'The Water’s Edge', the latest novel by one of Norway's most renowned crime writers Karin Fossum about Inspector Seijer, hits UK book stores in the beginning of July.
Walking through the woods one warm September day, Reinhardt and Kristine Ris pass a man who is in a state of agitation. Unusually in a small town, he does not return Kristine’s smile and drives off in a hurry. Near the end of their walk they make a terrible discovery: lying in a cluster of trees is the lifeless body of a young boy. It is a moment that will change their lives for ever.
Inspector Sejer is called to the scene, but can find no immediate cause of death. As the weeks go by, the appeal for the man seen in the woods to come forward remains unanswered. A once peaceful community is deeply shaken and the children lose the sense of complete freedom they had enjoyed. Then a second boy goes missing.
Karin Fossum made her literary debut in Norway in 1974 with a collection of poetry when she was just 20, before turning to crime writing. It is with her Inspector Sejer mysteries that Fossum has won greatest acclaim. Her series of detective novels featuring the tough but fair Inspector Konrad Sejer began with Eve's Eye in 1995, but it was her second book, Don't Look Back, published in Norway in 1996, that brought her to the attention of a wider market.
She is the author of poetry, short stories and several novels, and her Inspector Sejer series has been published in twenty-six countries. In 2008 she won the prestigious LA Times Book Prize in the category Mystery/Thriller. Several of her books have been adapted to a hugely successful TV-series in Norway. Fossum has also received the Glass Key Award for best crime novel, an accolade shared with Henning Mankell and Peter Høeg.
'The Water’s Edge'
Translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund
Published in trade paperback by Harvill Secker, 2 July 2009, £11.99