Don't Look Back

Title: Don’t Look Back

Author: Karin Fossum

Number of pages: 421

Started: 6 February 2012

Finished: 13 February 2012

Opening words:

Ragnhild opened the door cautiously and peered out. Up on the road everything was quiet, and a breeze that had been playing among the buildings during the night had finally died down. She turned and pulled the doll's carriage over the threshold.
"We haven't even eaten yet," Marthe complained.
She helped push the carriage.
"I have to go home. We're going out shopping," Ragnhild said.
"Shall I come over later?"
"You can if you like. After we've done the shopping."
She was on the gravel now and began to push the carriage toward the front gate. It was heavy going, so she turned it around and pulled it instead.
"See you later, Ragnhild."

Plot summary:

The setting is a small, idyllic village at the foot of Norway's Kollen Mountain, where neighbors know neighbors and children play happily in the streets. But when the body of a teenage girl is found by the lake at the mountaintop, the town's tranquillity is shattered forever. Annie was strong, intelligent, and loved by everyone. What went so terribly wrong? Doggedly, yet subtly, Inspector Sejer uncovers layer upon layer of distrust and lies beneath the town's seemingly perfect facade.

What I thought:

I thought Don’t Look Back started really well. It used a clever plot twist right at the beginning and then built on that. The book developed well and held my attention. But I felt it gave too much away throughout the book and I worked out the end before the final conclusion. I think these books have potential, and this is the first in the Inspector Sejer series (in English, the second in Norwegian). I’d like to try another to see where it goes, and I hope there is a bit more character development of the inspector himself.