The Water's Edge

June 29, 2009
Near the start of Fossum's chilling sixth Inspector Sejer mystery to be made available in the U.S. (after 2008's Black Seconds
), Reinhardt and Kristine Ris are out for a Sunday walk when they stumble across the partially clothed body of seven-year-old Jonas Løwe and see a man limping away in the distance. When Insp. Konrad Sejer and his young partner, Jacob Skarre, begin interviewing the inhabitants of the small town of Huseby, they learn that a man in a white car has been spotted lurking outside the local elementary school and was also seen on the road where Jonas was snatched. In a particularly disturbing segment, they interview a convicted pedophile who eagerly suggests they're looking for a first-time offender. Splitting the narrative among the police investigation, the Rises' crumbling marriage and the nameless killer, Fossum sets in motion an inevitable collision that's as unsettling as it is unexpected.

Pedophilia isn't a pleasant subject, but Fossum's prose and David Rintoul's elegant reading make it palatable. In Norway a small boy is found dead, and a second child disappears. Suspicion falls on a pathetic loner of a man who admits taking liberties with the first but denies any knowledge of the second. Rintoul's vocal powers of persuasion make you feel sorry for almost everyone involved--the detectives who must probe; the bereft mothers; the missing boy, who is obese; even the pedophile--and you keep listening. As Detective Sejer, Rintoul is authoritative but sympathetic as he questions suspects, finally getting to the truth. You'll be tempted to track down Rintoul's other Sejer mysteries. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine