Norway

'Watch out Jo Nesbo!' is printed in a bright red circle on the front of I'M TRAVELLING ALONE. It seemed like a rather brave claim to be making before starting this book, and bordering on rash having now finished it. 

The characterisations are reasonably good. There's a partnership of the highly predictable kind with the sane, placid veteran Holger Munch steering a team of investigators trying to work out who is responsible for the shocking death of very young girls. At his side, by his choice despite her objections, his colleague Mia Krüger is damaged and difficult, tortured by past deaths and her background. These two have a working relationship that confounds some of their colleagues, but then most of them don't understand the history between these two. 

The plot, on the other hand, is slightly less predictable in that somebody is killing young girls. Dressing them in doll's clothes, leaving them with the tag 'I'm travelling alone' attached to them somehow. Knowing that there is a number carved into the first victim's fingernail obviously indicates that there will be more victims, but it's not until the investigation tracks down the source of the doll's clothes that they discover exactly what they are dealing with.

The opening salvo in this book instantly grabs, but things do slow down pretty quickly. Partly because of a lot of heavy lifting required in getting a couple of very complicated back-stories fleshed out, and partly because there's a lot of details in the investigation, and a lot of descriptive passages, long conversations and journey's into those back-stories at what is frequently an inopportune moment in terms of plot pace. Needless to say reader's with a preference for action over exposition are likely to get a little frustrated, whilst those looking for something wordier and more descriptive might be more at home here.

Plot advancement is handled reasonably fairly and there are plenty of twists and turns, although readers paying close attention will be able to make some relatively accurate assumptions about a lot of elements, although perhaps not the entire solution.

Despite some reservations, I'M TRAVELLING ALONE is a debut which is building a couple of central characters into a good, standard styling of a broken pair of dedicated detectives, in a series which part police procedural, part noir and part exploration of the human condition. Hopefully once the character setup is completed, future outings will be able to concentrate more on plot and pace.

Brief commentary, rather than a full review.

Read for our f2f bookclub, every book by Jo Nesbø reminds you to read the rest of the series.

It's partially the way that the balance between atmosphere, plot and character is maintained so elegantly. It's partially the way that Harry Hole might be an archetypal loner, but he's not with out a sense of humour, and profound confusion. It's also to do with the manner in which the plots are so cleverly constructed, even if we are dealing with yet another serial killer. 

Needless to say everything adds up to a small amount of kicking myself over how far behind I am with this series.

The Hanne Wilhelmsen series from Norwegian author Anne Holt is fabulous, even if it is being translated out of sequence. Which means in THE LION'S MOUTH, Wilhelmsen, who doesn't make an appearance until later in the novel and is not the central investigator anyway, is also walking around. In the novels already made available to many of us she's in a wheelchair permanently. Allowing for the slight confusion that could cause, these books work well as you can, worse comes to worse, approach them as standalones if necessary, although obviously character introduction and development always works better when you start at the beginning.

The main protagonist of this book, Billy T is a slightly unusual Norwegian policeman, what with his complicated personal life, skinhead / punk style looks and dress sense, a love of Opera and his sons. He's also one of the very few cops (and people for that matter) who share affection and respect with Wilhelmsen. When she eventually does make an appearance in the novel - having moved to the US with her partner, she finds herself staying with Billy T, and it's obvious that these two outsiders are both good friends, and like minded investigators. 

Which is just as well as the plot here is complicated without being complex. The locked room assassination of the Norwegian Prime Minister means that motive becomes particularly important, as method is not immediately obvious. Whether or not her shooting is politically motivated and even then from within her own ranks, or those opposed is not straightforward as there are a number of other complications. It's particularly sobering that this novel, originally published in 1997, also expands on the possibility of a neo-Nazi plot to murder leading figures in Norway. Other complications are more personal and much closer to home.

Where the plot has particular credence though is in the background, infighting and intrigue occurring within political circles. Given that Holt has, in the past, held the position of Minister for Justice and for this and one of her other earlier novels, credit is shared with former State Secretary Berit Reiss-Anderson, it would seem reasonable to assume that these aspects are written from a position of both knowledge and experience.

That doesn't however, overwhelm in terms of motive, and the background of the Prime Minister and her family is trawled through, as is that of her childhood friend, Supreme Court Judge Benjamin Grinde. Aside from him being the last known person to visit the Prime Minister's Office before she was killed, his position as Chair of a Commission looking into a the increase of young baby deaths around 1965 also has implications for them all.

