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When the Devil Holds the Candle (Inspector Sejer Mysteries) |  | Author: Karin Fossum
Creator: Felicity David
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $4.99
as of 7/31/2010 13:20 CDT details
You Save: $9.01 (64%)
New (29) Used (31) from $3.35
Seller: books24seven
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 24789
Media: Paperback
Edition: Tra
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 7.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0156032120
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.8238
EAN: 9780156032124
Publication Date: June 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When two teenagers steal a purse from a stroller, it results in an infant’s death. Unaware of the enormity of their crime, Zipp and Andreas are intent on committing another. They follow an elderly woman home, and Andreas enters her house with his switchblade. In the dark, Zipp waits for his friend to come out. Inspector Konrad Sejer and his colleague Jacob Skarre see no connection between the infant’s death and the reported disappearance of a local delinquent. And so while the confusion outside mounts, the heart-stopping truth unfolds inside the old woman’s home. Unflappable as ever, Sejer digs below the surface of small- town tranquility in an effort to understand how and why violence destroys everyday lives. (20060901)
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
 those things boys do June 7, 2010
Patto (Vermont)
An extremely good-looking, self-possessed eighteen-year-old boy is missing. His mother reports it, sick with worry. Andreas has a steady job and regular habits. He hangs around a lot with his best friend Zipp, and maybe he sometimes does "those things that all boys do," but he's never been in trouble.
Meanwhile the reader knows just where Andreas is, because his captor is telling us all about it, alternately with the narration of the police investigation. It's not the mystery that keeps us reading, but the anguish and perplexity of all the players.
If you've ever wondered why so many young men drink too much and do stupid, violent, irresponsible things, you'll find this book an interesting window into that scary universe of out-of-control teenage males. For Andreas and his friend Zipp, an unplanned evening of purse snatching leads to horrific consequences.
The book has a few too many coincidences for my taste. Cops, crazies and criminals all seem to know each other or happen upon each other by accident. Can Oslo be this small? But there's a momentum to the storytelling that kept me hooked anyway.
IInspector Sejer seems to be a man of steel with emotions kept strictly in check. His gray eyes like lead crystal make the guilty sweat. But self-disciplined as he is, Sejer has his struggles: from dealing with his mother's death to coping with his rather hedonistic girlfriend.
So far my favorite Fossum novel is The Indian Bride, but I did like this book, and I'll no doubt be reading more by Norway's "Queen of Crime."
Unsettling story May 7, 2010
Cheryl A. Reynolds (Minneapolis, MN, USA)
#3 Inspector Conrad Sejer series set in Norway. This book seems to be more about the lives of several people involved in various crimes than with the police procedures or crime detection. Andreas, an 18 year old, is reported missing by his frantic mother. Determined to convince the police that he is a 'good boy,' which seems to hold true on the surface--he had a steady job, never gave his mother trouble, had no police record--she refers them to her friend Irma as a character reference for Andreas. Unknown to his mother, Irma has been the victim of Andreas and his friend Zipp. We see a different story told from the point of view of Zipp, an indolent unemployed youth who is Andreas' best friend. He and Andreas would drive or wander around the town committing petty theft and burglary, looking for easy marks to steal a handbag from and get some beer money. It's also told from the point of view of Irma, an aging woman who seems virtually alone in the world and is definitely mentally ill in some way.
I enjoy these series of mysteries, but they're always a little odd, skittering here and there from varying points of view such that it's sometimes hard to get a coherent picture of things. I also don't feel like I have a good grasp on who Sejer is, because there isn't all that much time spent on his police work or his personal life--bits and pieces here and there is all. It's an interesting book, and I will continue to read on in the series, but I came away from this one feeling somehow let down and dissatisfied--like I knew I was supposed to be more horrified than I was, or something. Hard to put a finger on it, but this one wasn't as enjoyable to me as her previous books were.
The Devil is out and running amuk in this moral caper November 2, 2009
Yasmin H. McEwen (Ice skating over platitudes of longing)
When the Devil Holds the Candle by Karin Fossum is an Inspector Sejer Mystery that runs along with a dedicated pace that keeps one reading and hoping for a solution to more than one moral dilemma. There are two young men, Andreas and Zipp, who get themselves into an awful lot of trouble, and when Andreas falls into what appears to be a trap that could only have been laid by fate, and one that he will almost never get out of, the tension comes from wondering whether because of the crimes that he has committed, he really deserves to be set free. I kept getting the sense that this is the ultimate tension Ms. Fossum is aiming for; she is holding the reader atop the high wire act, she wants you to wonder. There is the struggle of wanting him to get help and be saved, and then there is Irma (the devil's hand maiden) and Andreas' captor, with her choice to keep Andreas and torture him.
Andreas becomes a mouse in the den of the most rabid alley cat. There isn't even a sense of urgency from the Inspectors, to find Andreas, they really take their time, and I wondered if this wasn't almost subconciously on their part. Here are two trouble makers who have found themselves outside of the long arm of law and what's to be gained from saving Andreas? What is to be gained from finding him and returning him to stealing money from mother's who are just trying to walk their baby in a carriage? Zipp and Andreas are already responsible for one death. Zipp shows zero loyalty to his friend and is instead focused selfishly on his own outcome. It is a moral quandry.
Karin Fossum writes each character from their own point of view, and she takes the reader into each mind with such a clarity and sense of reality that it is almost hard to pull out of each one and move on to the next. The familiar characters, Inspector Sejer and his counterpart, Jakob Scarre have their own struggles, and it is interesting to see their lives take shape within the story. The way she writes her mysteries; so compact, and still all encompassing, regarding full character development and struggles that each character faces in their own life outside of the major crime, is a real skill. There isn't a lot of needless dialogue, or rushing through to get to the end of the mystery, because of this depth, that Ms. Fossum creates within each character. I look forward to reading all of her mysteries.
 Highly recommend August 3, 2009
Fine cerebral Scandanavian pychological police procedural.
Well written and translated.
Quite suspenseful.
Karin Fossum is my new favorite author! March 1, 2009
Memory Keeper (Staten Island, New York USA)
I am an avid suspense/mystery/thriller reader. Karin Fossum's books have
everything -- including a clear writing style that keeps you involved with
the characters. The plot with its twists and turns leave you wanting more!
Her understanding of human nature is unusually accurate -- no one acts out of character.
In When The Devil Holds The Candle. Ms. Fossum starts out with a simple
purse snatching that escalates to breathtaking levels with horrifying
consequences. Her detective, Inspector Sejer, is remarkably intelligent,
intuitive and totally interesting.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
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