An Event in Autumn

An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell  176 pp.

This short novel was originally published in The Netherlands for a special program to encourage reading. It was written in 2004 and only recently translated into English. There are many differences between this book and the PBS "Wallender" episode by the same name. Swedish homicide detective Kurt Wallender is looking for a home in the country where he can live out his approaching retirement. As he looks over a house that looks promising he literally stumbles over a skeletal hand sticking out of the ground. This begins a search for the identity of the dead woman and a fifty year old mystery. After many dead ends the truth is finally revealed. An interesting afterword by the author reveals how Wallender came to be and places this story chronologically before the last novel in the Wallender series.