Hellfire by Karin Fossum
| Hellfire by Karin Fossum | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Not really a police procedural as we're pretty certain who the murderer is from early on: the question is why. Provided that you don't read the back of the book it's a brilliant story with a real twist at the end. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 288 | Date: August 2016 |
| Publisher: Houghton Mifflin | |
| ISBN: 978-1784700348 | |
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In July 2005 Inspector Konrad Sejer stood in the door of the caravan and surveyed the scene. The mother - she'd be in her thirties - and her four-year old son had both been brutally stabbed. There was blood everywhere and the only clue as to who had murdered them was a bloody footprint. But who would want to kill Bonnie Hayden and her son Simon? You see, Bonnie is one of those people whom you feel is due some luck. As a child she wanted to be a doctor, but when we go back to December 2004 she was working as a home help and dealing with some of the most difficult invalids in the area. Simon's father had left them and they were living a hand-to-mouth existence with both of them hating the fact that Simon had to be left at nursery so that Bonnie could go to work.
If there is any justice there will be a special place in hell reserved for whoever writes the blurb on the back of a book and gives away a major twist which isn't revealed until thirty pages before the end of a 276 page book. If you're even considering reading this book don't look at the back of the paperback edition and don't read the description for the paperback on Amazon. If you do read either you will encounter a good tale, well told, but the reason for what happened is likely to occur to you fairly early on and the major twist at the end will fall flat. On the other hand, if you don't know, the story is just about unputdownable.
You see, Bonnie and Simon are not the only family who are struggling and there are certain similarities between their circumstances. Mass (she's Thomasine really, but always hated the name) and her son Eddie don't have the same financial problems as Bonnie and Simon, but Mass's husband walked out on them when Eddie was a child and went to live with another woman. He died not long afterwards. There was a suggestion that Eddie had been more than a bit of a handful as a child and this might have been the reason that the marriage broke down, but 21-year-old Eddie is obsessed with finding his father's grave. Eddie 'has his difficulties': he's overweight, a social misfit and living on benefits. The relationship between Mass and Eddie is too close for comfort and Eddie has a cruel streak particularly with regard to animals.
The reader knows about both families. The police know only about Bonnie and Simon, but even though we know more than the police, what we don't know is what connects the families and what could have provoked the murderous attack. Fossum builds the tension with enviable skill and creates four main characters who will stay with you. There were a couple of occasions when I was on the edge of tears for Bonnie and Simon. Konrad Sejer and Jakob Skarre are there but this is not a police procedural in the traditional sense as it's not so much about who did the deed but why - and in many ways that works itself out. A superb read - provided that you haven't read the blurb on the back of the book.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the book the the Bookbag.
Each of the Inspector Konrad Sejer books reads well as a standalone and there are no spoilers for earlier books in the series, but If you do want to read the book in chronological order you'll find a list here:
Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer novels in chronological order
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