Synopses & Reviews
A married couple, Reinhardt and Kristine Ris, are out for a Sunday walk when they discover the body of a boy and see the figure of a man limping away. They alert the police, but not before Reinhardt, to Kristine's horror, kneels down and takes photographs of the dead child with his cell phone.
Inspectors Konrad Sejer and Jakob Skarre begin to make inquiries in the little town of Solberglia. But then another boy disappears, and an explanation seems more remote than ever. Meanwhile, the Ris's marriage starts to unravel as Reinhardt becomes obsessed with the tragic events and his own part in them.
A riveting portrayal of a community — its insiders, its outsiders, its fissures, and its secrets — from Norways "Queen of Crime," Karin Fossum.
Review
"With sharp psychological insight and a fine grasp on police procedure, Fossum is easily one of the best new imports the genre has to offer."The Baltimore Sun
Synopsis
From Norway's Queen of Crime comes a riveting portrayal of a community — its insiders, its outsiders, its fissures, and its secrets — after several young boys go missing.
Synopsis
A married couple, Rikard and Kristine, are out for a Sunday walk when they discover the body of a boy. And a man limping away. They alert the police, but not before Rikard, to Kristine's horror, kneels down and takes photographs of the dead child with his cellphone. The imperturable Sejer and Skarre begin the investigation. The boy was an only child and it appears that he died from an asthma attack following the trauma of being raped. Meanwhile, the couple's marriage begins to unravel as Rikard becomes obsessed with the case and his own part in it. Soon thereafter another boy disappears and the mood in the town grows more tense as parents fear a predatory pedophile is on the loose.
Fossum explores here the subject of pedophilia with great intelligence and sensitivity, even as she builds an atmosphere of almost unbearable suspense.
About the Author
Karin Fossum's novels featuring Inspector Konrad Sejer and his assistant, Jakob Skarre, are international bestsellers. In the United States, she has been awarded the Gumshoe Prize (2007) for When the Devil Holds the Candle and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller (2008) for The Indian Bride.