Review by Booklist Review
When a local factory worker's body is pulled from an Oslo river just months after the suffocation murder of a high-end call girl, Inspector Konrad Sejer is struck by the unusual circumstance of having two mysterious homicides share his caseload. Confident that the best evidence will be plucked from witnesses' recollections, Sejer embarks on a campaign of interviews. Inexplicably, interviews for both cases reveal ties to melancholy artist Eva, childhood friend of the slain prostitute. Why didn't she tell police she was first to see the body in the river? Sejer, who is quietly confident and oddly comforting, meets his crime-solving tasks with a unique understanding of human desperation. Fossum's signature style of unveiling the story through the voices of everyone touched by the murder illuminates the crime's tragedies and ensures a steady flow of story-twisting revelations. Sejer followers will enjoy this payoff for their wait for the U.S. release of the series' first novel, and librarians can confidently recommend it as a match for Ruth Rendell's and Sophie Hannah's subtle, chilling psychological tales.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Originally published in Norway in 1995, Fossum's entertaining first Insp. Konrad Sejer mystery is finally available in English (after 2012's The Caller, the eighth series entry to be published in the U.S.). While walking along the riverbank of an unnamed small town, divorced artist Eva Magnus and her seven-year-old daughter, Emma, spot a dead body floating in the river. In front of the inquisitive Emma, Eva pretends to call the police, but instead calls her father. When the police discover that the body is that of a murdered prostitute who used to be a friend of Eva's, suspicions arise. Eva's transition from struggling painter and single mother to something new and unpredictable will delight fans searching for the next diverting Scandinavian mystery. While Eva steals the center stage from Sejer, her increasingly fraught decisions give this dark police procedural warmth despite the frigid environs. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Expect high demand for the debut title in Fossum's popular series (first time available in English). No excuses for not meeting the compelling Norwegian Insp. Konrad Sejer now. [See Prepub Alert, 2/11/13.] (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Inspector Sejer's first case. Egil Einarsson's employment at a brewery and his drinking bouts with his buddies at the King's Arms seem to have been the high points in a singularly uneventful life. When his thoroughly stabbed body washes up under the eyes of hardscrabble painter Eva Marie Magnus and her daughter Emma six months after he disappeared, Inspector Konrad Sejer can't resist making a connection: Einarsson went out, ostensibly to show his Opel Manta to an interested buyer, only three days after the smothering of prostitute Maja Durban in her room a stone's throw from the King's Arms. Since Maja was an old school friend of Eva's, and the two, after not seeing each other for 25 years, had dinner together the night before Maja died, Sejer naturally assumes that Eva is the key to both cases--especially once he satisfies himself that after she found Einarsson's body, Eva only faked a call to let the police know. But Eva's not saying a thing; she's not even admitting she didn't place that phone call. Working as phlegmatically but effectively as ever, Sejer makes modest progress on the case. Halfway through the tale, however, Fossum switches over to a long, virtuoso flashback that reveals everything her hero has only guessed. This hoary trick shouldn't work, but it does, gathering tremendous suspense as it builds to a shattering climax. Originally published in Norway in 1995, this tour de force doesn't have the remorseless wall-to-wall creepiness of Sejer's most chilling cases (The Caller, 2012, etc.). But it's more than a worthy introduction to one of Norway's leading cops for newcomers and a treasure for fans.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
