Before reading this novel, a primer on the Yugoslavian War (1991-2001) may be necessary. The author heavily relies on the events of this turbulent time as a backdrop for murder. A building inspector finds a skeleton in the turret of a Victorian Gothic building. A bullet had pieced the skull. Cold Case detective Karen Pirie used forensic science to determine the identity of the man. He was a Croatian general who left the Balkans to marry Maggie Blake, an Oxford professor of anthropology who met him while on studies in Serbia.
Research in the field and the was crimes tribunal reveals that he had committed the atrocity of killing over 40 people in retaliation for the deaths of his wife an sons. A mutual friend of Maggie and the general discovered the truth. Maggie had to find the truth, along with Detective Pririe, who experienced her own loss due to male aggression.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The murder of Harriet Krohn (2004 Eng trans 2014) by Karin Fossum
The narrative is told by the murderer, Charlo Trop, and it is from his letters and remembrances that the reader sees the self-absorption and hopelessness of Charlo's character. He is a compulsive gambler whose wife kept it all together, but with her death his behaviour deteriorates. Stealing from his job as a car salesman gets him fired. Then he borrows lots of money from friends, whom he does not repay. His 17 year old daughter does not trust him and is beginning to carve out her own life. He determines to rob a woman he knows from a coffee shop. The burglary goes band and in his inner conflict results in serious violence which kills her. With her money he tries to rehabilitate himself, paying off his debts and buying his daughter a horse. She begins to thaw and develop a new relationship with her father, but the long arm of the law is working overtime. Inspector Karl Sojer brings him in for questioning several times before an arrest is made. The myriad of lies Charlo tells seals his fate.
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