It was with some sadness that I started reading this book knowing that it was the 10th and last ever novel to be written featuring Kurt Wallander the most famous Scandinavian detective of them all.
This is crime fiction that you do not read at speed as you might with say a Lee Child or Michael Connelly mystery/adventure. No, books by Henning Mankell are complex and engrossing stories that always take me several days to read and think about and digest.
This latest title was true to form, 370 pages, relating Wallender's final case which covers issues of espionage and betrayal, new events from the Cold War days, looking at Sweden's relations with Germany and Russia and it's "neutrality". But mainly it is about this great, depressive and lagubrious cop coming to the end of his professional life. It is the perfect valedictory novel. Arguably the best of all titles in the Wallender series.
But oh it is so so sad.
A great read, but when I finished it I sat stunned for some while for the story of Kurt Wallander was finally over, finished, once and for all, I felt like I had lost a friend. I felt very sad. Read this book and you will understand why I am so affected by it.I can't say more without giving away the story.
Footnote:
Also be sure to read Craig Sisterson's three page story on Henning Mankell and the writing of The Troubled Man in The NZ Listener, issue dated April 9-15. Sisterson, an authority on crime fiction wrote his piece after inteviewing Mankell recently.
PS
I mentioned Michael Connelly above. If you haven't already read his The Lincoln Lawyer, originally published in 2005, then I can warmly recommend it to you. One of his very best, and of course featuring the irrepressible defence attorney Mickey Haller. The title has just been reissued with a film tie-in cover as the movie is soon to be released.
2 comments:
I love the character of Kurt Wallender, because he is so real and human--I have read almost all he Wallender books even though crime and police procedurals are usually not my thing.
Make sure you read this last one Helen but be prepared to be stunned by the ending!
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