A review by fastasashark
In the Darkness by Karin Fossum
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Hard to rate so I'll leave it a 3.25/5 for now. I liked Don't Look Back more than this one but also a lot I did enjoy with In the Darkness/Eva's Eye. In Don't Look Back, I loved the atmosphere created by the contrasting idyllic Norwegian spring/summer countryside and darkness of the story. In In the Darkness/Eva's Eye, the landscape is quite different. Again we're in a small Norwegian town but in the grey, gloomy, slushy darkness at the end of winter. The town does also give off a more industrial vibe as well in comparison. Much like Eva's paintings, colour hasn't managed to find its way back into the world. As much as I normally prefer the detective pov in books like this, the pov and narrative shift was interesting and a bit different compared to most detective novels I've read. Eva as a character was decidedly unlikeable but in a way that was necessary to the book. As she says herself, she's a fickle person lacking in discipline, character, courage or morals. It isn't that she tries to be this way, but thats who she is. She also wasn't a particularly good mother, which makes her an even less sympathetic person. Her obsession with her 7-year-old's weight really grated on the nerves. And despite claiming not wanting to give up her daughter, you never really got a sense of parental love from her. But despite all that, I thought she was a "good" character for this book. Its hard to say more without giving things away so the rest I'll put in tags
Spoiler From quite early in the book, I pretty much had thought I'd figured out the mystery. Especially after Sejer talks to Jostein and we find out about Maja and Eva. So by that point I was a bit disappointed, thinking that I was not even 100 pages in and had already figured it out. I'd be reading through the whole book already knowing what happened and having nothing to figure out. But that winds up being the point, of course, because then the prologue/first chapter become clear as the narrative shifts to Eva's pov and she begins to tell Sejer everything she knows. So a large chunk of the book is essentially about the reader thinking they already know the solution and hearing from the source how events unfolded. Having previously read Don't Look Back, it seems like the final conclusion is perhaps to become classic Fossum. We've operated under certain assumptions the entire novel, we thought we figured most of it out from the get-go...but she shows she still has a surprise for us, something for is to think about. In that respect, the book is quite good at making the reader feel comfortable and then throwing them off-kilter. In the end, you're reminded that this is indeed still a mystery novel. I also think Eva's less than desirable character traits were realistic and fit well for the role/who she was. On the one hand, I found her annoying, unlikeable, and indeed not of good character. But on the other hand, perhaps what makes her so annoying and unlikeable is that she's also terribly familiar.
Another quick note that this book and Don't Look Back connect somewhat, since Sejer gets the call about Ragnhild towards the end of this book. I may go back for a quick look at the beginning of that book to see if anything jumps out as reading differently now.
Spoiler From quite early in the book, I pretty much had thought I'd figured out the mystery. Especially after Sejer talks to Jostein and we find out about Maja and Eva. So by that point I was a bit disappointed, thinking that I was not even 100 pages in and had already figured it out. I'd be reading through the whole book already knowing what happened and having nothing to figure out. But that winds up being the point, of course, because then the prologue/first chapter become clear as the narrative shifts to Eva's pov and she begins to tell Sejer everything she knows. So a large chunk of the book is essentially about the reader thinking they already know the solution and hearing from the source how events unfolded. Having previously read Don't Look Back, it seems like the final conclusion is perhaps to become classic Fossum. We've operated under certain assumptions the entire novel, we thought we figured most of it out from the get-go...but she shows she still has a surprise for us, something for is to think about. In that respect, the book is quite good at making the reader feel comfortable and then throwing them off-kilter. In the end, you're reminded that this is indeed still a mystery novel. I also think Eva's less than desirable character traits were realistic and fit well for the role/who she was. On the one hand, I found her annoying, unlikeable, and indeed not of good character. But on the other hand, perhaps what makes her so annoying and unlikeable is that she's also terribly familiar.
Another quick note that this book and Don't Look Back connect somewhat, since Sejer gets the call about Ragnhild towards the end of this book. I may go back for a quick look at the beginning of that book to see if anything jumps out as reading differently now.