The fiery fjords? (Calling Out for You - Karin Fossum)

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Calling Out for You - Karin Fossum
Date:	22/09/07 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very readable, intriguing

Disadvantages: Confusing ending

Gunder Jomann is a bachelor desperate for a wife. So desperate, that he went all the way to India and married an Indian woman he met in a restaurant called Poona. Returning to Norway because of work, he arranges for Poona to follow him a few days later. Then the day he is supposed to meet her at the airport, his sister is badly injured in a car accident, so he has to arrange for someone else to pick her up. But she doesn't arrive at Gunder's house. Then somewhere nearby, the body of an Indian woman is found, battered so brutally that she is almost unrecognisable. Inspector Konrad Sejer and his colleague, Jacob Skarre, are tasked with finding out what happened to Poona, in a village where everyone covers up for everyone else.

Karin Fossum is one of the latest Nordic crime fiction authors that I have come across. But is her creation, Inspector Sejer, any different from the other masses of fictional detectives? Not vastly, but there is something about him that I like and that has imprinted itself on my memory. He likes dogs. In fact, he is so attached to his dog, Kollberg, that he is heartbroken when faced with the possibility that he may have to be put down. This immediately attracted me to Sejer. Perhaps oddly for someone who likes crime fiction and horror films, where there are human bodies littered all over the place, I am more likely to cry at the idea of an animal being injured or killed. Sejer is also unlike his many counterparts in that he is shy and retiring and more importantly, doesn't drink or smoke. And although his wife is dead, he has a girlfriend. This is refreshing after the dozens and dozens of detectives who drink, smoke and can't hold down a woman. Skarre, Sejer's colleague, is less well described, but still seems to be a likeable character. He is one of the few people that understands Sejer - many of Sejer's other colleagues think he is stuck up - although he is much younger and more fun-loving.

Gunder Jomann, although a potential suspect, is very sensitively portrayed as a kind-hearted man who thinks he has found a companion with whom to spend the rest of his life. His fear and confusion at the non-appearance of his wife is palpable and I found myself really caring about what happened to him. It is rare that an author manages to achieve this - usually he/she is too busy trying to create the right atmosphere to pay attention to the victims. It made a refreshing change.

I have never been to Norway and I know very little about it. However, there is no real need to with this book - people are people, after all, wherever they are. I did enjoy the few insights to Norwegian life though - as Poona was a foreigner, we are told quite a lot about Norwegian customs. I also liked the descriptions of life in a small village - coming from a small town myself, I found the claustrophobic atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone else's business, very familiar.

The style of writing is quite straightforward without any flounces, as is so often the case with authors of this genre. It is, of course, translated from the Norwegian. The translator, Charlotte Barslund, has to be commended for her translation - at no point was I aware that what I was reading was a translation - something that has been a problem with many other translations I have read recently.

The pace of the book was great. I didn't have the chance to get bored at any point because Fossum was constantly introducing new characters (and potential suspects) into the story. My only gripe with this book is that the ending wasn't quite as cut and dried as I would like. What really happened is hinted at, but much is left to the imagination and I wasn't really expecting that to happen - most crime fiction I read is very practical and straightforward and leaves the reader with no doubt as to what happened. This aberration is not necessarily a bad thing though - in some ways it is quite refreshing.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. I read it in a couple of sittings because I became absorbed with both the story and the characters and wanted to know how it ended. It isn't the best book I have ever read, but it is still well worth four stars. Recommended to fans of crime fiction.

The book is available from play.com for £5.49. Published by Vintage, it has 400 pages. ISBN: 9780099474661

Summary: Good crime fiction from a Norwegian author