Good Reads
Many a Dark and Troubling Crime

Prepare to be left hanging when reading one of Norwegian writer Karin Fossum’s crime novels. She paints a chilly, dark landscape, where there are any number of potential killers and deadly acts. When you’re on the last page you’re not always certain the right person is in jail, and that’s endlessly troubling.

We were given one, “The Indian Bride”, as a house gift by a longtime friend Drenka Willen, who is a trade editor at Harcourt, Inc., Fossum’s publisher. Drenka is a very kind, intellectual woman who doesn’t strike you as someone who reads crime novels. What a smart woman she is; I’ve since bought and devoured Fossum’s other three mysteries and bought more copies to send to friends who’ve bought copies for their friends.

The first thing that intrigued me was the bookcover, which faintly shows four men, seemingly unacquainted, walking on a dimly lit road by a field. What really got my attention was the blurb from The Boston Globe: “Sejer belongs alongside the likes of Adam Dalgiesh and Inspector Morse.” In good company.

Inspector Sejer isn’t witty or dashing or, refreshingly, a heavy drinker. Like the crimes he mostly solves, he also isn’t easy to figure out. A widower, he doesn’t get out much except when there’s a killing. He’s in charge of a district of about 150,000 people, many of them as lonely and perplexing as he is.

While it isn’t always pleasurable to read a book by a writer you don’t know and have never heard of — which explains why we keep buying and borrowing the latest by our favorite best-selling authors — Fossum had me on page 1 of “The Indian Bride”. She writes, “The silence is shattered by the barking of a dog. The mother looks up from the sink and stares out the window. The barking comes from deep in the dog’s throat. All of its black, muscular body quivers with excitement…

Later, she would never forget this. The last moment when life was good.” At the end of page 2, we’re introduced to Gunder Jomann, a 51-year-old bachelor who is planning a trip to India to find a wife. He’d dreamed of having an Indian wife ever since leafing through a book, “People of All Nations”, given to him as a present by his sister. It’s obvious this is not going to have a storybook ending.

If you’re looking for case closed, Karin Fossum isn’t for you. But if you’re prepared to be in a constant state of brilliantly plotted tension and terror, head directly to Arcade Books or the Rye Free Reading Room. “When the Devil Holds the Candle”, “Don’t Look Back” and “He Who Fears the Wolf” are just as good. Wrap yourself in a big blanket, and have a pot of strong tea and a kind and non-threatening family member or dog nearby. You’ll need them and more.
— Reviewed by Robin Jovanovich