THE MURDER OF HARRIET KROHN
Available for the first time in English, the seventh entry in the beloved Inspector Sejer series from Norway’s Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum
On a wet, gray night in early November, Charlo Torp, a former gambler who’s only recently kicked the habit, makes his way through the slush to Harriet Krohn’s apartment, flowers in hand. Certain that paying off his debt is the only path to starting a new life and winning his daughter’s forgiveness, Charlo plans to rob the wealthy old woman’s antique silver collection. What he doesn’t expect is for her to put up a fight.
Available for the first time in English, the seventh entry in the beloved Inspector Sejer series from Norway’s Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum
On a wet, gray night in early November, Charlo Torp, a former gambler who’s only recently kicked the habit, makes his way through the slush to Harriet Krohn’s apartment, flowers in hand. Certain that paying off his debt is the only path to starting a new life and winning his daughter’s forgiveness, Charlo plans to rob the wealthy old woman’s antique silver collection. What he doesn’t expect is for her to put up a fight.
The following morning Harriet is found dead, her antique silver missing, and the only clue Inspector Sejer and his team find in the apartment is an abandoned bouquet. Charlo should feel relieved, but he’s heard of Sejer’s amazing record — the detective has solved every case he’s ever been assigned to.
Told through the eyes of a killer, The Murder of Harriet Krohn poses the question: how far would you go to turn your life around, and could you live with yourself afterward?
- HMH
- Hardcover
- November 2014
- 256 Pages
- 9780544273399
Buy the Book
$24.00
About Karin Fossum
Karin Fossum is the author of the internationally successful Inspector Konrad Sejer crime series. Her recent honors include a Gumshoe Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for mystery/thriller.
Praise
“Fossum’s superior seventh Insp. Konrad Sejer novel, the 10th book in the series to be released in the U.S. (after 2013’s Eva’s Eye), puts a modern spin on Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Widower Charlo Olav Torp’s robbery and murder of elderly Harriet Krohn allows him to pay off his debts and reconnect with his estranged 16-year-old daughter, Julie. He even buys Julie the horse she has always wanted. But this fresh start comes with a price. His every moment is clouded by guilt over his actions and the fear that he’ll be caught, but he’s also proud that he’s committed the perfect murder. Months go by until Sejer, who has never had an unsolved case, targets Charlo by building on the one small piece of forgotten evidence at the crime scene. Series fans and newcomers alike will savor this insightful character study of a man on the edge with little regard to how his actions affect others. (Nov.)” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
“In the seventh Konrad Sejer story, Fossum’s pitch-perfect dialogue (internal and otherwise) sets the tense, desperate tone of this introverted, psychological cat-and-mouse tale. Gambling addict Charlo Torp is proudly shoving his past behind him. He’s paid off the enormous gambling debt he owed a dangerous friend, found a part-time job, and even bought a horse to win back his equestrian daughter’s affection. There is just the small matter of Harriet Krohn, whom Charlo murdered during the robbery that netted the cash for his new life. Within days of the attack, media coverage of the brutal crime is unavoidable, and Charlo learns that formidable Inspector Konrad Sejer is hunting him. Convinced that he can burrow into his new life and escape notice, Charlo denies the fallout of his crime even as fear and paranoia begin to creep in behind his facade. Fossum’s modern take on “The Tell-Tale Heart” will please the large, ever-expanding base of Sejer fans, who will be enthralled with following the investigation from the prey’s angle.” —Booklist