Karin Fossum may be listed as the Queen of crime fiction, but to me, she is the queen of the disconcerting ending. I mean, blow me away, Ms Karin. Blow. Me. Away. You did it again! Well, let me first digress.Ever since the outrageously popular series, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Scandinavian mysteries have been flooding the American marketplace. How to parse which ones are good, mediocre, or flat out bad? Some of these mysteries preceded DRAGON in its original country, but were printed in English after the Dragon Fever, capitalizing on the notion of region. Readers are hungry for Scandinavian mysteries, and I am no exception. But, after reading some stinkers, I decided to do my homework. Norwegian Karin Fossum was a published poet before being a crime writer, which bodes well, as this is obviously a writer who cares about the power of lyricism. Her descriptive prose is subtly poetic.Karin Fossum books were not released in the US in chronological order (unfortunately), but she was here before Larsson, which alerts me that she didn’t arrive BECAUSE of Larsson. THE INDIAN BRIDE, which was published here in 2005, demonstrated Fossum as a writer who is not just interested in the good guys catching the bad guys. It is a fascinating story that is more sociological and character-driven, one that I can comfortably recommend to my non-crime book reading friends.EVA'S EYE, the first Inspector Sejer book, has finally arrived. It has a more unorthodox approach to the series genre. Sejer doesn't come across as the main character. He is integral to the story, and the necessary moral center. But, instead of HIS categorical perspective, it is Eva, a self-contained, beautiful, but too-thin woman, who carries the book. This is brilliant, because "series" books that focus primarily on the crime-fighter eventually peter out, because the cop or detective either becomes a parody of him/herself or a stock-in-trade cardboard figure. Even though I am obligated to read the Sejer series out of order, it is evident that Sejer's (and Skarre's) characters build gradually, and keenly. I finally get to see the genesis of Sejer, and I appreciate the light but revealing touch by Fossum.The narrative swings back and forth in time, but ever so delicately, and accessibly. Artist Eva is a divorcee with a young child, Emma. She is committed to her work, and makes her living solely on her art. Her art is best described as a style of underpainting in order to capture light, shadows, and the play of both. She uses black and white exclusively (and some layers of grey). Often, an observer asks, “What does it mean?”While Eva is down by the river with Emma, she sees a dead and decomposing body floating in the bank among the stones. And by the way, here is the description of the river, to illustrate the power of Fossum’s prose:“The river cascaded through the countryside, splitting the cold town into two shivering gray floes.” Fossum’s descriptions go hand and hand with the characters’ tensions and fears. The mood of the town, the atmosphere, directly correlates to that of the characters who inhabit it.Eva assures her daughter that she will call the police from the phone box nearby. But she doesn’t. That is all one needs to know. The rest of the story unfolds at a superb clip, keeping pace with the reader’s demands while creating a creeping thrill of tension and awe.The ending, as all Fossum books I have read, gnawed at me. Some of her books are open-ended; however, if you are one who likes for major points to be revealed, you will be satisfied by the close of this book, as there aren’t a lot of loose ends. Yet, there are jaw-dropping surprises. Even with this debut novel, it is evident that Fossum is a first-class writer. And crime writer.
Why did I read it? Because it was by an author listed in the Scandinavian and Nordic Crime Fiction group at Goodreads, and it was on offer from Amazon's ARC programme.What's it a about? This is the first Inspector Sejer book by Karin Fossum set in a small town in Norway.Eva and her daughter, Emma, are out walking along the river when a body appears in the water. Eva appears to recognise the shoes on the body. She tells her daughter she will ring the police and drags her to a telephone box, but instead Eva calls another number before whisking Emma to McDonalds. The body turns out to be that of a man who has been missing for months, having disappeared around the same time a prostitute died, a crime which remains unsolved. Inspector Konrad Sejer investigates both, as it's unusual for two murders to occur in the town.What did I enjoy? The book, actually the story is tightly edited. There is no excessive anything; and it's sharp with a mystery so brilliantly conceived, I truly struggled to see the connections until the reveal. I particularly enjoyed Karin Fossum's layout of the story: the first part set in the present, then it travels back in time with a whole section revealing how events unfolded in one long narrative, before coming back to the present and tidying up. It was a great format, though it may not sound like it from my description. It really made the story flow, and provided a real sense of suspense as I struggled to see the connection between events past and present.Descriptions seem minimal, but everything that is needed for a good story is there. There is an absence of long, gory details about bodies, or murders, no autopsy, or long forensic scenes, which I found refreshing. The fact it is translated into English doesn't seem to have impacted on the style, or format at all. Only main characters are fully formed, the ones on the periphery remain a little blurred. I imagine these characters will be developed further as the series continues. What didn't I like? Strange, but I can't think of anything I disliked about "In the Darkness". Would I recommend it? Yes. I'll definitely be reading more of Karin Fossum's book, especially in the Inspector Konrad Sejer series. I may have issued four stars, but it's closer to five. Why not five stars then? I didn't enjoy "In the Darkness" as much as I would have expected, given how well it's written and presented, but that it my own fault; I read "In the Darkness" over a long time period in between another crime fiction book. I feel had I sat down and read it over a shorter period, i.e. one sitting, and without another mystery to distract me, I would have appreciated it much more.
