Henning Mankel has proved himself to be a wonderful crime novelist. His books create a wonderful sense of atmosphere along with razor sharp plotting. The great pleasure in reading Mankell is the social commentary on Sweden's changing society. His fiction is at least as much about evolving mores in Swedish culture as it is about the classic "who done its."

This is an odd one. Three young people have been found murdered. The weird thing is they had been killed earlier and then dug up again. Svedberg is early on also murdered and also Wallander finds out he was gay. They were friends for 20 years and colleagues but he never knew. Mmmm not such a great reader of people! Essentially and this is a big spoiler, his ex lover got jealous of Wallander who Svedberg secretly loved. A meticulous, tidy and sensitive man loved Kurt unbeknownst to him. The lover...

The tension and the depth of the plot from each book become more and more interesting. In this we find Wallander looking for the killer of a fellow detective who was looking for three missing students. Simple yet terribly complicated and dark. Wallander's private life is the back bones of the series. We see him struggling with health problems, his emotional ups and downs. The plot keeps you reading but Wallander's personal turmoils makes you turn the pages faster.

Oh bloody sensational. This is nearly as good as it gets. Perhaps Henning Mankell has written better, I don;t know. This is my first, and I am super excited. I had a Louise Penny binge in early 2016. Seems like another binge could be on its way. Have already picked up 'Faceless Killers' next.Review maybe next year, when I get some perspective.

At the heart of the several mysteries that Kurt Wallander and his team must investigate in this seventh book in the Wallander series are secrets. The victims all have secrets which make it difficult to get a grasp on the motives and reasons behind their victimhood, and, of course, the perpetrator, a serial killer, has the biggest secrets of all. He is a cipher, an anonymous man, someone that you would never notice. People look right through him and never see him. How will Wallander ever be able

One Step Behind is a bit of an abnormality in the Wallander series, though not to its detriment. The plot does not concern issues of the third world, or the economics of the post-Soviet era. The central murder is particularly gruesome (to the extent that the corresponding Masterpiece Mystery series does not recreate the crime scene as it was discovered). Wallander's typical family issues are a footnote, and the detective inspector, himself, is particularly physical in his pursuit of the killer.I...

Actual Rating: 4.8 StarsSoundtrack: To Be Decided “Normal people have nightmares in their sleep. We have our nightmares when we’re awake.” A charmingly realistic portrait of the struggles of policemen, One Step Behind follows the steps of a brusque detective and his colleagues, while begging the question: who or what can we truly put our faith into?Detective Kurt Wallander returns as engaging as ever, with detectives Magnus Martinsson and Ann-Britt Hoglund strong, worthy companions and confida...

Midsomer Murders meets Nordic Noir. This is the least impressive of Wallander's "Serial killer trilogy" and the Wallander series as a whole, I would say (together with the first book in the series). The problem is not so much that this is a bad book; it's that we've had a similar plot twice before, both in One Step Behind and The Fifth Woman, and as a consequence this story feels tired and repetitive. (view spoiler)[While the serial killing and subsequent chasing of the killer by the police give...

This isn’t the same Wallander that I’ve come to expect in this series. Sure, he is still depressed and depressing. But this one takes place in the summer, and when the weather’s good, you don’t have the moodiness bad weather causes piling on to the issues faced by the detective. To make up for the good weather, Mankell kills off a peer of Wallander’s, and gives Wallander some bigger health problems to deal with. In this one, bloodwork finds an issue that nags at Wallander every few pages through...

This is another dense, intricately plotted crime novel featuring Swedish detective Kurt Wallander. Three young people, dressed in costumes and celebrating Midsummer's Eve, are brutally murdered. The killer buries the bodies and while they remain undiscovered, the victim's parents are led to believe that their children are off touring Europe. However, the mother of one of the victims refuses to believe this and insists that the police should be investigating the disappearance of the three. But th...

Wow. This is a must read for all Wallander-philes. The plot is very good. Even better though, Wallander is a mess. He has health problems, his father died in the last book, he doesn't have a girlfriend, his ex-wife is getting remarried, and his confidence is completely shot. It's classic, wonderful Wallander. Ups and downs and dog tired through a difficult case, it's just a lot of fun to follow along.One of my favorite scenes is when Wallander learns that one of his coworkers considers Wallander...

The Man Who Never Laughs Hunted by The Cops Who Never LaughBook #7 of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander series is a book of secrets. I think in many ways this is not such a memorable book, no amazing plot hooks, really, a 3 star book in terms of the story--a serial killer book, ehhh, high body count, ho hum, the guy kills because he doesn't like it that others are happy, huh, okay--but it is very well paced and plotted and ultimately compelling, in part because we very much like this sad vulnerab...

When I read the works of one author, and more emphatically when I read a series by one author, I feel that I almost go further than just the reciprocal relationship between text and reader outlined by Louise Rosenblatt in her transactional theory of literature. With Mankell (and also recently with the twelve volume 'Dance to the Music of Time' by Anthony Powell), it's as if I am in a dialogue with the author. I know that's impossible; the books have already been written. But my reaction to the f...

Kurt Wallander - He works tirelessly, eats badly and drinks the nights away in a lonely, neglected flat. Still, he tackles some pretty incredible cases -- Here are the titles in the series (with a few extras) -Faceless KillersDogs Of RigaWhite LionessThe Man Who SmiledSidetrackedThe Fifth WomanOne Step BehindFirewallReturn Of The Dancing Master (a Stefan Lindman mystery)Before The Frost (actually a “Linda Wallander” mystery) An old man has been tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely

I just love the way Henning Mankell wrote. The storyline jumps from one death to another but always keeps the readers interest. This is book 7 of the Wallander series and it does help if you start at the beginning as the reader begins to understand the characters better which enables them to concentrate on the events taking place. The books are all very similar but I just like Wallander as a person especially as you realise, from his thoughts, that he is not a well man but chooses to ignore this...

Of the first seven books starring Swedish police detective Kurt Wallender, this one especially captures what makes the character so memorable. The plot is that he’s chasing a serial killer who targets happy people. Through it all, Wallender is short-tempered, self-pitying, jealous and forgetful but he’s also good-hearted, generous, romantic at heart and hard working. In short, he’s human through and through, a fact that’s made especially clear when he trips and falls during the big finale. And I...