Customer Reviews

The Indian Bride

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I read this book on an airplane and liked it so much I shlepped it across Europe so I could bring it home to lend to friends.

Gunder Jomann, a shy man from a Norwegian country town, travels to India to find a wife. He has always been fascinated by a photograph of a woman in a sari in one of his history magazines, and to everyone's absolute amazement, he meets and marries an Indian woman named Poona. Gunder returns home to prepare for Poona's arrival. On the magical day that she is set to arrive, Gunder's sister suffers a terrible accident and he is forced to send someone else to pick up his bride.

Your heart breaks for Gunder, whose beloved sister is near death and whose eagerly-awaited wife never arrives. Karin Fossum's characters express the loss felt by crime victims' families better than any author I've read. Like her other novels, The Indian Bride is deep and rich in place, character, and suspense. Her Inspector Sejer is a really intriguing guy, and she has a spot-on translater in Charlotte Barslund.

If you haven't read Fossum before, a real treat awaits you. I'm trying to think of who to compare her to--but it's hard. Martin Cruz Smith? Yes, a little, although her settings are more intimate. She is a standout, and this mystery is the most compelling yet.

Just a warning to all those who order more Karin Fossum books--"The Indian Bride" has previoulsy been published under another title "Calling Out For You."

You can't help comparing Karin Fossum and Henning Mankell. They're both Scandinavian writers of police procedurals, and both have a strong central detective character - Sejer in Fossum's case and Wallander for Mankell.
Mankell's Wallander is arguably more famous, and inspires people to make the pilgrimage to Ystad in Sweden. Karin Fossum hasn't rooted her novels quite so explicitly, but this one is more Mankell like in that respect, being set firmly in the village of Elvestad in Norway.
What this does is make you compare the two novelists even more closely. And what you discover is that Karin Fossum is beating Mankell at his own game.
`Calling Out For You' is beautifully constructed and written. It's clear to me now that Fossum is much the better writer: her characters are finely drawn, her dialogue real, her writing much more subtle and convincing. And yet she's just as good at creating tension, describing the workings of her star detective and his appealing sidekick, Skarre.
Where Mankell clumsily describes his characters, Fossum does it with great skill. In fact, Karin Fossum's greatest talent is getting a handle on the psychological twists and turns of a murder and its subsequent investigation. Instead of focusing entirely on one character, we see the events through all the characters, and I'm particularly impressed this time. The way the people of Elvestad individually and collectively react to a murder in their midst is exceptionally well woven. By the time you reach the end, you will have a very strong impression of what the murder has done to every character.
It's a neat story too, simple in itself but revealing and creating all kinds of complications and unexpected results. The plot has a very `clean' quality to it, yet it is far from obvious what the outcome will be. The writing is equally simple, but also rather beautiful in its economy.
All in all, I would say this is the best Karin Fossum yet, and quite possibly superior to anything Mankell has produced. Very highly recommended.

This is the British release version of The Indian Bride, which is an excellent crime novel, the first that I read and the best of Fossum's set-in-Norway detective Sejer novels. Well drawn characters that are not cliches, interesting stories with unexpected twists and a surprising ending. One of those books you recommend to others and discuss with people. This author Fossum, a Norwegian, was named by the London Times as one of the 50 best all time crime writers.
No sense paying extra for this import when you can buy The Indian Bride locally.

This is an excellent, affecting crime novel by Norwegian author Karin Fossum. Prompted by Gary Griffiths, I've been on a Scandinavian crime fiction reading spree lately and have been enjoying myself immensely with the works of Larrson, Indridasson, and Nesbo. I've always enjoyed Scandinavian fiction since I first read Smilla's Sense of Snow (which they also made into a pretty decent movie, but, as usual, the book is even better). I don't know what they put in the water up there, but I've never had a bad reading experience with a Scandinavian author. This book may be my favorite yet and it surprised me, for while I've grown accustomed to haunting, evocative tales with stoic, phlegmatic protagonists calmly and patiently solving knotty mysteries, this book delivered that and something more. The first fifty pages of this book was one of the most beautiful, romantic, and endearing boy meets girl stories I've ever had the pleasure to read. This is from a guy who enjoys action thrillers and histories, with romance normally being something I have to wade through to get to the good bits, so when I recommend this as a poignant and moving romance, at least for the first fifty pages, please understand I'm putting my man club membership at risk to do so!

