One Step Behind

I thought this book would never end; twice I started to just drop it, but I have difficulty not finishing a book for some reason.
The dialogue is cumbersome and extremely repetitious. What do we know? What do we have? Where is he? What do we do? throughout the book. The author feels the necessity to let the reader in on every thought that goes through Wallanders mind (and they vary little) and then we hear him recap everything more than once.
Quite a bit in this story seems unrealisticthe police are rude in their questioning of ordinary citizens and threaten them with arrest, and those being interviewed insult and balk at the officers.
This is a police procedural, but the process seems awkward and stumbling. What police officer forgets to take his gun and phone?
I found the story and characters uninteresting and difficult to believe. Finishing the book was a chore.

This novel tracks another investigation into a series of murders. The book begins with a description of the murder of three young people who are celebrating Midsummer’s Eve in a secluded area by dressing up in 17th century costumes. The killer then hides the bodies. Throughout the book, the author counterbalances his descriptions of the investigation and the actions of the team with insight into the mind of the killer.

The investigative team, headed by Police Inspector Kurt Wallander, begins their investigation in to what may be a disappearance of the three young people. Then the team is shocked by the brutal murder of one of their own, Police Detective Svedberg.
The reader is not surprised to find the cases are linked.

As Kurt continues his investigation, he faces another personal crisis. He discovers he has diabetes and begins a battle to change his eating habits and deal with his ‘high blood sugar.’

The author weaves another intricate web tracing Police Inspector Wallander’s investigation into these bizarre events. And through it all, Kurt is left with the feeling he is always “One Step Behind.”

I discovered Henning Mankell thanks to two television versions of some of his Kurt Wallander books: one in English produced by BBC and the other in Swedish with English subtitles. The BBC version, as usual, Anglicized everything and altered the stories. The Swedish Television version remained closer to Mankell’s stories, but slammed in a lot of foul language. Although I did not enjoy the constant cursing, not only per se, but also because it clashed with the very nature of the characters and stories, it struck me as wrong and that led me to begin reading the books on my Kindle. As I had thought, very little — indeed, almost none — of that language is Mankell’s.
In this book, as in its predecessors, Mankell knows how to create suspense, atmosphere, and character while spinning out a story at its own pace. In Italian, the word for stories about police is poliziotti, which I mention because Italy’s greatest and most successful contemporary writer of such works is Andrea Camillieri, whose numerous novels about his policeman, Moltabano, are the only such works known to me that can stand with Mankell’s superb Wallander novels.
I read Camillieri in Italian and wish that I could read Mankell in Swedish — perhaps in another lifetime?

Henning writes great stories which are translated from the Swedish to English well. The only thing you must accept when reading Swedish authors is that the whole country is depressed and I mean mentally not financially. Since most of the developed world is following along this path of depression it will no doubt not bother most as it used to bother me. He knows how to write a great story and that is the most important part. Don’t even think of ending your life!

This book gives you an insight into Kurt’s thinking, how he handles conflicts. It’s hard for me to say which book is better, but it does help to read the books in order. He is a troubled man, trying to sort out life after divorce. If you like a real mystery story, with twists and turns, then this is the book for you.