The Whisperer by Karin Fossum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"I think that everything that has happened to me over the years has taken place underwater. Whenever I think about people I have known, their faces are like pale anemones floating on the currents of the sea. Perhaps I am still underwater. Everything seems to unfold so slowly. Reality is only visible in glimpses, like the flickering of the sun on the surface of the water."

I could not wait for The Whisperer (2016, English translation 2018), the new novel by Karin Fossum, one of my most favorite mystery writers. Moreover, my Goodreads friend, Judith, who recommended the book to me, wrote that she had found it Fossum's best. It took me just two nights, several weeks ago, to read the novel. Now, I have finally found some time to write the review, and I am a little disappointed not to consider it Fossum's best. It is still a very good book, though, way better than most contemporary mystery novels that consist of tired clichés piled upon clichés. Also, it is only the last part of the novel that I have some problems with: I loved reading The Whisperer at least until about four-fifth into the book.

The premise of the novel is fascinating. Ragna Riegel, a middle-aged woman, is in jail, presumably awaiting trial. Inspector Sejer is interrogating her. The reader is not told what her crime was. The plot unfolds slowly but inexorably towards the denouement. That's as much as I want to write about the plot. Given this particular narrative framework of the novel an attempt to provide a synopsis would necessarily have to involve spoilers.

For the most part the novel is extremely sad. It is not a fake schmaltzy sadness of popular literature. It is the sadness of loneliness and lost hopes. Ragna Riegel who works as a cashier in a store, is a desperately lonely, middle-aged woman, poor, unattractive, and withdrawn. Because of a botched operation on her throat, she lost the ability to speak - she can only whisper. Her only son left her when he was 17 and the son's father has his own family. Ragna, the Whisperer, has no one close. She has no friends other than her co-workers. Ms. Fossum offers a vivid, deeply realistic, and psychologically plausible portrait of a true "invisible woman", a total nobody in the social world.

The incident with her meeting an Englishman in the street, one of the very few people who notice her, is desperately sad and virtually painful to read. Equally sad is the thread about Ragna's son and her contacts with him. Inspector Sejer, with his trademark gentle interrogation technique, is most likely the first person in many years who is treating Ragna humanely, even if his interrogation aims at getting her convicted.

There are some absolutely fascinating passages in the novel: I love the story about "the jumper" video on YouTube and, naturally, the deeply disturbing incident with pulling the white thread (in some ways it reminded me of one of the best thrillers I have ever seen, Repulsion by Polanski). As always I love Ms. Fossum's writing: simple, economical prose, with no excess verbiage and not too many adjectives or adverbs. I love the gloomy vision of the world, somewhat cynical thus quite realistic:

"He thought about justice; there was not much of it in the world, and there was no order, no plan, no purpose. No reward in heaven, no green pastures. Just a swarming mass, where a few were granted happiness, but most were not."

On the other hand, Inspector Sejer is virtually a saint, a human being with infinite wisdom, patience, and goodness of heart. There are no such people in the world, although I come close... just kidding...

Four stars.


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