When the Devil Holds the Candle (Inspector Sejer Mysteries)

when Two Teenagers Steal A Purse From A Stroller, It Results In An Infant’s Death. Unaware Of The Enormity Of Their Crime, Zipp And Andreas Are Intent On Committing Another. They Follow An Elderly Woman Home, And Andreas Enters Her House With His Switchblade. In The Dark, Zipp Waits For His Friend To Come Out.

inspector Konrad Sejer And His Colleague Jacob Skarre See No Connection Between The Infant’s Death And The Reported Disappearance Of A Local Delinquent. And So While The Confusion Outside Mounts, The Heart-stopping Truth Unfolds Inside The Old Woman’s Home.

unflappable As Ever, Sejer Digs Below The Surface Of Small- Town Tranquility In An Effort To Understand How And Why Violence Destroys Everyday Lives.

marilyn Stasio

andreas Teams Up With His Socially Inept Friend, Known As Zipp, To Snatch A Young Mother's Purse, Harming Her Infant In The Process, Before They Run Off To Break Into The Home Of A Reclusive Old Woman. Only Andreas Manages To Get Into The House, And Fossum Makes The Odd Choice Of Telegraphing Much Too Early What Eventually Happens To Him After He Is Trapped Inside The Home Of This Profoundly Disturbed Woman. Even With Its Suspense Dissipated, The Story Is So Chillingly Told (in A Lucid Translation By Felicity David) That We Can Only Marvel At The Author's Skill At Illustrating How A Random Sequence Of Events Can Cause So Many Lives To Intersect In So Many Horrifying Ways.
— The New York Times