The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell 367 pp.
This latest book is also the end of the Kurt Wallender series. The title initially refers to retired high ranking naval officer Hâkan von Enke who goes missing. As the story progresses it becomes obvious that the "troubled man" also describes Wallender himself. (An Amazon review said the title should have been "The Troubled Men") Wallender is not officially investigating the disappearance but has been working on it unofficially in cooperation with the authorities. The missing man in question is the future father-in-law of Wallender's daughter, Linda. Eventually von Enke's wife Louise goes missing and is later found dead. But where is von Enke and is he dead or alive? While all this is happening Wallender discovers connections to Cold War espionage from the 1960s-1980s. Throughout the book Wallender is dealing with multiple health issues, including memory black outs, and contemplating his descent into old age and eventual death. The birth of his granddaughter fuels his fears of dying. No spoilers here but I was disappointed in the very end of the book. There is a sudden shift from being inside Wallender's thoughts to the author just telling in rather drab and tacked on terms about the end of Wallender's career.
We are competitive library employees who are using this blog for our reading contest against each other and Missouri libraries up to the challenge.
Showing posts with label Kurt Wallander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kurt Wallander. Show all posts
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The Troubled Man
Labels:
cold war,
espionage,
Karen,
Kurt Wallander,
missing persons,
mystery,
spies
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The man who smiled
The man who smiled/Henning Mankell 325 pgs.Kurt Wallander is ready to retire from the force. This book starts 18 months after the last one. Kurt isn't coping very well with the weight of the knowledge that he killed a man. It was self-defense but this is a Swedish mystery, not a US mystery where people rarely think twice about death (at least in the books). Kurt gets a request from an old friend to look into the car wreck that killed his father. When the friend turns up dead, Kurt decides he must return to work to figure out what has happened. The rest is standard Wallander...I don't say that as a negative, it is always awesome. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
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
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Dogs of Riga
Dogs of Riga: a Kurt Wallander Mystery/Henning Mankell 326 pg.
This book exposes Kurt Wallander to some political intrigue and some violent action as he travels to Latvia to help solve the murder of a Latvian police major. Of course there is a little time to fall for the major's widow even though the most "action" we get in that arena is a chaste kiss on the cheek. I do enjoy Kurt I guess because we are at similar stages in our lives and he is a bit cynical. I listened to this on audio and I'm glad to know the correct pronunciations of all the Latvian names. Looking forward to the next book in this series and thanks again to Kathleen for turning me onto it. - Christa
Labels:
christa,
Kurt Wallander,
mystery,
swedish fiction
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell -500 pages, Mystery.
The third Wallender mystery follows assassins and their handlers from South Africa, to Sweden and back again. Wallender and his colleagues struggle to make sense of the murder of a young real-estate agent and the bizzare clues that surround the crime. Kurt finds his life and his career spinnning out of control as he gets closer to the criminals and tries to understand what exactly is going on.-Patrick
The third Wallender mystery follows assassins and their handlers from South Africa, to Sweden and back again. Wallender and his colleagues struggle to make sense of the murder of a young real-estate agent and the bizzare clues that surround the crime. Kurt finds his life and his career spinnning out of control as he gets closer to the criminals and tries to understand what exactly is going on.-Patrick
Labels:
Kurt Wallander,
mystery,
Patrick,
swedish fiction
Monday, July 12, 2010
They Pyramid and four other Kurt Wallander mysteries
They Pyramid and four other Kurt Wallander mysteries/Henning Mankell 392 pgs. 15 and a half hours of audio
Kathleen got me going on Kurt Wallander and I did enjoy listening to this book instead of reading it. I know that is the only way I'm going to get close on the pronunciations of names and places. Kurt Wallander is a great character. Someone I can relate to...his life is a bit of a mess but not horrible. He asks the questions that many of us have and wonders if he is on the right track. They mysteries are really secondary for me. In this book there is some great interaction between Kurt and his dad, a crazy old guy who occasionally dumbfounds his son. I will certainly continue with this series. - Christa
Kathleen got me going on Kurt Wallander and I did enjoy listening to this book instead of reading it. I know that is the only way I'm going to get close on the pronunciations of names and places. Kurt Wallander is a great character. Someone I can relate to...his life is a bit of a mess but not horrible. He asks the questions that many of us have and wonders if he is on the right track. They mysteries are really secondary for me. In this book there is some great interaction between Kurt and his dad, a crazy old guy who occasionally dumbfounds his son. I will certainly continue with this series. - Christa
Labels:
christa,
Kurt Wallander,
mystery,
swedish fiction
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Faceless killers
Faceless killers: a mystery/Henning Mankell 284 pg.
This is my first Kurt Wallander mystery and I now understand what the buzz is all about. I really like Kurt and his middle aged crankiness. The mystery was mysterious enough and the "Swedishness" of it was interesting. Kathleen has read many of these mysteries and I intend to follow her lead. - Christa
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