The Water's Edge

Hey! SO... next on the list was another pretty short one, which I finished quickly. It's called The Water's Edge, by Karin Fossum- translated from Norwegian to English by Charlotte Barslund.

So, this one was a mystery- finally! I loooove crime and mystery novels, especially short ones. This author has a series based around one investigator, Konrad Sejer, and this fell in as one of his cases. You don't need to read the others for this one to make sense, which I appreciated- much like how Agatha Christie writes Miss Marple stories, or Hercule Poirot, or Tommy and Tuppence stories- all recurring protagonists with individual cases.

So anyways, the book. It was extremely well written and easy to follow. I was challenged and surprised by the outcome- like many characters, I made assumptions that often were flat out wrong.

So here's the thing. The crime was a child abduction with sexual abuse... and I didn't like it. That may sound really obvious, or too simplistic, but that's all I can think to say. There was more detail than I wanted to hear, like a gruesome episode of Forensic Files or something that happens to involve child abuse. Several chapters were written from the offender's perspective, and he explains his thoughts and feelings and... yeah. It was a struggle for me.

So do I recommend this? Yes... and no. I appreciate that I was forced to think differently. It's easy to condemn all criminals, especially when it's something so gruesome, but if I truly believe in loving ALL people, regardless, shouldn't this include those people too?

I just sat and scared at the screen of my laptop, not sure what to write. This one's hard for me. Is there more I can say? I keep trying to explain, but I suppose I'll just leave it where it is.

Anyways, your thoughts?