It’s my party

Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek

Translated by Sally-Ann Spencer

Pan 2008, 304 pages

Twelve year old Josy Larenz has mysteriously vanished from her doctor’s surgery during a consultation. Four years on, she is still missing and her father, a well-known psychiatrist, has sought the isolation of a North Sea island in order to come to terms with events. There he is visited by a woman seeking his help: Anna Glass is a novelist who claims that all the characters she writes about become real to her, the most recent being a young girl with an unexplained illness who has vanished. With reluctance Victor Larenz agrees to take on Anna’s case in a last attempt to discover the truth behind his daughter’s disappearance.

Therapy was a best seller in its native Germany and seems to have been rather well received over here too, so trust me to be the party pooper! I can’t deny that this is a real page-turner and that I would never have guessed the ending in a month of Sundays – so (party) hat off to Herr Fitzek for that. However, as in a drawn out game of pass the parcel I frantically shredded the final wrapping, only to be disappointed by what was revealed.

Hide and seek

Black Seconds by Karin Fossum

Translated by Charlotte Barslund

Harvill Secker 2007, 256 pages

Nine days before her tenth birthday, Ida Joner sets off on her yellow bicycle to buy the latest issue of “Wendy” and some bubblegum. When she fails to return, her frantic mother rings family and friends. She then goes out looking for her daughter, but no one has seen Ida. The police are notified and a search of the local area takes place involving hundreds of volunteers – to no avail: Ida and her yellow bicycle have vanished without trace.

We are back in Scandinavia. This time we’re in the capable hands of the imperturbable Inspector Konrad Sejer, who struck me as being a bit of a dish. I’d got this one sussed by about page fifty, but it’s not so much of a whodunnit as a howdidit. A gripping yet sensitive read from Norway’s queen of crime.

Very Fine indeed

Fly in the Ointment by Anne Fine

Bantam Press 2008, 224 pages

Lois Henderson is estranged from her parents and has lost her son to drug addiction. When her husband ups and leaves she gains a new lease of life: moves house, changes her job and acquires fresh interests. She then discovers that her son has fathered a child, offering her what she regards as a second chance and an opportunity to make amends for past mistakes. But there’s a “fly in the ointment,” only this time Lois is determined that nothing is going to come between a child and the happiness she thinks he deserves.

Anne Fine is probably best known for her children’s stories but Fly in the Ointment is her seventh novel for adults. This is a compelling page turner which addresses the issue of bad parenting, in particular the neglect of children. Anyone looking for an entertaining read which demands very little effort on the part of the reader should look no further. A brave book.