Well, first got to say I had no idea this was book 29, yep 29 in The Inspector Sejer series, it reads 100% as a stand alone, well imo.
Secondly the main character Ragna Riegel,as she was Norwegian reminded me of a friend,so unbeknown to them they played the main part in the ‘film’ that accompanies your imagination when you read! 😃
Karin Fossum is billed as the ‘Queen of Norwegian Crime Writing’ and I have to confess to not knowingly ever read a Norwegian author before ( nor do I watch any of the brooding dramas on Ch4 from Norway/Scandi ) strange really as Copenhagen is my fav city in the world followed by Oslo but anyway I digress....
Obvs the names, towns etc are in Norwegian as are the police procedural parts and the descriptions of prison etc, I found this fascinating as was the general description of Norwegian life and customs, also the shop where Ragna worked was wonderfully described and made me want to go there and browse the different goods on offer ( in comparision to UK shops)
I also found the odd political statement on the refugee status in Norway interesting, from both viewpoints ( one character is a Turkish shop owner who features on and off )
Ragna can only whisper after a botched op and this is delved into quite a lot in the book and you really feel for her and the problems and trials it brings every day
The story itself is dark( ish ) but not inky dark, there is enough heart and soul in it to not just be classed as a dark thriller, the writing is deliberate and detailed (on occasion repeated, even laboured a few times) and gives you a rare insight into a troubled and very active mind, what could be mundane is described with such clarity it becomes intense
Ragna receives nasty threats in her letterbox and is being followed, but why and by who?
I can almost here you sigh and say not again!!, but thats where the similarity with other books ends....and I am not giving any spoilers other than to say its dramatic and changeable!! and the ending was very emotional for Ragna and I think for the reader!, then the last few sentences changed the game again!!!
Inspector Serjer is a joy and the interactions between him and various characters inc Rega brilliantly described
A really unusual book, that I may have overlooked and thought nah not for me but really glad I gave it a chance as was a stimulating read