It put me in mind of Peter Hoeg's 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow' where there was a similar change of direction, but it was nowhere near as well done.Īs a police-procedural novel the story is good if not exceptional. Both parts are well done, but it's rather like the couple you think should never have got married despite being perfectly decent people in their own right. This isn't my preferred form of novel at all.

Unfortunately, once it became evident that the crime was committed in Latvia and Sweden had simply been the dumping place for the bodies the novel had a complete change of identity and became an international thriller. It's about reasoning and deduction and this is my preferred form of novel. This is where we follow the police as they accumulate evidence through observation, elimination and the use of forensic science. The book begins as a pure police-procedural novel. Once there he can't let go until he gets the answers he needs. When it's discovered that the victims have come from across the Baltic Sea it should be an open-and-shut case but Inspector Wallander finds himself travelling to Latvia to help the local police in Riga. They've been tortured, shot and then the jackets of their expensive suits have been put back onto the bodies.

'His Kurt Wallander makes Inspector Morse look positively optimistic!'Īn unmarked life raft is washed up on Wallander's local beach in Sweden. 'Have you tried Henning Mankell?' she asked. I share a taste for detective fiction with the local librarian. The plot is satisfyingly seamy, Wallander is, as always, discombobulated and astute.' Los Angeles Times 'Apart from his uncommon skill at devising dense, mulilayered plots, Mankell's forte is matching mood to setting and subject.' The New York Times Book Review 'The writing is spare, the characterization deft, the atmosphere strong and the suspense overwhelming.' Times Literary Supplement 'A gripping, thoughtful police procedural that engages from the first page.Summary: An early Kurt Wallander novel - part police procedural and part international thriller - which is cautiously recommended, particularly as a thriller but it's not one of the best in the series The plot is satisfyingly seamy, Wallander is, as always, discombobulated and astute.' Los Angeles Times 'Apart from his uncommon skill at devising dense, mulilayered plots, Mankell's forte is matching mood to setting and subject.' The New York Times Book Review 'The writing is spare, the characterization deft, the atmosphere strong and the suspense overwhelming.' Times Literary Supplement 'A gripping, thoughtful police procedural that engages from the first page.' Irish Independent, 'A tale rich in gritty local culture.

The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell