Black Seconds

By: Karin Fossum, Charlotte Barslund - translator

Narrated by: David Rintoul

Nine-year-old Ida Joner gets on her brand-new bike and sets off to buy sweets. Thirty-five minutes after Ida should have come home, her mother, Helga, starts to worry. She phones the shop and various friends, but no one has seen her daughter. As the family being to search for Ida, Helga's worst nightmare becomes reality.

As the police are called in, hundreds of volunteers comb the neighbourhood, but there are no traces of the little girl, or her bike. As the relatives reach breaking point and the media frenzy begins, Inspector Sejer struggles to remains calm and reassuring. But usually missing children are found within forty-eight hours. Ida seems to have vanished without a trace.

Critic reviews

There is no room for debate: the most important female writer of foreign crime fiction at work today is the Norwegian Karin Fossum

Possibly the most popular foreign crime writer in translation, the Norgwegian Karin Fossum is an intelligent author who delivers more than a smart plot by way of psychological insight and clear-eyed characterisation

Fossum is frequently compared to Ruth Rendell, but Black Seconds is much more reminiscent of the psychological thrillers of Patricia Highsmith. Fossum is a clever writer; this is her most cunning tale yet

Karin does it again

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend it, this author draws me in with her characters. I think this is her strength. Her insight into human behaviour is quite remarkable, the why and wherefore's her character's actions are so believable. I feel she so often gets it right in regard to how people act.

If you’ve listened to books by Karin Fossum before, how does this one compare?

I was a little disappointed as I worked this one out very early in the book but Karin's writing kept me interested until the end. I am so intrigued by her writing skill that she keeps me listening.

What aspect of David Rintoul’s performance would you have changed?

Nothing, he is like an old friend now

Any additional comments?

It is so refreshing to read murder mysteries when the main detective's offsider,
in this case Skarre, can think for himself and is more like a partner. I really like this about this series, it's not always Sajer telling his junior what to do. I also appreciate the fact that there is no 'big police boss' yelling at Sajer and demanding results. This theme is so overdone in most crime novels. So far we haven't had the killer after the main protagonist either and we learn enough about Sajer's personal life without the book becoming all about him and losing the crime as a focus

Drab and monotonous

I've never read a mystery where the ending is so ridiculously obvious from the very beginning, nothing but a drab and monotonous read.