Unfortunately the romance goes disastrously wrong and I then wound up reading a crackerjack mystery novel, set in a small Norwegian village, rather than my first romance book but I'd highly recommend the book based just on the first fifty pages. After the jagged sharp turn the book takes, you still have a wonderful reading experience ahead of you as Inspector Sejer attempts to solve a brutal and shocking murder. A calm, soothing presence, Sejer will charm you with his outlook and his kindly, paternal approach to solving crimes while dealing with his own emotionally stressful issues. The book dissects Norwegian culture and life extremely well, exposing something of the Norwegian character as most of the villagers are reluctant to come forward with any information. Naturally insular and cautious, the people in the village are loathe to give information or contact the police for fear of the complications they may cause themselves and others. Intellectually they want the villain caught, but most of them would like that done without them becoming involved in any way. Sejer is a remarkably gifted detective, navigating this reluctance with emotional finesse, slowly cajoling what he needs from the many characters he must interview.

I found the ending of the novel very surprising and very different from any other crime novel I have read. It is definitely a "real world" ending and will make you blink a bit. I very much enjoyed this book and believe most readers will as well. The writing was beautiful, soothing, and pleasurable to read in and of it itself, regardless of content, and the translation was just top notch. I'm definitely adding Fossum to my reading list and will be looking up her other novels now.

The corpse of a battered woman is found near the town of Elvestad, Norway. Police Inspector Konrad Sejer is assigned to lead the investigation. The body is identified as Poona Jomann of India, the wife of tractor salesman Gunder, who just married the victim. Coincidently, an auto accident involving Gunder's sister kept him from meeting his new bride at the airport; thus Poona was traveling by herself to their home.

Because of the degree of the battering, Sejer assumes a crime of passion of some sort happened so he concentrates on the townsfolk seeking a motive. He quickly learns that everyone who knows the fiftyish Gunder was stunned when he suddenly married as he was considered a lifetime bachelor by one and all. Still none of the residents accept that one of them is the killer as they prefer a random incident. However, Sejer begins to uncover potential suspects amongst the 2347 residents; a few who might have a motive to commit such a horrific deed.

THE INDIAN BRIDE is an excellent Norwegian police procedural that combines a great investigation with a vivid look at a small somewhat insular Norwegian village. The story line is fast-paced, but also enables the audience to understand life in Elvestad and how much an outsider the former Mumbai, India resident would have been if she lived. Karin Fossin provides a great whodunit that will lead readers to seek other translations of Inspector Sejer mysteries (see WHEN THE DEVIL HOLDS THE CANDLE).

Harriet Klausner

Fossum writes beautifully...her characters are sharply and sympathetically drawn and the storyline keeps you going and going. Suspense keeps growing from page 1. Inspector Sejer has unique qualities of perserverance and empathy--and his ability to unravel the mystery are his alone among police procedural investigators, top=notch, all the way.

My first Scandinavian mystery writer was Peter Hoeg. Then Henning Mankell. Then, last year, I discovered Arnaldur Indridason. Now I've discovered Karin Fossum.

THE INDIAN BRIDE is a great book. I admit I found the first dozen pages a little dull. My interest rose considerably with the scenes set in India, and after a car accident. (I'm trying to write this without any spoilers, pardon if I seem overly ambiguous.)

I finished THE INDIAN BRIDE a week ago, and can't get it out of my mind. I loved, most, Fossum's warm humanity, the way she gets the reader to fully identify with the Indian woman of the title and her Norwegian suitor, their unlikely relationship.

Here are the images that stay with me: the field. The Indian bride. The clumsy but well-meaning Gunner. The 16-year-old girl who revels in attention.

There is a teaser of an ending. I still want to know what happened during the 15-minute gap between instigation and completion of the crime: a car is heard going away, but returns after a 15-minute gap. One of the characters put forth an explanation, but we're not sure if it's from the right person. Ultimately, enough doubt remains to put the reader at the edge of his/her seat. The point is driven home: witnesses are not infallible.

The scene where the doors to an outhouse suddenly swing open, while a sixteen-year-old girl waits in terror for the person who she is sure is stalking her -- that scene was incredibly tense.

The crime itself is pretty gut-wrenching, but I felt the description of it was never gratuitous.

This is the best mystery I've read since Morag Joss's HALF BROKEN THINGS.

