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When perpetual bachelor Gunder Jomann goes to India for two weeks and comes home married, the town of Elvestad is stunned. On the day the Indian bride is supposed to arrive, the battered body of a woman is found in a meadow on the outskirts of town. None of the "good people of Elvestad" can believe that anyone among them would be capable of such a brutal murder. But in his quiet, formal way, Inspector Konrad Sejer understands that good people can commit atrocious deeds, and that no one is altogether innocent—including the café owner who knows too much, the girl who wants to be a chief witness, and the bodybuilder with no outlet for his terrible strength.
Another brilliantly conceived, dark novel from one of Europe's most successful crime writers.
"[It] takes . . . subtle thought to interpret a cafe owner's surliness or a schoolgirl's eagerness to be a murder witness. What it takes is a writer like Fossum, able to see into the soul of an entire village." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times
"Like a Scandinavian winter, this potent psychological thriller chills right to the bone. —Booklist, starred review
"An irresistible page-turner that's like a Nordic Sherlock Holmes story, with characters by Bergman and blood by Tarantino." —Entertainment Weekly
"Outstanding . . . With a skill few can equal, Fossum deftly paints the provincial inhabitants of Elvestad, coupling those poignant word portraits with a whodunit and an insightful but fallible detective." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
August 18, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780547540795
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780547540795
- File size: 1809 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from May 14, 2007
F
ossum may not be well-known outside a select circle, but that could change with the publication of this outstanding contemporary police procedural, the fourth Inspector Sejer mystery to be translated into English (after 2006's He Who Fears the Wolf
). Insp. Konrad Sejer is faced with a baffling crime when the battered body of a woman surfaces in a field outside the town of Elvestad. She's soon identified as Poona Jomann, the new wife of Gunder Jomann, who traveled to India in search of a life partner. Gunder's sister's injury in an auto accident kept him from meeting his bride at the airport, leaving her to travel to their new home alone, a journey that ended in murder. With a skill few can equal, Fossum deftly paints the provincial inhabitants of Elvestad, coupling those poignant word portraits with a whodunit and an insightful but fallible detective. The ending is not one most readers will expect, but it perfectly suits the tale of sad, little lives and the tragic consequences of chance.
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