Helpful Score: 4
This is the first of the Norwegian Inspector Sejer mystery novels to appear in America although it is actually number 5 in the series. Inspector Sejer must solve the murder of a young girl, loved by all, from a small mountain village. A place where everyone knows everyone or at least they think they do.
A terrific mystery from Karin Fossum. Great sense of small town life in Norway, wonderfully written characters, terrifically plotted mystery. Somber and chilling with great psychological insight into the different charactersyou really feel you know them and how they think and react. I really enjoyed the Inspector Sejer character and cant wait to read more. Only drawback was that I did tend to get lost in some of the dialogueI wasnt sure who was saying what.
A terrific mystery from Karin Fossum. Great sense of small town life in Norway, wonderfully written characters, terrifically plotted mystery. Somber and chilling with great psychological insight into the different charactersyou really feel you know them and how they think and react. I really enjoyed the Inspector Sejer character and cant wait to read more. Only drawback was that I did tend to get lost in some of the dialogueI wasnt sure who was saying what.
Helpful Score: 3
First in the Inspector Seijer series set in Norway. Actually, it's the second in series, but the first one hasn't been translated to the English yet. The book opens with a scene featuring a six-year-old girl getting into a van with a strange man. You're thinking--oh no! A serial killer after kids! But a few pages later, the girl is safely home, and Inspector Seijer is investigating the death of a fifteen-year-old in the same village, found peacefully dead on the shore of a small lake. Full of unexpected twists and turns, the only thing predictable about this Scandinavian police procedural is the taciturn nature of the main character. Do Scandinavian detectives have any personality aside from stodgy, quiet and prone to melancholia? I've been reading a number of different series set in Iceland, Sweden and Norway and the main characters seem to have the same personality!
Don't get me wrong--I actually enjoyed this book a lot! I just felt that somehow the real feelings of Konrad Seijer didn't come through very well on the page. We were told how he was feeling, but it didn't show if you know what I mean. I did figure the mystery out ahead of the reveal, despite a couple of tricky red herrings. I've got the next in series by this author on my TBR and will definitely read more, but not when I'm looking for a light, lively read.
Don't get me wrong--I actually enjoyed this book a lot! I just felt that somehow the real feelings of Konrad Seijer didn't come through very well on the page. We were told how he was feeling, but it didn't show if you know what I mean. I did figure the mystery out ahead of the reveal, despite a couple of tricky red herrings. I've got the next in series by this author on my TBR and will definitely read more, but not when I'm looking for a light, lively read.
Helpful Score: 1
Having read two of Karin Fossum's mysteries, I thought I knew what to expect: somewhat hard to get into and then. once in, a real page turner. This one grabbed me from the first page and held my attention until I reluctantly finished the final page. Highly recommend Don't Look Back.
This was an interesting mystery that took me down the same path as that of Inspector Sejer of suspecting this one and that one and then at the end, I wasn't sure that the Inspector got the right person. It seemed like he did, but then...
Sixteen-year-old Annie Holland is found dead. She's naked and curled in a fetal position, facing a lake, in the small Norwegian village where she had lived. Inspector Sejer investigates. He is happy to get out of the big city but deeply saddened by the death.
Everyone loved Annie. She was a favorite babysitter, a popular team sports player, a friendly, outgoing girl. Until she wasn't. Her family tells of how, several months before, Annie suddenly changed. No longer interested in team sports, she took to running instead. She showed little interest in what she formerly loved. In the small village just about everyone knew Annie and recounted a similar story. Nobody knew what caused the change, although many thought it just a symptom of adolescence.
Sejer explores the simpler theory: that someone saw her alone on the street and took advantage. A stranger, perhaps. As the time of death was narrowed, Sejer was able to exclude some suspects. But it seemed like it had to be someone Annie knew.
Annie's boyfriend, Halvor, is a quiet, introverted person. His relationship with Annie did not get physical, because she was not interested. It may be that his interest in her was greater than hers in him. She had been keeping private files on his computer. After her death, Halvor devoted his days to cracking the password to these files. What had she written and was some of it about him?
Sejer visits the villagers again and again, always thinking about that change in Annie. He is convinced that it is a clue to her death.
What could have happened to change her so much? It is only through tedious interviewing that Sejer is able to put together the story.
I enjoyed the development of the characters and the dogged investigation. This is the second or third Sejer novel I have read and I am still trying to get a better sense of him. Sometimes it takes several novels in a series to get there.
Everyone loved Annie. She was a favorite babysitter, a popular team sports player, a friendly, outgoing girl. Until she wasn't. Her family tells of how, several months before, Annie suddenly changed. No longer interested in team sports, she took to running instead. She showed little interest in what she formerly loved. In the small village just about everyone knew Annie and recounted a similar story. Nobody knew what caused the change, although many thought it just a symptom of adolescence.
Sejer explores the simpler theory: that someone saw her alone on the street and took advantage. A stranger, perhaps. As the time of death was narrowed, Sejer was able to exclude some suspects. But it seemed like it had to be someone Annie knew.
Annie's boyfriend, Halvor, is a quiet, introverted person. His relationship with Annie did not get physical, because she was not interested. It may be that his interest in her was greater than hers in him. She had been keeping private files on his computer. After her death, Halvor devoted his days to cracking the password to these files. What had she written and was some of it about him?
Sejer visits the villagers again and again, always thinking about that change in Annie. He is convinced that it is a clue to her death.
What could have happened to change her so much? It is only through tedious interviewing that Sejer is able to put together the story.
I enjoyed the development of the characters and the dogged investigation. This is the second or third Sejer novel I have read and I am still trying to get a better sense of him. Sometimes it takes several novels in a series to get there.
This is a wonderful mystery - gripping and so well written. I'll look for more of Karin Fossum's books. Many surprises and lots of tension make for a great read.
Ah wonderfully well-written crime novel set in a remote Norwegian village. The first book to introduce Inspector Sejer to an American audience.
