The Water's Edge

The Water's Edge is a gripping psychological novel from a highly skilled crime writer, with an outstanding translation by Charlotte Barslund.

One Sunday afternoon, a couple are out walking in a seemingly deserted wood when they see a terrified-looking man appear, walking with a limp. Soon afterwards they find the abused body of a nine-year-old boy. This event will tear apart the last shreds of their marriage and plunge a peaceful, isolated small-town community into panic.

Detectives Sejer and Skarre are called to the scene and begin their search for a mysterious limping man with an uncanny resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen. When a second boy goes missing, alarm bells are sounded for a serial killer - but when the truth comes out it is even more tragic.

Focusing on each of the characters involved, The Water's Edge explores how the two crimes affect their lives, from the mothers of the dead boys to the policemen themselves. Fossum's detectives are unusually open-minded, pondering the moral issues of paedophilia and refusing to accept anything as black and white.

This intriguing psychological crime novel will have you gripped from the start, without offering any simple solutions to the moral questions that it raises.