Dregs by Jørn Lier Horst

 

First Line: The report was phoned in to the police switchboard  in Tønsberg on Tuesday 22nd June at 09.32 hours.

 

Midsummer is fast approaching on Norway's southern coast when four human feet wash ashore. Inspector William Wisting has many years of experience in investigating murders, but this case is different. The four feet are from four different people. What on earth is going on? And are any more feet going to show up?

 

~

 

Jørn Lier Horst is a former Chief Inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department of Larvik, Norway, just like his main character William Wisting, and this insider information shows in his first mystery, Dregs. 

Wisting is the widowed father of grown-up twins. Thomas is in the military, serving in Afghanistan while his daughter, Line, is an investigative journalist based in Oslo. Line is busy with a new project: interviewing six convicted killers who have served more than one hundred years behind bars between them. She intends to prove that a gentler approach would work better in rehabilitating prisoners like these.

The mystery is well-plotted and intricate. It takes a lot of work from Wisting and his team to even begin to figure out what's going on, and it was interesting to see how Line's project intersected with her father's investigation. Something tells me this is going to be an ongoing occurrence in this series, and it's something that's going to take Wisting, in his role as father, to become used to.

Dregs is a solid mystery that I enjoyed listening to. I can see myself reaching for the next book in the series.

Dregs by Jørn Lier Horst

Translated from the Norwegian by Anne Bruce.

Narrated by Saul Reichlin.

ASIN: B00LUXH4TQ

W.F. Howes, Ltd. © 2014

Audiobook. 9 hours 55 minutes.

Police Procedural, #1 William Wisting mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Chirp Books.

The Whisperer by Karin Fossum

First Line: She wasn't beautiful, and she was of course perfectly aware of it.

Ragna Riegel is a woman most people don't even notice, but she's used to it. Unable to speak above a whisper, she insists on a life of order and routines, but when she finds a threatening letter in her mailbox, everything changes. There are more letters spaced out over time, and Ragna's life begins to spiral into a nightmare. Threatened by an unknown enemy, paranoid, unable to sleep, and isolated from everyone else, Ragna's nightmare ends in a death ... but she is the killer, not the victim.

When Inspector Konrad Sejer begins his interrogation of Ragna Riegel, he's certain it's an open-and-shut case. But is it?

Karin Fossum's The Whisperer is a fantastic character study that allows Inspector Sejer to do what he does best: listen. Ragna Riegel is a tough nut to crack, but the presence of Sejer's dog, Frank, helps lower some of the woman's defenses as the book alternates between the voices of Ragna and the inspector.

It's really not crystal clear through most of the book exactly why Ragna is in jail, and while these two characters talk, the reader is asking himself questions. What did she do? Prison for life? Murder? Could she really kill anyone? The more I read, the more I felt as though I were falling down the rabbit hole with Ragna, and I think a little of her paranoia rubbed off on me, which is a mark of some excellent storytelling.

The only thing I have to complain about is that the story drags badly at about the half- to the three-quarters mark. The lag time may not bother anyone else and that's fine, but if you're the type of reader who likes everything to be resolved by book's end, you're probably not going to like The Whisperer because it has a twist at the very end that sends your mind off to the races again-- and you're left wondering. You're left with questions, not closure.

I loved that twist at the end. In fact, I think I was expecting it. Karin Fossum had me thinking about the madness that can be found in everyday life, and she reminded me to question assumptions-- and that is a valuable reminder.

The Whisperer by Karin Fossum
Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson.

eISBN: 9781328612939

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2019

eBook, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #13 Inspector Sejer mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley

American by Day by Derek B. Miller

First Line: Sigrid Ødegård's hands rest on the unopened blue folder as she stares out the window of her office.

Anyone who pays even the slightest attention to world affairs knows that America is a strange place. The stories, the movies, the books... But now Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; her brother is missing and is also implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African-American academic.

Once there, she is plunged into a United States in which race, identity, politics, and promise all reverberate in every aspect of daily life. Working with-- and sometimes against-- the police, Sigrid has to negotiate local political minefields as well as the backwoods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before anything happens to her brother.

American by Day is loosely connected with Derek B. Miller's Norwegian by Night, a book that I loved. Sigrid was the police officer in charge of tracking down octogenarian Sheldon Horowitz, and now she has her own story. She's still recuperating from how that last investigation turned out, and in many ways, she's not ready to conduct another manhunt, but the missing man is her brother, and so she must.

