This was my first foray into Norwegian fiction and didn’t know what to expect. This mystery was a complete sucker punch and I loved it. Apparently Karin Fossum is called the Norwegian queen of crime. I didn’t know that until after I finished Eva’s Eye, but I can definitely see why she has the nickname. Her plot kept me guessing right up until the end and then left me shocked and disconcerted.
Eva and her daughter, Emma, spot a dead body floating in the river one morning as they’re walking together. Eva pretends to call the police in front of her daughter, but instead, she really calls her ailing father. Someone else finds the body and phones the police later. Inspector Konrad Sejer isn’t quite sure what’s going on, something just doesn’t add up. He has a suspicion that this death ties back to a murder several months ago of a friend of Eva’s. The story is told from both Eva and Sejer’s perspectives so the reader is able to slowly piece together parts of the story.
The translation was decent and the character work a little lighter than I usually like, but the plotting makes up for any deficiencies. It took a little work to get into the story and then I was completely hooked. It ended up being a story I just couldn’t put down. The way Fossum jumps from character to character and from past to present really ramped up the tension. I’m definitely going to have to read more of this series!
Karin Fossum has written some really amazing crime novels, yes. She’s one of the authors who will frequently focus more on the psychological reasons behind the crime. The most important thing in her book isn’t necessarily who committed the crime, but why? If I recall correctly, my favourite of hers is He Who Fears the Wolf. She’s written a bunch of novels now that I haven’t read, because I no longer really read mysteries and I barely ever read in Norwegian. So I can’t tell you if her later stuff is any good.
My favourite Norwegian crime author is probably Unni Lindell (possibly because I have yet to read a single book by Jo Nesbø – I probably have to hand in my passport and renounce my citizenship), but her books only seem to have been translated into German.
I think you’re right about Unni Lindell, but I’ll have to check out He Who Fears the Wolf. I’ve also been eyeing Jo Nesbø, but didn’t realize he was Norwegian!