Holt is not afraid to write strong characters with unpleasant edges that aren't sanded down and don't apologise for what they are. Here she's combined them into a plot that looks at the rights and wrongs of society and the possible implications of power, corruption and nepotism. All of which made for a really engaging read.

The 11th Inspector Sejer novel from Karin Fossum, specialising again in the why of a crime. Why in this instance is a series of very big questions. Why did a young toddler end up dead in a pond near his house? Why did nobody think that secure fencing would be necessary for any child that age so close to water? Why is it particularly noteworthy that Tommy is a healthy boy, who happens to have Down's Syndrome? Why is his mother behaving so weirdly, and more to the point is she a spoilt princess or a bit odd? Why do Sejer and Skarre think there's something odd about this death and what can they do about that suspicion with very little evidence?

Fossum often tackles difficult subjects and this is not the first time she's put characters with Down's Syndrome in the forefront of consideration. Whilst she uses this as a way of exploring reactions and expectations it's not disrespectful, opportunistic or uninformed, but it is pointed and thought-provoking. Even more chillingly in THE DROWNED BOY as the parents of young Tommy, Carmen and Nicolai, are very young. The reader is left wondering if they are too young to be parents at all, let alone to a disabled child, or has age less to do with it than just being dysfunctional people. Certainly Carmen seems way too narcissistic to possibly care for anybody but herself. Nicolai on the other hand seems brittle, young, overwhelmed and despite trying to parent, ineffectual and ephemeral. 

In contrast to this young couple, and her rather controlling, domineering father, Sejer is the epitome of calm, kind and thoughtful. Struggling with the need to address a health condition of his own, there's something about the reactions to Tommy's death that worries him from the start. In his normal manner he doesn't take those concerns up front to the possible suspects, instead gently digs away, prodding and searching for an explanation. 

Readers who are passionately addicted to investigation and closure in their crime fiction may find Fossum's books tough reading. Because they look deep into the human psyche, they aren't about the how or even necessarily the who, although the truth is eventually revealed, as are some further shocks and sad outcomes. Not that the reveal is necessarily because of just good investigative techniques, but rather the way that people react to pressure and the spotlight. 

Why would a young Down's Syndrome boy drown, naked in a pond near his home on a hot summer's day and how will his short life and that death affect those around him? There's no question that anybody is going to get away with anything in THE DROWNED BOY, but the why remains the focus, and all the more heart-rendering as a result. 

The preoccupation for Scandinavian crime fiction of many readers is sometimes questioned. One response is to get people to read Karin Fossum's Inspector Konrad Sejer series. Within the one series, Fossum is able to shift the perspective, analyse the reasons why, explore the outcomes and long-term effects of crime, and play with accepted perceptions of clear cut resolutions. In THE MURDER OF HARRIET KROHN, whilst still part of the Sejer series, she's tipped the perspective completely - this is not a whodunnit, or even necessarily a whydunnit, but a how do you live with what you've just done.

There's absolutely no doubt from the opening set up of this book who Charlo Torp is, what a self-inflicted mess he's made of his life, and what his solution to the problem is. It's quite a chilling portrayal. The matter-of-fact way in which Torp sets out to murder Harriet Krohn and his initial reactions post the crime.

It would be an easy thing to have him remain ambivalent, self-justifying. Comfortable that his decision is what was required to sort out his own life and his relationship with his daughter. Certainly post his crime, and as a result of the money and possessions he steals, his life takes a turn for the better. He's able to reconnect with his daughter, he can provide her with the one thing she longs for more than anything else. But somewhere in the middle of all that happy ever after there's something more than just the pressure he's feeling from Inspector Sejer's investigation.

The investigation does take a back seat in this book, but fans of crime fiction that's all about the "chase" would be doing themselves a disservice by missing THE MURDER HARRIET KROHN. This is a carefully laid out, conservatively presented, seeringly understated, big dose of what goes around, comes around. The frightening thing is how blithely ignorant Torp is of what's happening, how his choices impact other people, and what he could have done differently. Until it's way too late.
 

Take one gloriously grumpy central protagonist, add that train crash, include a massive snowstorm cutting off a train full of people 1222 metres above sea level in an inaccessible hotel, add a mysterious locked carriage and a group of shadowy unknown passengers, then kill off a high-profile passenger and see what happens.

