'Don't Look Back' by Karin Fossum

Fiction - paperback; Vintage; 252  pages; 2003. (Translated from the Norwegian  by Felicity David.)

A sleepy Norwegian village is rocked by the discovery of a teenage girl's naked body lying on the edge of a local, secluded lake. Did she kill herself? Or was she the victim of a sexual attack?

But there's much more to this crime than meets the eye, as Inspector Sejer soon discovers. The victim, for instance, was an extremely popular girl in the neighbourhood, but she had recently become withdrawn and had quit her school's handball team despite being a top-notch player. She had also stopped her regular babysitting work. Her mother puts this change in behaviour down to puberty; her father thinks there's slightly more going on; Sjer wonders if she might have been raped.

There's little evidence of who committed the murder but several locals fall under suspicion including a disabled man, a teacher and the girl's boyfriend. Without giving away the ending, it's always the person you least expect, isn't it?

Ultimately, this is a fast-moving, well-paced crime thriller that had me guessing all the way through, which is rather rare for me: I normally guess the ending long before I reach the final page.

The prose is straightforward, clear and concise and the dialogue is realistic.

It has a convincing set of characters, especially Inspector Sejer, a widower still mourning the death of his wife, who is smart, tough and fatherly. I liked him enormously.

And the atmosphere -- both of the cloying community stunned by the crime, and the sense of dread that builds as the investigation progresses -- is pretty much perfect.

On the strength of this one book I've already added the remainder of Fossum's back catalogue to my wish list.

Comments

[Philip Young]

If you like Karin Fossum you should try Karin Ekman's Blackwater - it takes a while to get going but this dark, haunting evocation of a Sweden that is a long way from Stockholm or Malmo made quite an impression on me. A young couple are murdered but the aftershock of this tragedy takes a years to unfold in a small and isolated community. Ekman's delivery is flat and she seems to do little to engage the reader with her characters - but stick with it...

[kimbofo]

Thanks Philip. I've picked up Blackwater dozens of times in bookshops but never been brave enough to actually buy it! I will add it to my wishlist.

[Amanda]

Sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing.

Amanda

[Maxine]

I'm sure I posted a comment on this the other night, but typepad must have eaten it. I loved this book, and the follow up. I must get around to reading the next two. (or maybe there are more by now.)

[Philip Young]

Apologies - it is Kerstin Ekman (pronounced Cherstin)!

[iliana]

I really enjoyed this book but couldn't get into the second one in the series at all. I don't know if it was just that I wasn't in the mood for a mystery or what. I'll check it out again though.

[kimbofo]

Maxine, you did leave a comment but it was under the post in which I said I was reading the Fossum book, so, no, you're not going mad! ;) According to Amazon there are 5 more in the series. I will definitely be following these up...

iliana, that's a pity. I very much enjoyed this book, so am looking forward to reading more by Fossum in the future.

[Maxine]

Ok, thanks, Kim, not mad, just technologically incompetent. That's a relief. ;-)

[charmaine]

love reading all types of books

[Peter]

This is a bit late, but I have a lot of catching up to do; I've just finished "He Who Fears the Wolf." It started strong, and just grew on me. I think I have acquired a true Karin Fossum jones.

I guessed correctly who had done it, but that made little difference because the novel's psychological atmosphere was so compelling -- and so humane. I've posted some comments on my blog about the book, if you're interested: http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Karin%20Fossum

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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/