Ruth Rendell reads Karin Fossum. It makes sense. Both are mistresses of psychological suspense with talents for excellent police series. But while Rendell takes us into the darkest minds, Fossum peppers her plots with violence in the everyday. This tightly constructed story begins with a sleeping baby in her back yard in Oslo. Mummy is making dinner. Daddy is at work. Everything is perfect, until the parents discover their baby drenched in blood.

Fortunately, it’s not her blood. It’s a prank, stupid and horrible and life-changing. Inspector Konrad Sejer is on the case, with much press coverage, when he receives a note: “Hell begins now.”

More evil pranks follow, with equally horrible results. A woman reads her obituary in the paper; a cancer patient has a visit from the undertaker. The pranks are perpetrated by a miserably unhappy teenaged boy who lives with his alcoholic mother and survives on visits to his adored grandfather. I won’t give away any more of a clever plot but bad things happen. Fossum is among the best new voices in the genre.

Un bebé aparece cubierto de sangre, pero sin ningún rasguño. Una anciana que acaba de celebrar su cumpleaños descubre su propia esquela en el periódico. Un matrimonio recibe atónito la visita de un trabajador de la funeraria que viene a recoger el cadáver del marido, todavía vivo. El inspector de policía Konrad Sejer encuentra una extraña nota: «¡El infierno empieza ahora!». La calma de una pequeña población se ve interrumpida: alguien se está dedicando a sembrar el terror con mensajes que presagian la muerte de quienes lo reciben. Un libro en el que lo importante no es saber quién lo hizo, sino los motivos que le impulsaron a hacerlo.