What happens is that our grumpy protagonist, Hanne Wilhemlsen, ex-police officer, in a wheelchair as a result of being shot on duty, has to work out what is going on before the body count continues to increase.  With no official help from the outside, and way too much interfering help on the inside, Hanne and a small group of trusted people - some passengers, some staff, some locals, need to work out who wanted to kill off a seemingly harmless, albeit annoying, priest.  And the killing doesn't stop there.

Of course this plot has more than a hat-tip to a few perennial favourite devices - a closed room setting, albeit a biggish closed room in this example.  This is a very large, rather luxurious resort, capable of taking in 269 or so people at a moment's notice.  Then there's the idea of the thinking, observational detective - in this case enforced because of physical restrictions, there's something vaguely reminiscent of Nero Wolfe or Hercule Poriot about Hanne, although her Archie / Hastings is embodied in more than one person in 1222.  

There is a large potential cast of passengers, staff and local helpers so it's just possible that the concept of a resort (that's further divided after a particular storm event) could be what makes the action being centred around a very small group of people feasible.  Despite this, there was more than one point where I did wonder where everybody else was hiding - 269 plus people not being a small number after all.  Add to that the secretive sub-thread about the mysterious closed off carriage, and you couldn't help wondering what was going on behind closed doors, besides the murder plotting of course!

That secretive sub-thread is probably the only part of the book that simply flat-out, doesn't work.  This reader had to assume that perhaps the closed carriage was there as a bit of a hap-tip to the classic red-herring (being another perennial favourite), but to be honest, it didn't work as a red-herring throughout the book and the resolution... well it was just pointless.

Ignoring that bit of off-kilter action, the rest of the book was really good.  I really like Hanne (and not just because I like grumpy protagonists!), and the use of the setting to provide a closed off, claustrophobic environment along with a sense of potential threat worked.  There was a good cast of supporting characters, some nice touches of humour and good pace, and for readers who like to work out the whodonnit aspects, the author has played pretty fair - you've got a good chance of sorting it out, although you will be waiting until the last minute to get your deductions confirmed.

After a bit of a look around it seems that, in that delightful habit publishers have designed to drive readers mildly bats, 1222 is the eighth Hanne Wilhelmsen novel, but the first to be translated into English.  Hopefully we'll get the rest of the series "toots sweet".  In the right order would be greatly appreciated.

One of the things that I particularly love about really good crime fiction is the way that it highlights the human condition - warts and all.  The thing I particularly love about Karin Fossum's books is the way that she explores the notion of the sad, the stupid, the moments in which things go awry.  To my mind, there's something profoundly more sobering about the notion of momentary mistake or misjudgement - rather than the automatic presumption of evil.

THE WATER'S EDGE tackles the difficult subject of the death of a child (and the disappearance of another).  When Reinhardt and Kristine Ris briefly pass an agitated man at the start of one of their regular walks, they have no idea that they will need to remember that man, his appearance, his state of mind and his vehicle.  They only realise that after they discover the body of a young boy in the woods, and Inspector Sejer starts asking a lot of questions.  The circumstances of the boy's death appear to be indicating a dreadful fate for the little boy, although the exact cause of death remains a mystery for quite a while.  Sejer's investigation takes on an even more sinister overtone when a second little boy disappears.

Whilst the death of the little boy and the search for his attacker is paramount to Sejer, there's some interesting psychological exploration going on in THE WATER'S EDGE.  Reinhardt and Kristine's marriage is a fragile affair to start off with, although Reinhardt's bull-headed stubbornness and self-involvement means he probably had no idea that Kristine has been having second thoughts about the relationship for a long time.  As Reinhardt's voyeuristic reaction to the discover of the little boy becomes more and more extreme, it simply confirms for Kristine that her marriage has been a mistake.  Add to that Reinhardt's refusal to have children and Kristine's increasing yearning for a child, and this is a relationship which is destined for problems.  The portrayal of the affects of the boy's death in such a personal thing as the relationship of the hapless discoverers of the body poignantly draws a picture of how profound and unexpected the affects of murder can be.

The other side of the story - the perpetrator is equally telling.  As strange as this may seem, there's some room for compassion for the perpetrator of these acts - these moments of misjudgement.  Lifelong damage, instant mistakes, the sad, the pathetic, the inexcusable, the stupid, the unwittingly cruel, shame and personal loathing.  It applies equally to the death of a poor little boy, his body laid out with some care and reverence in the woods, as it does to another little boy - overweight, over-indulged, different, ashamed and shamed against, who has gone missing.