Sigrid is a deep thinker. For example, she wonders if she would've done the same thing in her (Norwegian by Night) investigation if the knife-wielding man had been a native Norwegian. As she tries to find her brother in the United States shortly before Barack Obama is elected president in 2008, she also finds herself thinking, "What would Sheldon do?" Her American counterpart is another deep thinker, Sheriff Irving Wylie, and their philosophical talks touch upon many subjects like race and guns. The sheriff finds this particular Norwegian to be fascinating and unusual. At first, he even wonders if she has Asperger's Syndrome, and when Sigrid says things like "It's hard to ignore the moose sitting on your waffle," he's just plain baffled. But he's enjoying himself because he's not your usual bumpkin country cop.

American by Day is a good story, and I liked the interaction between Sigrid and the sheriff, but-- probably because I've been paying too much attention to the present state of this country-- those philosophical talks about race and gun control dragged the story down for me. Miller wanted his book to be more than a simple mystery about tracking down an alleged killer. He had some important things to say, and he said them. Unfortunately, I was more in the mood for a simple mystery. If you're in the right mood, I think this is a book you could really enjoy.

American by Day by Derek B. Miller

ISBN: 9781328876652

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2018

Hardcover, 352 pages

Police Procedural

Rating: B

Source: Amazon Vine


 

Eva's Eye by Karin Fossum

First Line: It was a Wendy house.

A mother and daughter are walking by the river when they discover a man's body in the water. The mother doesn't want to get involved, but her young daughter insists that something must be done. The mother-- Eva-- goes to call the police, but when she gets to a phone, she calls someone else instead. The body is found anyway.

Inspector Konrad Sejer has two baffling cases on his desk that must be solved. The man, Egil, died as the result of a violent attack, but he's been missing for months and any trail has long gone cold. The second case involves the murder of a prostitute whose body was found just before Egil went missing. Nothing but dogged police work will solve the two cases, so Sejer knuckles down and begins piecing the slender clues together. It's not too long before he begins to realize that these two cases may be connected after all.

I have often bemoaned the fact that American publishers have the annoying tendency to release European mystery series books out of order. This was done in the case of Karin Fossum's excellent Inspector Sejer series. Eight books were published before Eva's Eye, which is actually the first. For once I'm glad that they weren't published in the proper sequence. Konrad Sejer is one of my favorite police officers, but if I had been introduced to him with this book, I doubt if I would have continued with the series.

The reason for this is because Eva's Eye has everything to do with the character of Eva Magnus and little to do with Konrad Sejer. Everything revolves around Eva's eye: her art (in which Sejer seems to be the only person who sees something meaningful), her young daughter Emma, how Eva views her life... everything. Eva Magnus is a fascinating character who grabs the focus of the book and runs away with it. As is also seen in The Murder of Harriet Krohn, Fossum seems to like to focus on a different character from time to time.

In comparison Konrad Sejer is merely interesting.  If I'd read this book first, I would have admired Fossum's characterization of the title character and given a passing nod to Sejer's determination to solve these two puzzling cases-- but there just didn't seem to be enough about this oftentimes brilliant man to warrant my coming back for more.

All this makes it sound as though I did not enjoy the book. On the contrary-- I enjoyed it a lot. As the story gradually unfolds and I learned how deeply involved Eva is in every facet, I had to know more about this self-absorbed woman. At book's end I could only shake my head in disbelief (and admiration) at how well Fossum put this intricate plot together. And-- having already become familiar with Sejer, his personality and his deductive methods-- I could only admire him, too. I'm just glad I didn't read this book first.
 

Eva's Eye by Karin Fossum

Translated from the Norwegian by James Anderson

eISBN: 9780547738772

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2012

eBook, 292 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Inspector Konrad Sejer mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Murder of Harriet Krohn by Karin Fossum

First Line: Dearest Julie, Do you read my letters?

Desperate to pay off his gambling debts, Charles Olav Torp ("Charlo") does the only thing he can think of: rob an elderly woman of her money, jewelry and silver. It's a robbery gone horribly wrong. Sure, Charlo's got enough cash to pay off his debts and to curry his teenage daughter's favor by buying her the horse she's always wanted, but Harriet Krohn-- the elderly woman with the money, jewelry and silver-- will always be dead. 

Charlo's got to live with that woman's murder on his conscience. He's got to turn his life around and become the good person that he knows he really is. After all, the only reason why his life became such a mess is that he can never catch a break. Charlo doesn't have much time left to change his life because he left behind one clue at the crime scene, and Inspector Konrad Sejer-- who's successfully solved each and every one of his cases-- is working that one item for every scrap of information it can provide. Charlo's feeling lucky, but it doesn't pay to underestimate Konrad Sejer.

