In the Darkness and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Trade in Yours
For a £1.66 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Start reading In the Darkness on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

In the Darkness: An Inspector Sejer Novel (Inspector Sejer 1) [Paperback]

Karin Fossum , James Anderson
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.96 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.03 (31%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Wednesday, 22 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £8.51  
Paperback £6.39  
Paperback, 19 July 2012 £8.96  
Audio Download, Unabridged £14.99 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial
Trade In this Item for up to £1.66
Trade in In the Darkness: An Inspector Sejer Novel (Inspector Sejer 1) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.66, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more

Book Description

19 July 2012 Inspector Sejer 1

Eva is walking by the river one afternoon when a body floats to the surface of the icy water. She tells her daughter to wait patiently while she calls the police, but when she reaches the phone box Eva dials another number altogether.

The dead man, Egil, has been missing for months, and it doesn't take long for Inspector Sejer and his team to establish that he was the victim of a very violent killer. But the trail has gone cold. It's as puzzling as another unsolved case on Sejer's desk: the murder of a prostitute who was found dead just before Egil went missing.

While Sejer is trying to piece together the fragments of a seemingly impossible case, Eva gets a phone call late one night. A stranger speaks and then swiftly hangs up. Eva looks out into the darkness and listens. All is quiet.

Gripping and thought-provoking, In the Darkness is Karin Fossum's first novel featuring the iconic Inspector Sejer. The prizewinning series has been published around the world to great acclaim.


Frequently Bought Together

In the Darkness: An Inspector Sejer Novel (Inspector Sejer 1) + The Caller (Inspector Sejer 9)
Price For Both: £14.55

Buy the selected items together
  • The Caller (Inspector Sejer 9) £5.59


Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Harvill Secker (19 July 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1846555256
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846555251
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 2.4 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 104,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

"A compelling read" (Sean Farrell Irish Sunday Independent )

"Vintage Fossum" (Henry Sutton Daily Mirror )

"The latest offering from the "Norwegian queen of crime" is a novel of mighty power. In The Darkness, the first Inspector Sejer novel, is intricately crafted with undeniable pedigree." (Ruth Dugdall )

"In the Darkness had me hooked from the start. Fossum's writing is insightful and descriptive without being showy. There are no tricks or cliff hangers, just confident storytelling, refreshingly free from sudden bursts of implausibility. Her characters feel like real people, living in a real world, where money is tight and motivations are murky." (Julie Corbin )

"It is Karin Fossum's wry observations of human frailty and the warmth with which she portrays even her flawed characters - that make this book such a pleasure to read. It's rare for me to find a book that I love so much I can't put it down, but this was one of them." (Penny Hancock )

Book Description

The first ever Inspector Sejer novel by Karin Fossum, who Jo Nesbo has called 'A truly great writer'

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Typically gripping Karin Fossum novel 17 Aug 2012
By A. Butterfield TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Though newly released, this is Karin Fossum's first Inspector Sejer novel, which she originally published in Norwegian in 1995. There are some signs that it's a bit earlier than other novels in the series, but Konrad Sejer basically arrives fully formed in this first book, and he gets his original dog back.
The story starts with a dead body floating in a river; it's found by a woman and her young daughter. The woman decides not to call the police. The novel tells the story of why she can't. The story is told mostly in flashbacks, both from Sejer's point of view, and Eva, the woman who finds the body.
As is often the case, Sejer's part in the story is quite small. Mostly it's the story of what happened to Eva and her friend Maja. It's all going to be familiar ground to Fossum fans, though it's gripping enough, despite being in flashbacks.
Fossum creates a desperate situation, but perhaps one that's a bit easy to see through, so the flashbacks are sometimes a bit boring. You kind of know what's happened so it's just a matter of how it happened.
There are some tense set pieces, especially when Eva drives to a remote chalet and has to hide in a composting toilet, an idea used in a Scandinavian film recently too. There is a good sense of fate catching up with Eva the whole way through. When Fossum is describing Eva's thoughts and reasoning, the novel is at its best.
But when there's dialogue between the characters, it's probably at its worst. The dialogue is stilted and unconvincing, and is more like something from a children's book at times. This may well be a fault of the translation, but it's a common thread through pretty much all Karin Fossum's books. There's an odd grammatical style that I find offputting too.
Still, this is a readable book with a fairly gripping story. I don't think it's KF's best, but neither is it the worst.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Karin Fossum - great again. 14 Dec 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another excellent Nordic Noir novel, and I just love Inspector Sejer. Being an Nordic Noir addict means I enjoy them all, so not really a good critic
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars In The Darkness 24 July 2012
By Ragnar VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Eva and her young daughter find a body floating in the river. She tells her daughter she's going to phone the police. And she does make a call, but not to the police. Why? As we read on we find that Eva has information which could help the police about an earlier death, that of her friend Maja. So we can't help wondering why she doesn't come forward.

