What do You think about When The Devil Holds The Candle (2007)?
I read about a third of this book before deciding I was done with it. I hate nearly all the characters in the book. The angelic-looking Andreas is a self-obsessed racist, his friend "Zipp" is an idiot and creepy old Irma, who keeps insisting she's sane in spite of all the evidence makes my skin crawl. Inspector Sejer's new girlfriend Sara is an irritating woman who calls phone sex lines when he's not around and smokes pot in his flat without his permission. Inspector Sejer was the only character in the book that I really liked, then again I've always liked him in the other books that I've read from this series.This is a very, very dark story, darker than the average Nordic crime thriller. It's very psychological and you spend a lot of time inside Irma's head, as what's left of her sanity disintegrates. I think perhaps we're meant to sympathise with her, at least a little, but I was too creeped out by her to feel sorry for her. I didn't feel sorry for the boys either: Andreas is a moral vacuum and Zipp doesn't have the fortitude to stand up to him. Inspector Sejer, as always, adds a chink of light to the tale, but unfortunately he doesn't appear nearly enough, therefore the gloom is almost impenetrable.This isn't a badly-written novel, or a bad story, it's just too dark even for me, and while I can tolerate and even enjoy hard-to-like main characters (cf. Sigurður Óli in Black Skies) I really struggled with the motley crew that I found in this book. I will read more of this series, but I hope to find more of Sejer in the next book, as I really like him.
—Livia
Once again, Karin Fossum masterfully portrays all her characters: Inspector Sejer, Andreas, Zipp, and Irma all have great depth and come alive in her skillful hands. Her story explores the psyches of those who feel sidelined by society and those, like Irma, who feel invisible.However, in this installment of the series, there are several serious weaknesses in the plot. First of all, there are too many coincidences that drive the narrative: the biggest one, of course, is that (view spoiler)[ Runi is Andreas's mother. Also, that the woman that Andreas and Zipp happen to come upon alone on the street at midnight is Irma. And the boy that Andreas and Zipp hassle on the street is Sejer's grandson? And Sejer is at his daughter's house that evening so he knows exactly what time his grandson came home? (hide spoiler)]
—Carole
This is a Norwegian mystery with that particular existential, fatalist almost nihilist point of view. And also it is postmodern in that the detective doesn’t solve anything, although his circling the perpetuators of the crime helps bring resolution, which is karmic and not from the long arm of the law. I actually liked that part. The only sane people are Inspector Sejer, his sidekick, Skarre, Sejer’s huge dog and Sejer’s girlfriend. Sejer seems the persona of a stable Europe that is struck by the erosion of societal structures, his girlfriend has phone sex when he is not in the mood, his side kick wears an earring. He sees young adult men with no purpose, with mindless jobs or no jobs, drinking and easily almost naturally falling into violence against others, although there is mortification after the fact. They psychodynamic motivation of the childhood of the crazy killer, and the repressed homosexuality of another character without morals, is a bit simplistic and overdrawn. However the peak of town life in Norway is wonderful, and it is psychological evocative, but all in all a bit disturbing view of humans. Except the Inspector continues and finds some small joys in life, maybe he is who we are to identify with amidst lost people and meaningless violence around us.
—Annabelle
