Norwegian Queen of Crime

Can’t wait for the next Stieg Larsson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornest's Nest, to be released? (May 2010), give award-winning crime novelist Karin Fossum a try. Known as Norway’s “Queen of Crime”, Fossum has established herself as a force in the very competitive field of Scandinavian crime fiction. Chief Inspector Konrad Sejer is intelligent, sensitive, and the fair minded protagonist in her internationally acclaimed series. In The Water’s Edge, sixth in the series, Reinhardt and Kristine Ris, stumble upon the partially nude body of seven year-old Jonas August Lowe in the woods. Soon after their gruesome discovery the Rises’ notice a man limping away who has a strong resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen. Inspectors Konrad Sejer and his partner Jacob Skarre must solve another child murder case. With little physical evidence to aid them, Sejer and Skarre interview a convicted pedophile who suggests they are looking for a first time offender. As the case stalls another young boy goes missing and the inspectors are in a race against time to find him before they have two murders to solve. Jonas August Lowe’s mother Elfrid slips into near madness as she tries to cope with her grief and Reinhardt Ris develops a morbid fascination with the life and death of little Jonas. When Sejer and Skarre finally receive the critical break in the case that they need, the real horror of what happened to these two young boys is revealed. Reminiscent of the hugely popular Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell mystery readers will not be disappointed.


Karin Fossum currently lives in Oslo, Norway and began her writing career as a poet. Her first collection was published in 1974 when she was 20 years old. Her critically acclaimed novels have been translated into 16 languages. She has won the following awards; the Glass Key Award and Riverton Prize for the book Don’t Look Back, Gumshoe Award for best European crime novel of the year 2007 for the novel When the Devil Holds the Candle, LA Times Book Prize in the category of Mystery/Thriller 2007 for The Indian Bride, and was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award 2007 for Calling Out for You.