Suddenly the point of view shifts, and a 12-year-old boy, Kannick Snellingen, runs into the police station saying that Halldis is dead, with a hoe embedded in her face, and that he has seen Errki lurking nearby. Kannick, like Errki, is also disturbed, living in a home for children with behavioral problems. A sudden shift to the next morning, and Detective Inspector Konrad Sejer, after noting a strange person entering the bank, soon hears a gunshot and learns that it has been robbed and a hostage taken--Errki.

The intersecting worlds of Errki, the robber (known as Morgan), Kannick Snellingen, and Inspector Sejer and his assistant, Jacob Scarre, create a fascinating series of psychological portraits and interactions. Morgan and Errki, hiding out together in an abandoned cabin, try to avoid the police and stay alive, remaining wary of each other but starting to communicate about the voices Errki hears from The Coat and a spirit named Nestor. Kannick, who wants to become a national archery champ, wallows in the attention he gets from his peers at the home, describing the gory condition of Halldis's body in exchange for candy. At the same time, Sejer, a widower for eleven years, confers with Errki's psychiatrist in order to understand Errki more fully, and finds himself powerfully drawn to her as he tries to solve Halldis's murder and the robbery of the bank by apprehending Errki and Morgan.

Developing the story in clean, straightforward prose, Fossum reveals the disturbing thoughts of Errki, Morgan, and Kannick, along with their traumatic backgrounds, stories which need no additional melodrama. As the reader comes to know the characters and feel empathy for them, she creates fine dramatic tension and a suspense-filled story in which nothing is as it appears to be. Occasionally, the ironies are leavened with dark humor. A climactic meeting involving all the major characters leads to a full resolution and, ultimately, a greater understanding of the characters' interior worlds. Fascinating, well-drawn, and concise, this novel, the second in the Inspector Sejer series, is a psychological mystery of the first order, filled with intriguing characters and unusual plot twists. Mary Whipple

Halldis Horn (for that was her name) was an independent woman, who lived alone after the death of her husband, quietly tending her garden and keeping to herself.

Now in these woods also lurked Errki Johrma, a schizophrenic with a murderous reputation, who had recently liberated himself from the nearby mental institution, and Kannick Snellingen, a 12 year old reform school resident, with a free pass to the woods, and a passion for a bow and arrow.

One day, Kannick comes across the particularly gruesome body of poor Halldis Horn, and when he spies Errki lurking nearby, he runs as fast as his fat legs will carry him to the nearest police station.

As fate would have it, there is a robbery at the town bank, and the unsuspecting robber, Morten Garpe (a.k.a. Morgan) takes Errki hostage, and whisks him away in a little white car, and into the deep dark woods.

Chief Inspector Konrad Sejer is investigating both crimes, and while he lays the groundwork, a psychological battle of minds is taking place in a little cabin in the woods between the befuddled bandit and his disturbed hostage. When Kannick unwittingly finds himself as the third guest in the cabin, the three come to uneasy understanding before the day’s events catch up with them.

A tightly wound and enthralling tale, with fascinating characters and traces of humor.

Amanda Richards