The Water's Edge (Inspector Sejer Mysteries) Paperback – August 11, 2010

While perhaps not the very best of Fossum's Sejer series, it is still a deeply gratifying read. Initially, I held off on reading this. I'm generally not a fan of books about crimes against children. I felt Fossum succeeded in not giving over to the temptation of the gruesome. What I find most fascinating is Fossum's complex psychology of children. The children in her books are not little adults, but are every bit as complex -- and interesting -- as adult characters. For me, it was another winner from Fossum.

I have read all of Karin Fossum's works and my favorite is The Indian Bride. Ms Fossum's language always flows easily, as it does here, and this is not an author given to flowery or overly descriptive language, yet she manages to engage readers, and evoke graphic images in the reader's mind, achieved mainly through suggestion. "The Water's Edge" is another Inspector Sejer mystery (there are many others in the series, "The Indian Bride" being one of them). The police investigation this time around centers around a very troubling child murder. The victim, young Jonas August Lowe is found in a remote park by a couple out walking after Sunday lunch. They see a man walking away from the scene who appears suspicious. The couple, Kristine and Reinhardt Ris have strong reactions to the crime. Kristine feels unbearably saddened by the tragedy and years for a child to fill the emptiness within, whereas Reinhardt develops a morbid fascination for the case. When another child goes missing, Sejer and his trusted partner, Jacob Skarre work frantically, trying to figure out the motivations behind pedophilia, and eliminating suspects as the clock ticks away.Karin Fossum's works always explore the psychological motivations of people, be it perpetrators, or the police, and this novel is no different. Both Sejer and Skarre have long and deep conversations about what drives a person to prey on a child in the most bestial manner, and on the other side, the perpetrator struggles with his own guilt and feelings of being wronged. This novel delves more deeply into the psychological aspect more than any of the other novels, at least in my opinion. I felt it was appropriate, given how heinous the crime is. But, I missed the exploration of Sejer's life - this has almost always been elaborated on in Fossum's other novels, but sadly not here.On the whole though, I appreciated the deeply explored psychological dimension, and the complex interplay of human relationships (another of Fossum's strengths), and the twist she throws in haunted me a long time afterwards. Recommended for fans of psychological thrillers, and also Scandinavian police procedurals (I'd also recommend checking out Arnaldur Indridason, Henning Mankell, and Hakan Nesser).

Maybe it was the crime or Ms. Fossum's brutally vivid narrative, but something put me off this tale. That said, the plot spends more time arguing the social problems implicit in the crime than it does the plot. Her character development is superbly crafted.

Karin Fossum is one of the best mystery / suspense writers today. This book, with its multiple threads of murder, kidnapping, and the collapse of a marriage, is one you will have a hard time putting down.As the Norwegian community struggles to understand who is kidnapping children, and Inspector Sejer and his team race to find out, the marriage of one of the couples involved begins to collapse with ugly hints of trouble that may be very relevant to the kidnappings.The landscape is evocative of a dangerous sense of isolation from which one is protected only by small groups - the stand of trees where a dead body is brought because the trees together are "safe", the detectives working in pairs, the couples involved hang together out of fear. This is what separates an excellent mystery/suspense writer from a good one, and Fossum is one of the best.I cannot recommend this book any better. I would give it 6 stars if I could. And I cannot wait until her next one is translated. It's enough to make a man try to learn Norwegian just to have less time to wait for the next Fossum book.

I already had read other Inspector Sejer books. This one was very well done.Sejer is distinguished by his precision, rule following and his empathy. Here we see his empathy, combined with doggedness. His interactions with two grieving mothers are lovely exercises in the tension between compassion and boundaries. There are also lots of clues, only some of which are significant.A child is found dead and the book is about who did it and how the crime affected those it touched.Sadness is the word that comes to mind. A la Eleanor Rigsby, many of the characters live lives of quiet desperation. Many injure their fellows.There is much discussion about who would harm a child and it is postulated that such a person is one who was themselves abused. The police characters pursue the perpetrator and differ in the amount of empathy they have for the criminal. Sejer's language about his empathy for the victim is particularly touching.There are a number of secondary characters, some of whom are at risk for dangerous or damaging behavior. There is a married couple who find the body and the crime distorts their unhappy balance. There is a second death and how it happens has to do with fear of damaging behavior. There is a clue about a car which is an allusion to a clue in "The Laughing Policeman", one of the Martin Beck books which started the Scandinavian detective genre.Altogether a well crafted and well written book.

