One Step Behind (1997)

Here's another really good one from the Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell. Some of the devices may be growing somewhat threadbare—another climax with Wallander in grave mortal peril, more health problems, brooding attacks of doubt, new friends. It's a thriller series more than police procedural let alone hardboiled detective so action-packed scenes are inevitable. Mankell's plotting is as good as ever. It relies on some shaky premises but the case remains intriguingly mysterious for a long time. Another repetition: the most heinous crimes ever seen in the region. That has already been used at least twice before in the series (One Step Behind is seventh of 12). At first I thought this was going to be a mass murder variation, but no, in due course it turns out to be another serial killer. The love for serial killers obviously reached Sweden in the '90s too. But I can forgive these miscues because this one is just so cracking good most of the way. A group of college-age kids disappears in early summer. They are believed to be traveling, as their parents receive postcards from points in Europe, but one mother is convinced they are forged and it's not her daughter's handwriting. Then one of the police detective Kurt Wallander's colleagues, Svedberg, is found brutally murdered. He had been working unofficially and in secret on the disappearance. Now I have to admit Svedberg never made that much impression on me in the series. In fact, sometimes I'm sure I'm confused a little about Wallander's and Martin Beck's coworkers. Anyway, a lot of interesting revelations about him come to light in the investigation. One of Wallander's new friends is a postman who delivers mail by boat in an island area of Sweden. He's more of a plot device here but looks like he might be around for the future. The other is a preening new prosecutor who doubts Wallander's abilities. Baiba Liepa has been summarily dismissed from the series, it appears—they broke up between the last novel and this one. I like that Mankell did that and I also like that he did it offstage. There is also not much in this one about Wallander's daughter, Linda, and I like that too. Maybe what I like is that a lot of the clutter of Wallander's personal life has been cleared away and we mostly focus on the case. Overall this is one of the best. The elements may be familiar, but Mankell is still getting more skillful working with them.

In case the library is closed due to pandemic.