In due course, Inspector Konrad Sejer begins to wonder the same thing and arrives at her house just in time to prevent her being seriously injured by an intruder. Now she has no choice but to start explaining. And at this point, when we might have been sitting in on the interview, the narrative goes back in time and fills us in on what has happened, both to Maja and to the dead man in the water. It would spoil the story to reveal more.

The characters who come across best in this book are Eva and Maja. Even though Maja doesn't figure in much of it, her role is important. Whereas Eva is an artist struggling to make ends meet, Maja has accumulated a large sum of money through prostitution and persuades Eva that this line of work could keep the wolf from the door. Surprisingly, Eva decides to give it a try, though she doesn't end up doing so. One of the most entertaining sections of the book is where the Maja and Eva discuss the morality of their respective occupations, Maja claiming that while the prostitute bares her body for a living, the artist bares her soul - which is surely worse.

Inspector Sejer, a thoughtful and humane man, is lightly sketched in, but this is the first novel in the series. No doubt his character is developed further in the books which follow. His team is small and they don't figure much in the investigation, which is of the more traditional type - talking to people and sussing them out. There is a happy absence of computers and mobile phones.

This is an enjoyable read, the author's strength being to imagine what a given situation is like for her characters and bring that out for the reader.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars The first of Karin Fossum's books...
This the first novel by this author that I have read but it will not be the last. Initially it seemed that there was some influence from Maj Sjowall by the style of writing, and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by OldBrock
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
I love all Karin Fossum's book and this one won`t dissapoint you! I have read all her books so I am eagerly awaiting for a new release!
Published 2 months ago by Irma
5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't want to put it down.
I've read a huge amount of Scandinavian Noir from most of the better known authors and this rates amongst the best. Read more
Published 2 months ago by MR E WILSON
3.0 out of 5 stars AMAZON START PAYING TAX IN THE UK
AMAZON START PAYING TAX IN THE UK: the reviews for this series of books seem encouraging, and this isn't a bad start, although I'm hoping for more as I read the later ones in the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Michael Hirons
4.0 out of 5 stars In the Darkness
As the book opens, Eva Magnus is walking with her seven-year-old daughter, Emma, one late afternoon in April along the riverbank in her Norwegian town, described as "only beautiful... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gloria Feit
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read
I chose this book because it was by an author recommended in the "Scandinavian and Nordic Crime Fiction" reading group of website where I catalogue my reading, and it was on offer... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sile
4.0 out of 5 stars Karin Fossum's first crime novel in English translation for the first...
Karin Fossum, the Norwegian writer, was born in 1954, and first made her mark writing poetry, for which she won a national prize in her home country at the age of just twenty years... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Hywel James
2.0 out of 5 stars Hard work
I'll be blunt: I did not enjoy this novel. I had high hopes as I have read a few different Scandinavian authors and I rather like that air of melancholy they have about them, but... Read more
Published 7 months ago by J.R.Hartley
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and unusual
This novel stands somewhat apart from other well-known Scandinavian crime novels; it is less action-packed and also has no political element. Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. V. Clarke
4.0 out of 5 stars atmospheric, masterly thriller from Fossum
This is the first in the Inspector Sejer series of novels from Karin Fossum - a long time coming in translation as it was written in the mid-nineties. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jl Adcock
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges