欧宝娱乐

#5 in the Kurt Wallander series, it is time for our favorite detective to take a much-needed vacation. However, summer fun has to be put on hold as Wallander is called out to a farm where a girl has been loitering in the fields. As he goes out to talk to her, she pours gasoline all over herself and lights a match. Not long afterwards, there's a murder in which the former Minister of Justice has his skull sliced in two by an axe. And if those were the only two crimes, maybe Wallander could go have some fun, but alas, it is not to be, as the body count goes higher.

We know who the killer is not far into the story, but that's okay. The real story is about Wallander and his team trying to figure out the connections between all of the victims -- and how Wallander gets a bit "sidetracked" along the way for various reasons, not all having to do with the crime, preventing him at times from seeing obvious connections that may have helped him solve the crimes earlier, possibly saving lives. The story is more about the toll that the crimes take on Wallander and on the rest of the team.

As always, Mankell writes superbly -- the characterizations are excellent, the inner turmoil of Wallander is so palpable you could reach out and touch it.

I would definitely recommend this one. If you're following the series in order, you're going to want to continue; if you've perhaps seen the PBS production and are thinking of reading this one, do so, but do not make it the first Wallander you read. You will miss way too much in terms of Wallander's character development. I'd definitely recommend it for readers of Scandanavian mysteries and for those who perhaps want something a bit beyond what's new on the shelves today.