"Calling Out For You" is the British release title for "The Indian Bride". 51-year-old unassuming bachelor Gunder Jomann, a farming equipment salesman decides to go to India and find himself an Indian wife. This decision is arrived at after Gunder sees a picture of a beautiful, exotic woman in a book given to him by his sister, Marie. Now, this is quite an unusual decision given that Gunder lives in a small town in Norway - Elvestad, with a population of only 2,347 inhabitants. Most of the people are ethnic Norwegians, with the exception of two families, one Vietnamese and the other Korean. Gunder is determined and goes off on a two-week trip to Mumbai, India, where he promptly meets a waitress in a tandoori restaurant, a slender, pleasing lady,with striking silky,long black hair not quite forty and falls in love with her. The lady, Poona, is taken by Gunder's gentlemanly manner and they promptly wed. Gunder leaves for Norway with Poona promising that she'll make her way to Elvestad as soon as she ties up her personal business in India. In Karin Fossum's able hands, this whirlwind romance between Gunder and Poona comes across as wholly credible, achingly so, and not at all cliched as one would imagine such 'sudden romances' to be. Gunder strikes us as a truly decent person who left it till late in life to experience romance and marriage. Poona, given her impoverished circumstances, does not seem like a gold digger, but someone who sees a potential happy future away from the poverty, dust, heat and grime and is more than willing to move to a land of 'snow and ice' with a man she deems gentle and good.

Unfortunately, this is a crime thriller, and the unfortunate victim is Poona. On the day of her arrival, poor Marie [Gunder's sister] gets into a horrific car crash and goes into a coma. Gunder, torn between being there for his sister and going to meet his wife at the airport, makes the fateful decision of staying with his sister, making arrangements with a local cabbie to receive Poona instead. Gunder never sees Poona again - she is found in a field close to Gunder's house, her face bashed in beyond recognition.

Inspector Konrad Sejer and his much younger assistant, Jacob Skarre investigate the case.Even the much-experienced Insp Sejer finds himself immensely disturbed by the crime and goes all out to solve the crime, gaining lots of interesting insights along the way. Sejer realizes that the town's inhabitants are a tough crowd and seem to be very protective of their own, something Sejer actually empathizes with "We're not talking about evil here, but the good in people that stops them from saying what they know."

This is not just an average crime thriller, but a meditation on human frailties, of people's natural tendency to protect their own, even in the face of unpalatable truths, and the politics of small town society ."The Indian Bride" has all these and great character development.

What is it about Scandinavian murder mystery writers? I mean, they probably get what - like ten murders a year in all of Scandinavia? Yet they keep turning out all this kick butt crime fiction - I'm talking about Arnaldur Indridason, Jo Nesbo, and now, Karin Fossum. So is it like some ancient Norse God death wish that spawns great authors of crime - an unfulfilled lust for violence in real life that gets compensated through fiction dark enough to light a Norwegian December?

Anyway, enough of my rant - my first experience with Karin Fossum in "The Indian Bride" will definitely not be my last (in fact, I've already got "When the Devil Holds the Candle" teed up in the on-deck circle). Gunder Jomann, a gentle and mildly addled middle aged Norwegian farm equipment salesman, entralled with a picture of an Indian woman in a travel book, decides he will fly to India and find a wife - and thus the title. Now I'll admit that this sounds a bit more sensitive than my normal fare - a tender love story? Come on, this is hardly Charlie Huston or Dean Swierczynski or Victor Gischler or Cormack McCarthy or Joe Lansdale. But the wily Fossum is only setting us up, and true to her roots that obviously reach all the way down (well, OK "up") to Valhalla, she shows the chops to spring a brutal murder and a whiz-bang mystery on the unsuspecting reader, cleverly crafted with homespun characters and carefully drawn settings. Fossum has a keen grasp of human nature, and its all on display here - an atrocious and apparently senseless crime with just a tinge of bigotry, a small Norwegian town whose people primp and position and stake their claims on their own theories to the heinous murder, and the roles that they'll each play in its eventual unraveling - or not. Suspects come and suspects go, while the interesting Police Inspector Sejer sorts them out somewhat distractedly as he worries about his aging dog and his sometimes girlfriend.

This is suspense and mystery and murder told with feeling and poignancy that - dare I say? - only a woman can master. So while Fossum and "The Indian Bride", like the talented Megan Abbott, bring with them uncommon dimensions - and we're not talking "Ya Ya Sisterhood" here by any stretch - and I found myself glued to Fossum's atmospheric prose and delicious ambiguity.

Net, this is a terrific novel in a field that seems to be getting more and more crowded with excellent crime fiction - a must read and a great chance to get familiar with a writer who, while still a bit off the American beaten track today, deserves a strong US following. Well done Ms. Fossum (and to you also, Charlotte Barslund, for a translation that has to be top notch).