Karin Fossum is one of my favourite Scandinavian noir authors and this novel certainly reaffirms her status. She can tell a riveting story without using foul language.

Karin Fossum is a Norwegian author. Her books are based on crime and suspense and is very engrossing. Her books have been based on the famous Inspector Seijer TV series in Norway. Very interesting and love her books.

I chose this book after reading an article in NYT on Nordic crime writers. Early on in the book the suspect in a pedophilia case had been identified. There was an interesting discussion among the detectives and the witnesses about the nature of pedophilia. So far so good. From there the police fail to apprehend the suspect despite vivid descriptions from witnesses and the book turns from the case to dysfunctional families: the witnesses - a childless couple; an obese child, parent and partner; gay teacher and partner. These connections about relationships and children do not gel smoothly with the first part of the book. This brief conclusion does not provide an 'ending' to the book but rather raises new issues.

This is the latest excellent Inspector Sejer detective story that is so enthralling I couldn't stop reading and finished it the day it arrived. Karin Fossum is rightly called the Norwegian Ruth Rendell: she has the same sensitivity in her writing about feelings and motivations and the ability to keep one hooked by the sheer narrative drive. If anything, Fossum, is even better in the way she creates the atmosphere of the countryside in which her stories are set. She is also very good at painting word-pictures of her main characters and her Inspector Sejer is a believable and complex man who tries to understand the criminals he pursues. In The Water's Edge she explores the tipping-point at which some paedophiles turn into active abusers and murderers. Some of the text is harrowing, but more in ones imagination as she doesn't go into gory detail.The translator of the book also deserves credit for the fluid prose. An added bonus is this paper-back has been very nicely printed with a good clear typeface and generous line-spacing and margins that makes the text easy on the eyes.

Chronologically this was Fossum’s eight Inspector Seijer mystery. But in English the books have not been published in that order due to delays in translation. As of this review (08/15) there are twelve books which have been translated into twenty-five languages. That would just not happen if the books were not popular. More than one publisher has issued the books and not always with the same title. The Fossum Wikipedia page helps to sort that out. I have liked her books well enough to acquire them all.Most of the Seijer mysteries involve the reader with the perpetrators of the crimes as much as the victims and their families. The suspense is not so often about who-done-it than how he/she will be found out and caught. Konrad Seijer and his young sidekick Jacob Skarre are the sleuths who piece together the evidence and follow the leads. In this book there are two victims, boys of ten, with very different characteristics. They are both being raised by single mothers. A couple in their thirties, the Rises, are out on a hike in the bush and come upon the body of a dead boy. They also seen a man emerging from that location who drives off in a white sedan spinning his tires. But as Seijer interviews them the husband and wife disagree on a number of points. These became important clues for Seijer and Skarre to sort out. Soon afterwards a second boy disappears and the assumption is that the same perpetrator was involved with both boys.Fossum’s books are psychological dramas. The readers gets into the heads of everyone and may find him/herself commiserating as much with the criminals as the victims of the crime. ‘The Water’s Edge’ focuses on paedophilia, parental neglect and abuse and marital strife. Readers may be eerily educated as well as entertained by this novel. My only complaint is that Fossum seemed to be in too much of a hurry to end the book. She could have given some of the characters a few more pages of narrative to provide more perspective and lengthen this short volume. As in many Seijer books, Fossum leaves the reader with a puzzle piece to solve at the very end. But thankfully this one is not as cryptic as some of their predecessors.