Don't Look Back (Inspector Sejer Mysteries Book 2)

I bought this book on sale for the Kindle back when it seemed like Norwegian crime fiction was a thing. Is it still a thing? I don't know, but it was a thing, right? Anyway, I thought it was a thing and so I bought this and in retrospect a silly number of other Karin Fossum books when they were on sale, and I remember thinking, "Boy, I hope these don't suck," as I clicked through and kept buying. Click. Click. Click.I'm reading 52 books in 52 weeks for 2013, and I've weighted my reading list toward crime fiction and so I thought this would be a good one to work in early on: because if I liked Karin Fossum's books, I'd have something to look forward to when the next one came up on the list a month or so later. Alternately, if I didn't like, I'd have time to swap out the other books for something I would like.Fortunately, I quite liked Don't Look Back. In fact, I can probably say I loved it. I mean, was I eager to dive back into the book whenever I had a free moment? I was. Did I feel affection toward the main characters? I did. Did I get that delicious aching tension that happens approximately two-thirds of the way through a book you're really enjoying, where you're torn between ripping through the remaining pages because you really want to know what will happen and lingering on each page so you can stay in the world of the book? I got that. So, yeah, let's say I loved Don't Look Back and give me another month or three to figure out if I'm not just flush with the pleasure of reading a very good book or not.The review. Did you want the review? I guess that's what we do here, right? Give you the synopsis, the opinion, the telling detail, the almost-too-apt closing line?Well, even if so, I'm going to skip the synopsis and you'll thank me for it later. Let's just say a police detective and his partner are investigating a crime in a small Norwegian town. Everyone in the town knows one another, has opinions about one another in their own semi-taciturn way. As the pair investigate, the omniscient narrator moves easily from the inside of one person's head to the next with a stylistic confidence I found exciting. (Fossum has more than one chapter start inside the head of a villager and then, as soon as the policemen are on the scene, she leaps right inside their POV.)But once in their heads, Fossum hangs about not to plant clues for the reader but to illuminate the delicate processes of grief, loss, and shock. In a way, the book is about the reverberations left in the wake of death. A glib elevator pitch for Don't Look Back might be: it's like if Ross MacDonald had written a novelization of the Twin Peaks pilot.Even if that allows you to guess at the contours of the plot and perhaps a certain amount of the theme, it doesn't give Fossum her due. Her work seduces you with its understated empathy for every character in the book. Even as much as I came to enjoy the interplay between kindly Inspector Sejer and his young assistant Skarre, you feel Fossum has no more affection for them than she does for all the other characters. That seems to me to be a rarity in the field of mystery fiction, where the investigator has an MVP status among the writer or (if it becomes a series) the readers, or both.Although such maturity and poise is to be appreciated in its own right, it actually helps heighten the themes of Don't Look Back: because no character is too slight, no death goes unfelt...even as its aftershocks are impossible to predict. Don't Look Back is an enjoyable, touching, thoughtful read. I can't wait to get to the next.

I'm a recent fan of author Karin Fossum's Insp Konrad Sejer mysteries, having read and enjoyed "The Indian Bride". In "Don't Look Back", a six-year-old child, Ragnhild goes missing after a sleepover at her friend's place. The setting is a sleepy little Norwegian village where everyone seems to know each other and where children are obviously allowed to traipse around unsupervised. Fortunately, young Ragnhild returns home unharmed, but she has inadvertently stumbled onto a crime scene - a young girl, 15-year-old Annie Holland is found by a 'tarn' [small lake] naked and dead. Insp Konrad Sejer and his young protege Jacob Skarre are placed in charge of the investigation and they go about unearthing the details of Annie Holland's brief life, and as they do so, a list of possible suspects slowly piles up.The plot unfolds leisurely, as seems to be the norm for Karin Fossum's mysteries, yet I was engrossed. The characterizations are credible and my interest was caught from page one. The real killer is not obvious even halfway through the novel [unlike "The Indian Bride" where the killer's identity is pretty much established in the beginning, but not the motive]. So here, readers have the double delight of speculating as to who the killer is and why he/she did it.The other strength of the novel is in the characterization of small towns/villages - where people tend to look out for each other, and one gets a strong sense of community. Because violence in such places is so rare, it is interesting to note the air of bewilderment that seems to envelop the villagers as they ponder on what this crime denotes for them as a community.Insp Sejer himself is an interesting character, a man who appears to have his own issues yet puts his all into his investigation, with the help of the young but dependable Jacob Skarre. In this particular story, Annie Holland is deceased but as the reader progresses through the novel, her character appears almost 'alive' and one gets a clear picture of the girl she was, and the complexity of her character. The other interesting person was Raymond Lake, the man afflicted by Down's Syndrome. At times, I felt his characterization seemed almost stereotypical, but Fossum manages to pull it off in the end.I enjoyed "Don't Look Back" and would recommend it to those who like slow-paced mysteries that focus on character development.

This 2nd instalment of the Inspector Sejer novels starts off with a thrilling potential kidnapping and that really grips you and morphs into an intriguing murder mystery.It's not the best crime novel I've ever read but I did enjoy it and wasn't disappointed.Major stand out issues for me are firstly what I assume is as a result of poor translation (since the novel was originally written in Norwegian) but the dialogue is often strange/stilted and not quite in line with the usual prose of English speakers. Another issue is there seemed to be red herrings scattered on every page of this book. Fossum draws your attention to almost every person in the village as a potential suspect (which is quite exciting) and to loads of specific pieces of evidence that you keep in the back of your mind as the the potential "smoking gun" with the expectation that all of these pieces will tie together in a neat and astounding bow at the conclusion... but that just doesn't happen. Though I did enjoy the twists and turns and the "what ifs" and I wasn't disappointed by the ending, I did find myself asking, "Yeah, but what happened to the xyz from chapter 5?"I'm all for a red herring but if you've scattered so many about that it looks like a fishmongers, you need to have at least some sort of explanation for them at the end.All in all, a fun read but not mind-blowing.

A five year-old girl goes missing in a small Norwegian village. Later a teenaged girl is found dead and naked in the woods. Are they linked? There's a lack of hard evidence and if the case is to be solved it needs good old fashion police work. That means interviewing and cross examining everyone who knew the victim. Slowly the mists clear and things appear to fall into place. This is no CSI style drama but more of a police procedural story. Likewise Inspector Sejer is neither super sleuth or dysfunctional rebel but a solid human policeman with an eye for detail. It's well written and easy to read although the narrative can seem a little flat in some places and is perhaps all the more realistic for the slightly plodding nature.

A story full of interesting, complex characters who have all suffered tragedies of various degrees, with one main underlying mystery & several mini-tragedies running through it. Loved the character descriptions and the fact that even though I had my theories, it still kept me wondering up to the end. However, there's the 'carrot-dangling cliff-hanger' at the end - obviously and successfully luring you into reading the next book of the series...

Karin Fossum is a very competent author whose imagination flows as easily as her pen. This a tight story set in the narrow canvas of a local close knit community with dark undertows. Gripping from the start, it draws you in after a few pages which keep turning. Gripping yet very human. No character is perfect.

Nordic Noir with a different twist. The first novel of Fossum's that I have read and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed. Don't expect a Jo Nesbo copy, the book develops in a totally different manner with an emphasis on the nuances of character and how people might differ from one's first impression. I will definitely be exploring other books by Karin Fossum and can recommend this one.

This is a superlative novel. My first Inspector Sejer investigation. Not my last. Violent things happen and there are problems in the small Norwegian town. But Sejer works his way through and solves the mystery with extraordinary human compassion. I cannot recommend this book more highly.