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Inspector Sejer Books In Order

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Publication Order of Inspector Sejer Books

In the Darkness / Eva's Eye (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
Don't Look Back (1996)Description / Buy at Amazon
He Who Fears the Wolf (1997)Description / Buy at Amazon
When the Devil Holds the Candle (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Calling Out for You / The Indian Bride (2000)Description / Buy at Amazon
Black Seconds (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Murder of Harriet Krohn (2004)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Water's Edge (2007)Description / Buy at Amazon
Bad Intentions (2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Caller (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Drowned Boy (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
Hell Fire (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Whisperer (2018)Description / Buy at Amazon

In the more than 20 years she has been writing fiction Karin Fossum has garnered the title of Norwegian Queen of Crime. While having produced various other works over her long writing career, it is Konrad Sejer, her greatest creation, which has allowed her to achieve such international acclaim, despite the restrictions involved with writing outside the English language.

+The Inspector Sejer series

The inspector Sejer series has enjoyed considerable popularity during its several years of publishing; and that in itself has proven surprising in the face of restrictions surrounding the non English series.

Scandinavian crime fiction doesn’t come any better that inspector Sejer. However enjoying Karin’s work, or really any crime fiction tales from this nation has always been complicated by the issue of translations.

Considering the fame the author has achieved, there was little doubt that Karin’s books would eventually become translated into English; and while they have been translated into more than 25 different languages from around the world, the problem arises with the order in which the translations are done.

As such it has been a point of frustration for numerous Karin fans around the world, forced to enjoy the Sejer series while being denied access to the entirety of the story in the right order.

Most non fans might groan at the idea that Don’t Look Back’ the second book in the Inspector Sejer series only acquired an English translation in 2002.

Fans would express frustration over the fact that the first book in the series In the Darkness’ didn’t receive a true translation until 2012, a whopping 19 years after it was first published.

Take into account the 2009 translation of The water’s Edge’, five whole years before “The Murder of Harriet Krohn”, the book before The Water’s Edge’ would be translated, as well as various other similar rather haphazard English releases of the inspector Sejer series, and Karin Fossum’s work has enjoyed a most disorganization transformation from Scandinavian to English.

It is a testament to the quality of the Inspector Sejer series that fans have remained loyal throughout the years, willing to adapt to the complications arising from gaps in the story, this not taking into account the fact that Karin’s most recent novels are yet to be translated.

Karin still enjoys considerable fame, both within Nordic circles and beyond, the Inspector Sejer series recognized as essential reading for crime enthusiasts.

The key to the series’ success lies with the eponymously named Inspector Sejer, Karin cutting a character into being unlike any other in crime fiction, far from the drunk, dysfunctional but intelligent crime solving figure too many crime writers are too quick to utilize in more generic stories.

-The Inspector Sejer series isn’t too far separated from typical Scandinavian crime stories; Karin is happy to incorporate current social issues, specifically honing in upon matters of exploitation, inequality, misogyny, class inequality and even immigration.

Evident within each novel is the rich Scandinavian landscape, utilizing imagery of majestic fjords and telling of the isolated mountain towns within which the intimacy of crime unfolds, many times in unexpected circumstances.

Attempts to emphasize the effects of crime on individuals and society tend to succeed impressively, Karin choosing to focus as much on the criminal party and the guilt and torment they experience as most writers do on the wronged families and individuals, making for some pretty palpable reading.

Many a critic has shown appreciation for Karin’s decision to avoid sensational approaches and plots in her story such as deep rooted police corruption and conspiracies, instead telling dark procedural plots within the quite Norwegian countryside.

There is a sense of familiarity within each novel, uneasy aspects rising to the surface, situations escalating with surprising pacing and resulting into acts of considerable violence, around which Karin’s Inspector Sejer Operates.

It has been said that Karin Fossum shows great enjoyment in presenting moral grey areas within conflicts of good and evil, Inspector Konrad Sejer gliding through the murk as a guiding light to the victims of pervading darkness.

+Inspector Sejer

The titular character of Karin Fassum’s novels is quite unique; not the hard boiled detective of old but a mild mannered widower, unlikely to ever lose his cool or antagonize those in authority over him.

Unlike so many other famous detectives, Sejer seems content to pursue and enjoy the order of things; old fashioned and only ever allowing him the vice of whiskey and hand rolled cigarettes at the end of each day.

With a daughter and adopted son in toe, Inspector Sejer might come off as a little shy and square, but there is no doubting his command and moral authority, utilizing compassion as well as a need to understand the criminal mind instead of the gun to secure justice in his community.

+In the Darkness- The first book in the Inspector Sejer series was published in 1995 in Norway and introduced Sejer as he confronted the murders of a Local factory worker and a prostitute.

When Sejer tries to find the connection between these two disparate individuals, he grows suspicious when the break to case falls rather easily into his lap, impelling the detective’s determination to locate the missing most crucial piece of the puzzle.

The first book in the Sejer series delves into the dormant violence of quiet life, with the resolution of the murder bringing little relief in the face of losers on all sides.

+Don’t Look Back- The second novel in the series was published in 1996 and immediately hits the ground running with a child abduction that sets the tone for an ominous murder.

As the list of suspects grows longer, Sejer begins to suspect the secrets hidden behind polite words. It is only in striving to understand the deceased, Ann’s character that Sejer begins to understand the crux of the situation playing out before him, the novel providing greater insight into the detective’s relationship with Jacob Skarre, his partner.

+The Author-

Karin Fossum was born in Sanderfjord in Norway; currently living in Oslo, she published her collection of poems in 1974 at the tender age of 20. Before pursuing her writing career, Fossum worked in nursing homes and hospitals and even drug rehabilitation centers.

As of 2014, the inspector Sejer series constituted 12 novels, starting with ‘In the Darkness’ through titles like ‘He Who Fears the Wolf’ and ‘Calling out for you’, with the most recent book titled ‘Helvetesilden’ released in 2014

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