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From Publishers Weekly
In his fifth U.S. appearance in this taut, intricately plotted series (The Fifth Woman, etc.), Swedish detective Kurt Wallander pursues a long, complex case sure to please those who like weighty police procedurals. Six weeks after three college students are murdered during a Midsummer's Eve party, their bodies hidden to prevent discovery, Wallander's secretive colleague Svedberg is found at home with half his head blown off. Wallander's persistent, occasionally brilliant, investigation points to a connection between Svedberg and the disappearance of the three young people. Soon after their bodies surface, a fourth friend, who was too sick to attend the party, is killed. More murders follow, with the exhausted, understaffed detectives just too late each time to prevent the next crime. Eventually the reader meets the killer, whose bizarre motive and methods the author gradually reveals. The dyspeptic Wallander, whose frazzled personal life is further impaired by the diabetes he ignores, works himself to exhaustion, sidestepping official procedure and making intuitive leaps to find the cold-blooded killer. The glum tone of the book, despite the setting during a warm and luxuriant late summer, reflects a crumbling Swedish society: government corruption is widespread; honest cops are disillusioned by abuses in high officialdom; rifts among social classes and between Swedes and recent immigrants abound. Mankell's writing is deadpan and stark, the plotting meticulous and exacting. (Feb. 28)Forecast: Though a bestseller in Europe with both film and TV adaptations to his credit, Mankell has so far failed to take off here. Alas, Scandinavian dreariness just doesn't seem to have broad appeal to American readers.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.From Library Journal
Devotees of Inspector Kurt Wallander can only bemoan the fact that this is just the fifth (out of nine books) in this Swedish mystery series to be published in the United States. Here, Wallander confronts perhaps his most horrific case, when the murder of a trusted colleague, Svedberg, and the disappearance of three young people begin to merge. Battling his own fatigue and illness, Wallander assiduously strips away layer after layer, dredging up fragments of conversations and crime-scene clues that lead him closer and closer to the killer, who plays him cleverly and remains one step ahead until the brutal end. Mankell focuses less on Wallander's personal relationships and on what he sees as the deterioration of Swedish quality of life than in the previous books, but nevertheless the subtext is there. Essential for public libraries, though newcomers may want to start earlier in the series (with The White Lioness or Sidetracked). Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glimpsed from the corner of one's eye.,
This review is from: One Step Behind: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (7) (Paperback)
This novel is very reminiscent of Sjoewall and Wahloo's Martin Beck series. As was the case in THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, Swedish police detective Kurt Wallander and his team are investigating the murder of one of their colleagues, Svedberg, a man they thought they knew, who turns out to be quite different than they ever imagined. Soon this cop-killing links up with the disappearance of three young people on Midsummer Eve. Believed to be off traveling in Europe, it becomes more and more likely that the three were murdered and that Svedberg had been on the trail of the killer. But why had Svedberg realized that the young people were dead and not missing? What did he know and decide to keep secret from his colleagues? Kurt Wallander, struggling with loneliness, alienation, and the onset of diabetes, tries to follow the trail left by his murdered colleague to unmask a clever killer before he strikes again. Unfortunately, Wallander is always one step behind, trying to make out the elusive clue that seems to lie just beyond the range of his vision, while the murders mount up. As usual, the course of the investigation is difficult and discouraging, and Wallander doubts his ability to get to the bottom of the mystery. Despite taking place at the end of summer, the gloom is almost impenetrable, but the story is so good it will keep you going to the end. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but predictable,
By
This review is from: One Step Behind: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (7) (Paperback)
This was my first experience with the Wallander series and I looked forward to reading it after seeing the glowing reviews here. Although a translation, Mankell still comes through as an excellent writer and his characters, especially Wallander, have real depth. The story itself is ok, nothing out of the ordinary for a violence-numbed US reader. My complaint, and the reason I couldn't rate this book higher and am reluctant to read others in the series, is that I always felt "one step ahead" of the detectives. At a couple of points, it was like watching a bad horror movie where you want to shout, "no, don't go in there alone!" That kind of obvious deduction Wallander lacks in a couple of places in this book. Too bad, because the writing, characterizations and pacing are several steps above most detective fiction.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
deserves 10 stars or more,
By Southern Train (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: One Step Behind: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (7) (Paperback)
I had two books on a short trip this weekend and had to choose between Michael Connelly [a personal favorite] and this unknown writer whose book I just picked up by chance.I chose this book over the latest Connelly;after the first two pages I just couldn't put it down. The hero, Kurt Wallender, is like Harry Bosch but, if you can believe it, even more realsitically detailed. The plot literally grinds away at you --for me, I found the suspense at times almost intolerable. It took awhile to get used to the Swedish names and locales but within a few hours I was completely hooked to the point that I got up this morning at 4:00 AM unable to sleep due to the intricacies of the plot and my tie to the characters. This is just a smashing thriller superior to anything I have read by Connelly, James Lee Burke or Michael Malone, my favorites.
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