Another satisfying read in the Wallander series. While the usual motifs are in place—Wallander's weariness with shifting culture, his ailing father, and how third world issues affect the west—this plot is probably the most dense in the series up to this point (I'm reading these in order). Wallander is an anti-hero, not in the modern, amoral sense of the term, but for his sheer fragility as a man. He remains bound by duty, but not for the same reasons as all the typical hyper-masculine noir archetypes, and remains one of my favorite characters in serial literature.

Mankell is a storyteller of great humanity, clearly affected by the plight of the voiceless on the various fringes of society. As migrants and refugees scatter all over the world, these books become even more relevant, even though some are over 20 years old at this point, as Wallander's (and Mankell's) Ystad shines a light on the various ways these communities are marginalized and victimized. I look forward to the next.

When I finish a Henning Mankell novel, I am always surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The reader must endure all of Kurt's self-doubt and guilt along with him and wade through the mental process of going over and over the events and known facts to solve the crime. A complex story, where the repetition of Wallander's though process trying to solve the mystery should have been tedious but it is an intelligent and engaging story.

This was a well constructed police procedure story. The crime seen begins with a man found near his home in a pit impaled on bamboo poles. the wooden walkway was cut. more cruel murders happen and very few clues as to why or who committed these crimes. Wallender is tenacious in looking at each and every piece of the puzzle. I thought the book was a little slow and overly repetitive.