sejer and his colleague Skarre to see a connection between the infant's death and the reported disappearance of a town trouble-maker. With Zipp too frightened to come forward, the police must wait for the evidence to present itself before they can begin to comprehend the unsettling nature of the case on their hands.
Karin Fossum made her literary debut in Norway with a collection of poetry in 1974. She has since published another volume of poetry, short stories and a non-crime novel. Her crime novels featuring Inspector Konrad Sejer are published in sixteen languages.