Anyone who picks up The Murder of Harriet Krohn and expects to read a typical Konrad Sejer police procedural is in for a rude shock. This seventh book in the series is told from the killer's point of view. At the beginning, this is a successful ploy as we get to see just how messed up Charles Olav Torp's life is, how he's ruined his relationship with his 16-year-old daughter, how far he's willing to go in an attempt to straighten everything out-- and ultimately how self-deluded he is. Harriet Krohn isn't particularly sympathetic as a murder victim. She's abrasive, judgmental, and wrapped in a thick batting of entitlement. No, this book is all about Charlo... and the Sejer-sized shadow that looms ever larger in the background.

I've read the other books in Fossum's marvelous series, and as Charlo committed robbery and murder, I mentally cataloged each clue that he left for Sejer and his team to find. As certain things were released to the press, I smiled because I knew the inspector was closing in, and it certainly was interesting to see an interrogation through the killer's eyes. But Charlo just wasn't the right character to carry the entire weight of the narrative. Perhaps if he were an intelligent sort of killer capable of playing cat and mouse with a worthy adversary like Sejer, but he isn't. Charlo isn't particularly smart; he's self-centered, whiny, and pathetic, and after a while all his whining, all his complaints, all his justifications have gathered enough strength to pull a reader's interest right down into the dust. 

It wasn't until I'd had time to digest this book a bit more that I felt a chill moving up my spine. Most criminals are exactly like Charles Olav Torp. They're not very smart. They can never accept responsibility for their own actions. They whine and complain. The Murder of Harriet Krohn may be Karin Fossum's warning to us all: Be careful. There are many more Charlos out there than we can ever realize, and they're all bringing their clouds of disaster with them. To share.
  

The Murder of Harriet Krohn by Karin Fossum

Translated from the Norwegian by James Anderson

ISBN: 9780544273399

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2014

Hardcover, 256 pages

Police Procedural, #7 Inspector Konrad Sejer mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Amazon Vine 

Where Monsters Dwell by Jørgen Brekke

First Line: There are no monsters under the bed.

Police inspector Odd Singsaker has just returned to duty after brain surgery to remove a tumor. He's hoping that the criminals will be quiet in Trondheim, Norway, for his first week back, but the macabre death of a library archivist throws him right into the thick of things. The archivist's body has been found in a locked vault used to store rare, fragile books and manuscripts. What Singsaker needs is a strong lead; what he doesn't know is that the lead will come from Richmond, Virginia. The curator of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum has been found killed in a very similar way to the archivist in Trondheim. When Richmond homicide detective Felicia Stone begins working with Singsaker, they slowly begin unraveling a chilling puzzle that seems to lead to a sixteenth-century book bound in human skin that appears to be the journal of a serial murderer who lived in Norway in 1529.

After reading Where Monsters Dwell, I learned that it was a bestseller in Norway, and I can see why. From the chilling opening scene to the very end, this book has something for everyone: a fast pace, a strong sense of place, a dash of history, a truly puzzling investigation, and three very memorable characters.

One of the characters calls the investigation a "cabinet of curiosities," and it is. There's no apparent reason for either of the murders; strange little facts about book binding, book preservation, and rare books keep cropping up but seem to have no place in the search for the killers; there are plenty of people to interview... but which of them could be suspects? What ties this book together are the two police officers: Odd Singsaker and Felicia Stone. Their backgrounds, their work ethics, their personalities are strong and nuanced, and I was thrilled to see that we'll (hopefully) be able to read further books in the series. Another character I also enjoyed was Siri Holm, a new employee at the library in Trondheim. Siri, with her collection of crime fiction and cataloging of solutions, was a bit of a free spirit. She had her own agenda, but she also added a bit of needed humor to the story.

Another thing that I wanted to mention is more personal preference than anything else. In so many of the other Scandinavian crime novels I've read, it seems as though every time the detective leaves a building, his exact route-- each street and highway from Point A to Point B-- must be listed. I think of it as the GPS Factor. That's all well and good for residents and speakers of the language, but for those of us who are reading in translated editions, such detail is mostly wasted and only serves to make us stumble and stagger as we attempt to pronounce all those names. It was such a pleasure to read this book and discover that Brekke only gives general directions when his characters are out and about.

