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Sidetracked, the fifth of Henning Mankell's acclaimed Kurt Wallander mysteries, and the second to be translated into English, is an engrossing police procedural. The hard-boiled Kurt Wallander has softened slightly since he was first introduced in Faceless Killers, the first title in the series. He drinks less, has more functional relationships and has developed a faith in his investigative team. Despite this, it is his other qualities as a character, his philosophical angst and his intuitive pursuit of hunches, which drive this novel as Wallander struggles to discover the leads that will trap the killer.
Mankell manages to squeeze in serious comments on the state of Swedish society. The over-stretched police force, child prostitution and the corruption of high politics, all come under the scrutiny of Wallander's wearied gaze as he struggles to come to terms with the new violence of his society. This is a dark novel peppered with genuinely nasty violence, but it is Wallander's struggle to uncover the truth and face his own demons that provide the real thrills. --Iain Robinson
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complex psychological thriller, first rate murder mystery.,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sidetracked (Paperback)
Sidetracked was first published in Sweden in 1995, and now with Steven T. Murray's able translation, the United States audience will be able to read this Scandinavian thriller/murder mystery. Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander series is very popular in Europe, and Sidetracked won the Best Crime Novel of the Year award there. Sidetracked is the third Kurt Wallander mystery, following Faceless Killers and The White Lioness. Mankell currently lives in exotic Mozambique. Inspector Kurt Wallander works at the police station in Ystad Sweden. He is divorced, ready to go on vacation with his girlfriend Baiba, and is undergoing the uncertainty of a new police chief, possible reorganization of his department, and a rising caseload. His nightmare begins with the suicide of an unknown girl in a farmer's rapeseed field: "Afterward Wallander would remember the burning girl in the rapeseed field the way you remember, with the greatest reluctance, a distant nightmare you'd rather forget. Even though he seemed to maintain at least an outward sense of calm for the entire evening and far into the night, later he could recall nothing but irrelevant details. Martinsson, Hansson, and especially Ann-Britt Höglund had been astonished by his impassiveness. But they couldn't see through the shield he had set up to protect himself. Inside him there was devastation like a house that had collapsed." Wallander's life becomes more complicated as a series of brutal axe murders surface. The motis operandi is basically the same, but with subtle differences. Wallander becomes obsessed with stopping the murderer and at the same time identifying the poor girl who had appeared in the rapeseed field and killed herself in such pain. Meanwhile, the murders continue, until Wallander becomes aware that the killer might be focusing on him. Sidetracked is a complex psychological thriller and a first rate murder mystery. It is told in the epic saga style of Scandinavia, complete with the dark richness of Sweden. Wallander is human, with limited resources which he stretches for a higher ideal. He is a hero.Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer
3.0 out of 5 stars
If you're a murder mystery buff,
By
This review is from: Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (Paperback)
Sweden must have a problem with the trade of young women in the sex trade or it's a focus of popular interest because, like the considerably more famous Stieg Larsson, the mystery surrounding this particular tale, involves just that. I'm really not giving anything away. It begins with a young girl who commits suicide in a farmer's field by burning herself with gasoline. All very gruesome. Then, comes a series of vengeance murders. The novel is mildly engrossing and I did push through to the end despite the somewhat repetitive retelling of clues learned at various points in the story. If you're a murder mystery buff, this may be for you.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely sidetracked!,
By
This review is from: Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (Paperback)
Haveonly just come across Kurt Wallander after the TV series. These are the most fascinating detective booksI have read since P.D.James. This one keeps you guessing fromthe first page - it is one of those book that you find it difficult to put down. Seemingly unrelated deaths that keep you on edge till the last page - a must to read.
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