Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back
by Karin Fossum

Don't Look Back
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Book Summary Information

Author: Karin Fossum
Translator: Felicity David
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06-01
ISBN: 0156031361
Number of pages: 324
Publisher: Mariner Books

Book Reviews of Don't Look Back

Book Review: Great police procedural from Norway
Summary: 5 Stars

I picked this up at an airport bookstore, of all places. I generally like Scandinavian detective novels, so when I saw it, I grabbed it. This was the first of the Sejer novels that I have come across and it was a pleasure to read. The dialogue is crisp and realistic, the characters are deftly sketched, and the prose is absolutely wonderful.

This particular book differs from some of the other Scandinavian mysteries in that the author seems more interested in character and psychology than in contemporary events and social issues. In some odd way, this reminded me of some of Ross McDonald's Lew Archer mysteries, in that much of the book is really about the detective uncovering hidden connections among a group of seemingly unrelated people, and eventually tying the case to a buried secret from the past. The pacing accordingly is relatively slow, with much of the action consisting of Sejer interviewing and reinterviewing the villagers to uncover the web of connections between them.

In terms of Scandinavian mysteries, this represents an interesting contrast with Mankell, Tursten, and the earlier Sjowall and Wahloo, whose books tended to be very topical, with crimes straight out of the headlines today, and with frequent asides from the main characters that tie the developments in the story to larger social issues. Those are all fine books as well, of course, just in a different vein.

Because of the emphasis on character and psychology over current events and social critique, I suspect that this book will age better than Mankell's and some of the others. As with the Lew Archer mysteries, this is fairly self-contained, and there isn't much that ties it to a particular time. It could have taken place 30 years ago, or yesterday, or 30 years from now.

This is a fine book and I look forward to reading the other Sejer mysteries.

Summary of Don't Look Back

The American debut of a critically acclaimed Scandinavian crime series, featuring a quiet, cryptic hero named Konrad Sejer.

 

Bestselling novelist Karin Fossum writes with a dexterous, bait-and-switch style, keeping her characters on their toes as much as her readers as she finds fissures in the chill serenity of the Norwegian mountain town at the center of Don't Look Back?her fifth Inspector Sejer novel and the first to be available to American readers. In a small village at the foot of Norway's Kollen Mountain, in the wake of a missing-child scare, the body of a teenage girl is found unexpectedly. Sejer and his young partner, Jacob Skarre, begin a dogged but subtle pursuit of her killer, uncovering layers of distrust and lies beneath the town's perfect facade as the plot twists masterfully (and moodily) forward. The air of mystery and sadness around Sejer?combined with his tough, intuitive smarts?make him a compulsively readable leading man and elevate this new series in translation beyond the standard genre fare.

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