What do You think about Evas Öga (1998)?
This was a really good first book. Like the Harry Hole/Jo Nesbo books, her first couple were not the first to be translated in English, and I did read the Indian Bride first. There were a couple of things in it that I found amusing, but only as they pertain to me. Much of the book's focus is on an Opel car. When my boy Josh was a very little boy, he could, uncannily, tell the make of just about any car, but one day I saw a really nice Porche and said, Oh Josh, look at the Porshe. He said that's not a Porche....it's a Volkswagen I kept saying no, it's a Porche, even pointing at the letters and sounding it out, at which point he pointed at the letters and said very slowly....volks...wagon. It's one of my fondest memories. But another one, is when I was a little girl, about 9 or 10, I loved cars too. My Dad had me up on his shoulders, standing outside our beach house. He saw a small foreign car coming down the road and said, I wonder what kind of car that is....I said, It's a Renault Dauphine. When the people, who were friends of the family got out, he asked them, and when the lady said Renault Dauphine, he twisted his head around to look at me up above his head, and said How the hell did you know that? Somehow Karin Fossum managed to mention a Renault in one sentence, and in the next, that a woman wouldn't know the difference between a Porche and a Volkswagen! I do, just ask Josh!I thought this was very suspenseful, and took you completely by surprise in a few places. And not unlike the Indian Bride, there are a few things left hanging in the air for you to wonder about.
—Janellyn51
It is imperative for me that a literary thriller offers a storyline of fresh, thought provoking suspense and original plot twists, but also crackling prose, palpable atmosphere, strong characters, an emphasis on human politics, and a narrative rich with cunning perspective and distinctive dialogue to be successful with me. With EVA'S EYE Karin Fossum meets all my criteria and with a striking literary aplomb that kept me tethered from the first scene through a climax which delves deep into the darkness to bring out the light.Subtle, tense, and gripping, EVA'S EYE is a stylish introduction to Karin Fossum's Inspector Konrad Sejer, her iconic police investigator of sharp smarts and methodical tenacity. His latest case, to solve the murder of a missing man whose body has been discovered by artist Eva Magnus and her six year old daughter Emma floating in the town's icy river, appears to be connected to another unsolved murder that Sejer is also investigating, that of a prostitute who happens to have been a personal friend of Eva Magnus."A question had arisen in his mind, and the answers he received gave him something to think about. Even people's tiniest movements creates ripples, he thought, just as the fall of a minute pebble could be registered in a totally different place on a totally different shore, a place you hadn't even dreamed of."Eva Magnus is an artist whose primary technique is to scrape her paintings out of a black surface. Her tools are a paint-scraper or a steel brush or a knife and - "When I scrape gently I find shades of gray, and if I scrape hard, I get right down to the white and bring out a lot of light." Just as Eva uses her scraping tools to create her desired effects, Sejer uses his investigative technique to create his... to delve into the darkness to bring out the light.EVA'S EYE is a mature, emotionally potent story that will appeal to readers of literary and crime fiction alike. Karin Fossum is known for her fearless, inventive storytelling and she uses it to stunning effect in this highly original mystery. It is impossible to read Karin Fossum and not come away with an exhilarating understanding of the human heart and mind.Fans of Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer series will be thrilled - EVA'S EYE is the original Inspector Sejer mystery available for the first time in English. It has been translated from the Norwegian by James Anderson.http://69books.com/
—69books.Com
Karin Fossum's "In the Darkness" is her first book in the Sejer series, written almost 20 years ago. Sejer has to solve two murders that seem to be somehow connected, and Eva Marie Magnus, the central character of the novel, is somehow connected to both cases. Sejer has to figure out what the connections are.I did not like the first half of the book too much, although Karin Fossum is one of my absolutely favorite authors and I rate her "Black Seconds" and "The Indian Bride" as masterpieces of the psychological mystery genre (I am working on the reviews of these two books; they deserve a thorough re-read). The writing seemed tentative and unfocused as if Ms. Fossum could not decide on whom to make main characters of the plot. In comparison to later works, the book seemed to be a bit overwrought; there was no feeling of the economical, almost minimalistic style so characteristic for Ms. Fossum's newer prose. It might be a case of hindsight, but to me it was clear that "In the Darkness" was not yet a mature novel.However, I found the second half of the novel much better. The plot became very interesting, and even the writing seemed to improve to the point that I could follow and understand the motives of Eva Magnus' and others' actions. The threads of the plot were all nicely tied together in the end, and the ending felt powerful."In the Darkness" is a good book. It is not on the level of Ms. Fossum's later work; the mystery component is stronger than the psychology component, and the plot is quite complex (which many readers will like). Still, it is a solid psychological mystery on its own. It nicely illustrates the early stages of development of the author's voice and style. To me, this is clearly a three-and-a-half stars book. Since the halves are not allowed, I am tossing a coin:Three stars.
—Lukasz Pruski