For me Where Monsters Dwell was slightly marred by a rather Hollywood ending, and I did wish that more of the sixteenth-century serial murderer's story had been used, but it's still a top-notch read. I most definitely am looking forward to more!

Where Monsters Dwell by Jørgen Brekke

Translated from the Norwegian by Steven T. Murray

ISBN: 9781250016805

Minotaur Books © 2014

Hardcover, 368 pages

Police Procedural

Rating: A

Source: NetGalley 

Calling Out for You by Karin Fossum

First Line: The silence is shattered by the barking of a dog.

Fiftysomething bachelor Gunder Jomann has worked hard and never taken a risk his entire life. The entire village of Elvestad is shocked when he travels to India for two weeks, but when he returns and tells people that he got married there, the village is almost stunned into silence. On the day Gunder's Indian bride is scheduled to arrive, the battered body of a woman is found in a meadow on the outskirts of town, and it is up to Inspector Konrad Sejer to probe deeply into a village's secrets to identify the woman and to find the killer. 

To my chagrin,  I discovered it has been four years since I last read a book written by Karin Fossum. That is much too long a time between books. Fossum's Inspector Sejer is one of the best detectives in all of crime fiction, and I was reminded of this time and again as I read Calling Out for You.

The mystery is an engrossing one, and it takes Sejer quite a lot of patient teasing out of facts before he can even begin piecing things together. Too many people have secrets in Elvestad. Too many villagers believe that there's no way any of them could brutally beat a woman to death. And since no one could possibly have done anything wrong, there's no need to tell the police of the odd thing they happened to see the evening of the murder. It's an ironic fact of village life: live in one and your life seems like an open book, but it is possible to keep secrets all the same.

As rock solid as the mystery is, it is the power of Fossum's characterizations that pull this reader down into her story. The solid, dependable simplicity of Gunder Jomann and the sheer strength of his longing seep deep down into your awareness. The steadfast, cheerful, loving personality of Poona Bai is absolutely perfect for Gunder. Love has come to two very unlikely people, and I couldn't be happier for them. Fossum brought Poona to life in a few short pages, and what ultimately happens is heartbreaking.

It takes a detective like Inspector Konrad Sejer to solve this case. From the very first book in this series, I've admired Sejer because he listens to everyone. In solving murders, everyone is of value, and Sejer tends to rely on people that everyone else tends to ignore-- the old, the developmentally disabled, the homeless.... Sejer has a tender side that we are allowed to glimpse-- from the steadily declining health of his beloved old dog to his instructions to his team about the disposition of the murdered woman's belongings. This man has been on the job for a long time, but it hasn't knocked the compassion out of him. In many ways if I found myself living out life as a member of a homicide team, I'd want to be a member of Sejer's.

If you love tightly plotted mysteries that aren't always neatly tied up by book's end, if you love rich character studies that stay with you long after you've finished reading the book, if you love police procedurals with heart, I have a suggestion. Karin Fossum's Inspector Konrad Sejer series. It's marvelous.

Calling Out for You (APA The Indian Bride) by Karin Fossum

Translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund

ISBN: 9780099474661

Vintage Books © 2006

Paperback, 400 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Inspector Konrad Sejer mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from The Book Depository. 

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

First Line: It is summer and luminous.

When you're in your eighties and a widower, the last thing you want to do is to move from your home in New York City to a new place with your granddaughter and her Norwegian husband in Oslo, Norway. But as Sheldon Horowitz knows, sometimes the last thing you want to do is the only thing you can do. He's lonely and wants to be with his granddaughter. His granddaughter has seen signs of dementia in her beloved grandfather and wants to keep him close to her.

What neither one of them could possibly predict is an act of incredible violence that leaves a little motherless boy in old Sheldon Horowitz's care. Now the old man and the little boy are on the run from everyone who's chasing them, and we can only pray that the killer isn't the one who finds this odd pair first.

This is a book that defies categorization. It's part thriller, part police procedural, part road trip, part commentary on aging/relationships/dementia-- and it has flashes of comedy throughout. When I began reading this book, I was worried about Korean War veteran Sheldon Horowitz because I was remembering when my own grandfather lived with me. By the time I finished reading Norwegian By Night, I had a big smile on my face and wished that we could all be as demented as Derek B. Miller's main character.

