The novels of Karin Fossum never disappoint.
I Can See In The Dark is a terrific character study of an unbalanced mind. Slowly, she introduces the characters and then tightens the screws in surprising ways that will make you question yourself as a reader.
Riktor works as an aide in a nursing home, and his slow mind delights in transgressions like giving the elderly patients candies instead of their real medicine, shooting their injections into the bed or pillow instead of administering them, dumping their food into the toilet. No one sees him; no one is watching. The staff are puzzled when the residents health fails, or they pass away without cause. He especially enjoys torturing a bedridden deaf and blind woman by pinching her skin tightly. He knows he is a rotten individual who is spiteful and almost unhinged, but maybe if he found a woman, his life would be alright.
He spends his spare time in a local park with other lone souls, trying not to be noticed. As awful as he is, it is a surprise when a detective arrives at his door with the accusation he smothered a patient to death with a pillow, and they were not the first.
Admittedly he is demented, and we know he has killed a man before - he buried the body in his yard years ago - but this is not a murder he has committed. At his trial, everyone is shocked when they reveal the security camera footage from his job, proving his monstrous acts - but - the reader is caught in a puzzle; should he be held responsible for a killing he did not do? The resulting inquiries expose a nest of secrets at the home.
It is a rare talent to present an unlikable, or deranged, main character which the reader can relate to - should we go so far as to champion him? Riktor is horrible, so how can I be rooting for him to be found innocent of this charge? Her writing is terrific as always, and this was strangely enthralling.
Surprising and recommended.
My other reviews for Karin Fossum:
The Whisperer (Inspector Sejer #13)
The Drowned Boy (Inspector Sejer #11)
The Caller (Inspector Sejer #10)
Bad Intentions (Inspector Sejer #9)
The Water's Edge (Inspector Sejer #8)
The Murder of Harriet Krohn (Inspector Sejer #7)
Black Seconds (Inspector Sejer #6)
The Indian Bride (Inspector Sejer #5)
When The Devil Holds The Candle (Inspector Sejer #4)
He Who Fears The Wolf (Inspector Sejer #3)
Don't Look Back (Inspector Sejer #2)
In The Darkness (Inspector Sejer #1)
2011 / Tradeback / 250 pages
Comments