The White Lioness

The White Lioness by Henning Mankell 440 pgs.

Our hero, detective chief inspector Kurt Wallander is middle aged and having a hard time feeling confident. He questions his abilities and realizes things are changing faster than he feels comfortable with...He has feelings for a woman who lives in another country and has never been very good with expressing his feelings. This book has Wallander investigating a local crime that ends up having international connections. Wallander is forced by circumstances to shoot someone (a rather heinous criminal) but the weight of doing so pushes him to a mental breakdown. Also contributing to his state of mind, his daughter Linda is kidnapped and held by the mastermind behind an assassination plot that is connected to the local crime. I can't thank Kathleen enough for turning me on to this series. Wallander is an interesting character to me with his conflicted ideas and the way his life plays out. I look forward to reading more about him. - Christa