Fossum- keeps you guessing to the last- and ties it all up in the end...a master story teller!

books:


	• Black Seconds (Inspector Sejer Mysteries) Karin Fossum Harcourt, 2008 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

More Konrad Sejer and Jacob Skarre, please!

Creepy is an understatement when talking about Karin Fossum's detective series featuring Inspector Konrad Sejer and his colleague Jacob Skarre. In "Black Seconds," readers get a glimpse into a dark world not too many authors can create as powerful and troubling as Fossum.

From the beginning of the series in "Don't Look Back" until now in "Black Seconds," Fossum knows how to create a believable and realistic sketch of her characters and their aging lives. As evidence, Konrad Sejer is not the same man we have seen in "Don't Look Back" or even in "The Indian Bride." He is more vulnerable, in private and in public life. Behind closed doors, we see his beloved dog Kollberg struggle with the aging process. He can hardly walk anymore, or find his cozy surroundings comfortable. Late one night, while Sejer comes home from work, he sits in his favorite chair by the window and stares across the room at his dog, who walks in circles a few times until he collapses on the floor. His hind legs hit the floor first, then his paws, and finally his heavy head falls in front of him. It is too difficult for Sejer to look his dog in the eyes.

At work, Sejer deals with a case that he finds most puzzling to date. As he interviews Emil Mork and his mother, Elsa, Sejer discovers how rewarding and debilitating his line of work really is. At one point in the novel when Sejer questions Elsa about her son's anger management problems, Sejer is seen as weak and scared for the first time. He sees Kollberg in her story, I think, and takes her confession personally.

The end of the story is Fossum at her best with the writings of nature and the human condition. Wonderful and haunting at the same time. I look forward to more Inspector Sejer and Skarre mysteries and hope we get a better look at Skarre's personality and private life. I really like these characters and pray we get more cases soon.

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Fossum- keeps you guessing to the last- and ties it all up in the end...a master story teller!

I agree whole heartedly with the reviews of T.B. Grant and Butterfield! Karin Fossum is a master story teller! I loved every second of Black Seconds...I wait for more Sejer! This character would be great in the movies! Reminds me a little of the men from Dragnet--but better! I am waiting for the arrival of my copy of Fossum's new book: Broken- I think it is unrelated to the Sejer series, but I know it will be worth reading!

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It is a cruel book

Black Seconds is a tragedy. We could call it an experiment in a mistery novel that follows the track of greek tragedies: there are no villains in this sad tale. A young girl, sweet as most of them when they are 12, animal lover and with all future ahead disapears and the first suspect is a borderline intelectually deficient men. Obviouslly he is not the murderer - the girl is found dead with anusual lesions and the story goes until the real responsable is found. All characters are decent persons, and this is the impact of this dark novel: bad things happen. If you have young daughters don`t read this novel: it hurts.

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Hard to Find a Better Mystery

When I read this book's predecessor, "The Indian Bride" (which had gotten so many good reviews around the US), I thought Ms. Fossum had put out one of the best mysteries I'd read in 20+ years. I see now that I was mistaken. "The Indian Bride" was only a warm-up for "Black Seconds."

Wow. I truly cannot imagine a better mystery. Characters are tightly drawn, the plot moves along perfectly (at least, in such a manner that you'll likely end up staying up all night to read this book), and, of course, the setting is sketched out with just the right amount of detail. Not a wasted word or sentence in this book.

If you like mysteries, if you like really good stories, and you don't mind picking up the kind of book that you'll find difficult to put down until the end, this is the book for you. Don't waste your time reading any more reviews - buy it, read it, enjoy it and join the rest of us waiting for Ms. Fossum's next book.

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Very Enjoyable

Characters that are real, not forced or overdrawn. Plot development that is believable and deceiving, with a style that smoothly involves the reader mentally, laying clues that may be clues or not, always with unexpected plot finishes that are satisfying. Read one of her books and you immediately want to start another. A detective mystery writer of the highest order.
If you haven't read any Fossum I would recommend starting with The Indian Bride. The British TimesOnline named her one of the 50 greatest crime writers. If you like anything in this genre you will love this author.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Ida Joner gets on her brand-new bike and sets off toward town. A good-natured, happy girl, she is looking forward to her tenth birthday. Thirty-five minutes after Ida should have come home, her mother starts to worry. She phones store owners, Ida?s friends?anyone who could have seen her. But no one has.

Suspicion immediately falls on Emil Mork, a local character who lives alone and hasn?t spoken since childhood. His mother insists on cleaning his house weekly?although she?s sometimes afraid of what she might find there. A mother?s worst nightmare in either case?to lose a child or to think a child capable of murder. As Ida?s relatives reach the breaking point and the media frenzy surrounding the case begins, Inspector Konrad Sejer is his usual calm and reassuring self. But he?s puzzled. And disturbed. This is the strangest case he?s seen in years.

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