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  • Published: 1 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407017389
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

Black Seconds




A little girl seems to have vanished without trace. Inspector Sejer must find her before it's too late in this gripping thriller from pyschological crime writer Karin Fossum

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.

  • Published: 1 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407017389
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

About the author

Karin Fossum

Karin Fossum’s critically acclaimed novels have won numerous prizes. She is two-time winner of the prestigious Riverton Award and has also won the Glass Key Award for the best Nordic crime novel, an honour shared with Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo, as well as the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her highly acclaimed Inspector Sejer series has been published in more than forty countries.

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Praise for Black Seconds

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

Daily Mail

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

Rough Guide to Crime Fiction

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

Daily Express