Don't Look Back (An Inspector Sejer mystery)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
81 of 82 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a big fan of Henning Mankell's Swedish crime novels, but when I'd read them all (or at least all the ones that have been translated) I started to look around for more Scandinavian crime fiction.
I couldn't have moved on to a better substitute for Mankell.
Karin Fossum's style is not dissimilar to Mankell's, and I suspect that if you like one you'll like the other.
There are differences though. Fossum doesn't make the landscape and climate part of the action like Mankell does. Apart from the occasional place name, there's not much to tell you that you're in Norway, though of course the names of the characters are exotic and interesting.
I think Fossum is better at characterization: she deftly brings out all of her characters where Mankell concentrates on his central character almost at the expense of the others. I was particularly impressed by the way subtle, real details bring the characters to life. There is some very clever, but not showy writing in this novel.
You'll probably have to like "police procedurals" to really enjoy this. But it's not dour, not dull. There are moments of real tension and revelation; you'll find you are easily persuaded to turn to the next page and the next chapter.
I look forward to reading more of Karin Fossum's novels.
I couldn't have moved on to a better substitute for Mankell.
Karin Fossum's style is not dissimilar to Mankell's, and I suspect that if you like one you'll like the other.
There are differences though. Fossum doesn't make the landscape and climate part of the action like Mankell does. Apart from the occasional place name, there's not much to tell you that you're in Norway, though of course the names of the characters are exotic and interesting.
I think Fossum is better at characterization: she deftly brings out all of her characters where Mankell concentrates on his central character almost at the expense of the others. I was particularly impressed by the way subtle, real details bring the characters to life. There is some very clever, but not showy writing in this novel.
You'll probably have to like "police procedurals" to really enjoy this. But it's not dour, not dull. There are moments of real tension and revelation; you'll find you are easily persuaded to turn to the next page and the next chapter.
I look forward to reading more of Karin Fossum's novels.
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Inspector Sejer is an engaging and thoughtful inspector, the 'suspects' and other characters are carefully drawn and recognisable - the sense of community in this novel is striking. This tale takes place in the real world and is absorbing and chilling because of it. A grown up detective story. I can't wait for Karin Fossum's other novels to be translated - I'm not usually a detective story reader but Elizabeth George and Inspector Lynley have changed that, and I would say Fossum and Sejer are close rivals. Fossum's novel is more than murder-mystery, it is a work of 'proper' fiction, and deserves the awards it has won. Highly enjoyable.
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After being widely translated in Europe, it's about time that Fossum's excellent police procedurals are becoming available in English. Unfortunately this first book in translation is the fifth in the series, and so a bit of the background is lacking. The story starts with the disappearance of a young girl in a small Norwegian village, but adroitly segues into a murder investigation as the search for the girl turns up an unrelated naked corpse. The town is one of several small communities served by the city police, and grizzled Inspector Sejer and his younger partner Skarre are assigned to the case.
This is above all a psychological mystery, as Sejer and Skarre carefully poke and prod the small community, where everyone knows everyone else, in order to unravel the tale that led to the killing of a well-liked teenage girl. Although the townspeople have plenty of skeletons in their closets, the story never strays into cliché, as it might have under a less assured hand. Sejer is a placid and cunning detective of late middle age, living alone with his dog after being widowed (again, one senses that his personal life has been detailed in previous books). He bears a certain similarity to Det. Inspector Charlie Resnick, the protagonist of John Harvey's long-running Nottingham procedural series. Skarre works well as his younger, more informal partner, slightly treading on eggshells around his more experienced superior.
With no forensic evidence, no witnesses, and no apparent motive, there's little for them to go on. Thus, Sejer and Skarre spend the whole novel interviewing and reinterviewing everyone who knew the girl and might have seen something. As the tension builds, and various red herrings are dispensed with, Sejer grows convinced that the key to the murder lies in an abrupt change in the girl's behavior almost a year previously. This leads seamlessly to yet another layer within the story. Throughout, every character comes to life, and sometimes, the story shift to their perspective for several pages to add a richer depth to the unfolding investigation. Norway never really emerges as a distinct setting, it's a story that really could have been set in any small town in the first world, but it's an absorbing tale, which ends with a potentially unsettling coda.
PS. Danish television produced a four-hour miniseries from the book under the title "Se Deg Ikke Tilbake." With luck, it might be subtitled in English at some point...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Solid police procedural
When a teenager is found dead and naked in the woods, Inspector Sejer is forced to uncover dark secrets in a small Norwegian village. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Roman Clodia
Rivetting Read
From the misleading start to the brilliant ending twist this book is a page turner in the best possible sense. Excellent colloquial translation. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Frenzied Gerbil
A Slow Burn
A five year-old girl goes missing in a small Norwegian village. Later a teenaged girl is found dead and naked in the woods. Are they linked? Read more
Published 16 months ago by JanLuke
looking forward from don't look back
The first book I have read from this author. The story is a little obvious but the descriptive text does help to bring a good edge to the tale
Published on 26 May 2010 by celtictraveller
Reading Karin Fossum
A very good writer, goes at things from a differant angle which makes one think a bit. Well worth a read.
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Cynthia Herbert
Intelligent & disturbing
Det Sejer has a big dog, is widowed and lives in a penthouse flat near the claustrophobic Norwegian village where a child murder takes place. Read more
Published on 21 April 2009 by Officer Dibble
Don't Look Back - Excellent
After reading various novels in Norwegian by a variety of authors I've now found Karin Fossum! The equal of Tom Kristensen in my opinion, another excellent author. Read more
Published on 25 Dec 2008 by Mr. Mark Ian Jarrett
Workmanlike
This is a competent procedural crime story, with the two detectives doggedly questioning the inhabitants of a suburban community, and slowly letting the skeletons out of the... Read more
Published on 21 July 2008 by Bill
Good characters
A dead body by the Serpent's Tarn. When you see the serpent, run away and don't look back. What place has death in this beautiful mountain setting? Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2007 by Laura D
Disappointed in my first Fossum
This book came as part of a bumper bundle under the Christmas tree. Good thing there were others to read...the big print of my edition was an immediate turn off. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2006 by Christo
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