Cheryl R. (Spuddie) - , reviewed on 8/3/2009 + 412 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

#2 Inspector Konrad Seijer mystery set in Norway. An elderly woman is found dead in her remote cabin home, her garden hoe firmly planted in the side of her head. Meanwhile, Errki Johrma, a disturbed young schizophrenic, has escaped from a nearby asylum so everyone assumes he is the perpetrator of that heinous crime. A young boy walking in the woods taking some bow-shooting practice who discovered the womans body reports having seen Errki in the woods near her cabin. But Inspector Seijer isnt so sure, and even comes up with a bizarre bet with his second in command that their culprit isnt Errki at all. The young mans psychiatrist doesnt believe he did it either, as violence simply doesnt fit his profile of past behaviors. Seijer is working not only the murder case, but the case of a bank robbery that occurs the next morninga bank robbery that involves a hostage, no less. The two cases begin to strangely entwine during the course of the investigation.

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. Seijer wasnt quite so morose in this book, maybe that had something to do with it. The book rotates back and forth with chapters told from the point of view of several characters, including the bad guys. Sometimes this works for an author and other times I find it annoying, but Fossum uses that tool remarkably well and the book had a very satisfying feel to it: Im certainly glad to have already procured the next few in the series.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details