This is a book that has so much to say-- and it manages to say everything in a rather concise manner. What this debut novelist says in 300 pages, most other writers would take at least twice the space. Miller never lets his foot off the gas-- this tale moves swiftly and surely from beginning to end. If you're the type of reader who wants a fast-paced book that starts at Point A and leads directly to Point B, you might want to give Norwegian By Night a miss. From time to time, the narrative wanders off onto dark alleys and narrow country lanes, as Sheldon visits the Korean and Vietnam Wars, memories of his wife and son... and as we learn a bit about the background of the silent little boy Sheldon is trying to keep safe. These diversions add a richness to the story that it cannot live without; they are the life's blood of Miller's characters. It takes an incredible amount of skill to be able to introduce these flashbacks and themes and not have them slow down the pace of the story, and Miller accomplishes it with ease.

The element of the chase keeps the story's pace flowing quickly, while those diversions add dimension to both characterization and to the themes of aging and regret that run throughout the book.  And when the action gets too scary or one of the themes gets too dark, Sheldon Horowitz is there to say or do something that will make us laugh.

This book fed my mind on so many levels! It's been a long time since I've finished a book with such a huge smile on my face, wanting to invite a character home to live with me. Should we all be as crazy as Sheldon!

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

ISBN: 9780547934877

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2013

Hardcover, 304 pages

Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Amazon Vine

1222 by Anne Holt

Title: 1222
Author: Anne Holt
Translator: Marlaine Delargy
ISBN: 9781451634716
Publisher: Scribner, 2011
Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #8 Hanne Wilhelmsen mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: As it was only the train driver who died, you couldn't call it a disaster.

But Hanne Wilhelmsen would disagree with that assessment. The train she is traveling on derails in the mountains 1222 meters above sea level during a massive blizzard. Fortunately there is a nearby hotel. It's an old building and nearly empty except for the staff, but at least the passengers have someplace warm and dry to wait for rescue. No one knows exactly when that rescue will take place because no one is going anywhere while the blizzard is still raging.

With plenty of food and sheltered from the storm, the passengers believe they are safe and once the shock of the derailment wears off, they are almost in a holiday mood. When morning dawns, one of the passengers is found dead, and that feeling of safety vanishes like mist. Retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen, being the only person in the hotel remotely connected to law enforcement, is asked to investigate. She'd rather not, and she makes that plain. Paralyzed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has made it a habit to keep herself to herself. She wants no help, but she does want to be left alone. Unfortunately for her, her curiosity and natural talent for observation weren't paralyzed along with her legs.

Hanne begins to take an interest in the other passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, she knows that time is running out. She has to act fast before panic sets in amongst the other passengers. Her investigation is complicated by a mysterious passenger who had been traveling in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows the identity of this mystery guest or why there is a need for armed guards, but this is certainly making everyone nervous-- and nervous people can do unpredictable, dangerous things.

Hanne is trapped. Trapped by her wheelchair. Trapped by the blizzard. And trapped in an old hotel with a killer. Will time run out before she's able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together?

There's something about a "locked room" mystery involving a blizzard that I simply cannot resist, and although I never did completely warm up to the prickly Hanne, I did enjoy watching her observe everyone and piece clues together. The blizzard outdoors was a strong-willed character that had me looking for a heavy sweater and a warm pair of socks, and Holt populated the inside of the hotel with an interesting mix of people that were in turns exasperating and endearing.

One of the best things about locked room mysteries is the fact that they have very little to do with forensics and everything to do with observation and stimulating the little grey cells. Hanne mentions one thing she observed several times, but for some reason (perhaps because I was still looking for those socks) my little grey cells misfired and never deduced why that one thing was so important. I do like when that happens.

I also like the fact that, although this is the eighth mystery featuring Hanne Wilhelmsen, it didn't matter. This was my first experience of watching her in action, and I was never confused. Enough of her backstory is given so that Hanne is well and truly introduced to us all-- and that my interest was piqued enough to look for other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a mystery in which observation rules over science, read Anne Holt's 1222.

1222 at Amazon.

1222 at The Book Depository.

1222 at Your Favorite Indie Bookseller.

How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell

Title: How to Be a Pirate
Author: Cressida Cowell
ISBN: 0-316-01577-6, Little, Brown and Company, 2005
Genre: Juvenile Fiction, #2 in the series
Rating: A

First Line: Thor was seriously annoyed.

Now, I really know that pirates were a scurvy lot, not to be trusted. I really, really do know this. But something deep inside me has always wanted to sharpen my cutlass and hoist the Jolly Roger. A friend and I even co-wrote a story in which we were pirates, and the name of our ship was the PMS Hellborn Strumpet. (That has a ring to it, doesn't it?) Knowing all this, is it any wonder that when I first heard of Cressida Cowell's series of books about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, young Viking and Pirate-in-Training, I simply had to have one of the books to read right now? Of course not!

