The Indian Bride

THE INDIAN BRIDE; Karin Fossum; New York: Harcourt, 2007; 297pgs. Fiction

Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer books are beguiling, atmospheric, suspenseful, and distinguished most of all for their characterizations. In The Indian Bride, the people are so full of life, frailties, complexities that the mystery itself, of the brutal murder of a young bride from India, almost loses its primary importance. The "procedure" of what is, structurally, a police procedural is equally complicated. A young girl who was bicycling past the meadow as the murder was committed develops a crush on the young policeman, so she remembers things so she will have an excuse to call him; an older man sees someone he knows throws a suitcase into the lake, but can't bring himself to report it because he knows the man. What the reader knows, the police often don't, and the gaps are filled with suspense. Above all else, what Karin Fossum always recognizes (and honors) is the anguish of those who are left, and the Hardyesque progression of circumstances that bring terrible things to pass. Highly recommended.

LW