The tenth Inspector Sejer novel written by Norway's Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum, is The Caller. It's one of her best novels with a balance of characters, mystery, creepy events, and a truly gruesome murder.
When Lily and Karsten go to check on Margrete, sleeping in her pram in the backyard, they find someone has stolen her blanket and poured ox blood over her. Konrad Sejer is called in to ease their panic and find out how and why this could happen. A few days later an elderly woman is shocked to read her own obituary in the paper, and an ailing man and his wife are surprised to find a hearse pull up to their house, ready to take away the deceased.
We know early on that it is Johnny Beskow, a seventeen year old living with his alcoholic mother. Feeling trapped and unwanted, he fantasizes the many ways he would like to kill her, and lets his anger seep out in what he thinks is harmless fun but causes psychological terror in it's victims. The town is on edge as the pranks continue while Johnny shows up to watch the confusion.
No Fossum villain is evil and Johnny has a sensitive side, frequently spending time with his aging grandfather in a caring way. He doesn't see the damage he is causing, as Konrad Sejer and Jacob Skarre slowly catch his mistakes and close in on him. The final prank of letting some dogs out of their cage has tragic and very gruesome results, the worst murder she has written.
Fossum has a generous and insightful way of portraying Inspector Sejer and her characters, and this is some of her best work. Though baby Margrete is unharmed, the trauma destroys a marriage, the shock to the elderly puts them in the hospital, and while Johnny seems cruel he shows another side to those who give him the attention he craves. As Fossum has done previously, she plants a seed of doubt when Johnny denies the final prank. Perhaps someone else did it? It's happened in other novels, especially Don't Look Back - where I still wonder if they got the right person, there were several trailing threads.
The Caller is a first rate crime novel with some of her best characters. Engaging and involving, pulls you right in. Recommended to fans of crime, detection and mystery.
My other reviews for Karin Fossum:
The Whisperer (Inspector Sejer #13)
The Drowned Boy (Inspector Sejer #11)
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)
2009 / Tradeback / 296 pages
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