Review

I probably should not have chosen this as my first Wallander mystery. It is very short and was written by Mankell as part of a contest, so (as far as I can tell) is not really part of the Wallander series, per se.

Nonetheless, it is well written and conveys the Wallander character clearly: grumpy, tired, disillusioned, thoughtful, insightful, and full of regrets. The mystery itself is more interesting than its resolution. Wallander discovers a hand sticking out of the ground in the back of a house that he is thinking of buying. The hand leads to a body, the body to a second body, and then to a murder that took place at least 60 years ago. Through a combination of good police work and an astonishingly helpful informant Wallander and crew are able to trace down leads until, eventually, the culprit is located. All good stuff, but a little more procedural than I like in police procedurals.

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