Hiccup is a bit on the small side and completely unmemorable. His small dragon, Toothless, is a cowardly hypochondriac. Together they attend the Pirate Training Program, learning about Spitting, Senseless Violence, Frightening Foreigners, Weaponry, Pointless Graffiti, and other important pirate tasks. Being the son of Stoick the Vast, Chief of the Hooligan tribe, great things are expected of Hiccup, but it looks as though Snotlout (Hiccup's arch enemy and the resident bully) has other intentions.

School is interrupted by Alvin the Poor-But-Honest-Farmer who claims to know where the fabulous treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly is located. Hiccup doesn't trust the handsome, smiling stranger, but of course he's outvoted and everyone boards a ship and starts counting their share of the treasure before it's found.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Lessons about deceptive appearances and inner worth, for example, are given in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek manner that takes away any medicinal sting. The illustrations are a delight-- looking like the pencil sketches of a grade school boy, hunched over his paper with the tip of his tongue clenched between his teeth. The book can easily be a hit with both children and adults.

Will I be reading other books in this series? You bet! Dragons, Vikings, pirates, swordplay-- I wouldn't miss all this for the world!

[Source: Paperback Swap.]

What Is Mine by Anne Holt

Title: What Is Mine
Author: Anne Holt
Translated from the Norwegian by: Kari Dickson
ISBN: 9780446578028, Warner Books, 2006
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Vik and Stubo mystery
Rating: A

First Line: She was walking home from school.

Johanne Vik, former FBI profiler now psychology professor at Oslo University, is called to the home of Alvhild Sofienberg. Terminally ill, Sofienberg has always been puzzled by the case of Aksel Seier, a man who was convicted of murdering a child in 1956, served eight years of his sentence, and then was quietly set free. Sofienberg is convinced that Seier was innocent and she wants Vik to look into the case.

Police Inspector Adam Stubo is immersed in the investigation of a series of missing children. He wants Vik to help him with his investigation, and he won't take no for an answer even though Vik has a full plate, not only of work, but as the mother of a mentally handicapped child.

Holt is a former minister of justice, lawyer and journalist. Although she spends a bit too much time carefully delineating each of her characters, this book is an ardent commentary on parenthood and an absorbing mystery with a nice little twist at the end. What Is Mine is the first in a three-part series centered on Vik and Stubo, and I know I won't be able to stay away from the other two books.

Try as I might, I just can't ignore these wonderful mysteries that keep coming my way from Scandinavia!

REVIEW: When the Devil Holds the Candle

Title: When the Devil Holds the Candle
Author: Karin Fossum
Translated from the Norwegian by Felicity David
ISBN: 0151011885/ Harcourt Books, 2004
Mystery, #4 in the Inspector Konrad Sejer series
Rating: B+

First Line: The courthouse. September 4, 4 P.M.

Inspector Sejer seems to be coming out of his funk a bit. He has a new lady in his life to come home to when he's finished dealing with crime for the day. While his attention at work is focused on a mugging and a youth who shot his girlfriend in the face, his partner, Jacob Skarre, deals with a woman whose son has disappeared.

The missing boy, Andreas, is quite a piece of work. He and his best friend, "Zipp" prowl the streets by day and by night looking for purses to snatch so they have drinking money. Zipp is socially inept, and Andreas is his only friend. Andreas is handsome enough to have women falling at his feet, but he's a secretive sort and very content to hang out with Zipp. Everything changes for them one night when they follow a sixty-year-old woman home in order to rob her. Irma Funder turns out to be much more than they bargained for.

This third book in the series to be translated into English is more of a psychological thriller than a police procedural. The reader is privy to all as the pages turn and slowly reveal the characters of Andreas, Zipp and Irma. All three are victims. All three are trapped in some way. All are fascinatingly macabre. I often felt as though I were a victim myself, trapped in the hall of mirrors in a fun house with these people.

Fossum pens a chilling tale of how lives lacking supervision, employment and love can be twisted and forced over the edge into disaster. Although I didn't finish this book with an exclamation of "Wow!", the hairs on the back of my neck still prickle, and my heart still bleeds at the waste of lives the author portrays. Is it any wonder that Fossum, with her thoughtful, compassionate policeman, is one of my favorite authors?