An Event in Autumn

I am a big fan of the Kurt Wallender detective series, having read most of them. I anticipated this volume by ordering
ahead. This is not a new, in the sense of just having written it, novel. It’s something Mankell wrote earlier and found it
fit in the series just before the last volume during which Kurt is put to rest. The mystery or story is ok, but not sensational
or heart-pounding. Basically, it moves along at the pace that Kurt does as he contemplates retirement. It’s a pre-retirement
story. It’s not all bad, however. The best part of the book is the postscript during which Mankell goes into personal detail on how he writes, gets inspired, etc. That’s worth knowing and getting if you are a zealous Kurt Wallender fan. I don’t know if this review
helps, but I am on to Jo Nesbo’s books now.

Nearing retirement, Chief Inspector Kurt Wallander is looking for a quiet place in the Swedish countryside. A colleague sends him off to look at a small farm house that seems ideal, but on close inspection turns out be a burial ground of sorts. And so begins an interesting police procedural looking into a 50-year old crime with few clues or living witnesses.

“An Event in Autumn”, one of the last of the Wallander books (written on commission for a Dutch publisher some years ago), is instantly recognizable for its witty, slightly sardonic and grumpy style in the handling of the characters and for its perfect description of the physical context. The reader is in direct contact with the principals and the landscape from page one.

This is also another book that pushes Kurt Wallander’s daughter, Linda, to the forefront. Here, she has been on the Ystad police force for a while and is a full member of the task force looking into the farm house killing. She is also her father’s confidant, roommate and frequent verbal opponent.

Finally, “An Event…” comes with a bonus. There is a kind of pithy epilogue by the author that discusses the “birth” of the Wallander character and the much loved series as well as a brief history of Hankell’s writing career. It’s an interesting look at the thinking of one of the best writers still at work today and a good reason to read this particular story in and of itself.

If I have a complaint about Amazon reviewers it’s that they lock into a certain rating for favorite authors and never vary it over a large number of books. Mankell is a gifted and talented author, at least in his Wallander series, but the quality varies, as with any writer, from books as brilliant as The Fifth Woman and Faceless Killers to the absurd and bumbling melodrama of the Dogs of Riga. Which brings me to the slight An Event in Autumn, which is consistently receiving four and five stars. The backstory tells everything about this brief “novel.” A Dutch publisher developed a promotion to encourage the buying of detective novels: for every book purchased you would receive a free mystery. An Event in Autumn was one of the free books. Later in his career, Mankell decided to publish it as part of the Wallander series. It reads like a general overview of the themes and motifs that distinguish his better works, with little of the complexity or nuance. I would hardly recommend it.

This novella begins by Kurt Wallander pursuing his dream of buying a house in the country. After initially considering the house and making a tentative offer, Kurt discovers a hand in the garden. This ends the possible purchase and begins the investigation into the murder s as eventually Kurt and his team find two bodies in the garden.

Kurt’s investigation is hampered by the fact the Chef of Police is reluctant to devote resources to the investigation. Kurt and few members of this team persist and a he resolves a decades old crime in the very house where the original crime took place.

Short but great read. If you are reading all the Kurt Wallander books, a good one to fill in the gap with Kurt’s story.

We have the last of the Wallander stories. I am sad to see it end. However, this story takes Kurt on a trip to see a house he may want to buy. While there, he discovers a skeleton in the backyard. Oh, oh, what looked to be a promising buy is no longer. He and his detectives start to seek out to whom the woman’s body may belong. Discovering that it is from the early 1940’s doesn’t help. After several unpromising leads, Kurt goes back to the property only to discover another buried body. This time a man about the same age as the woman – early 50’s or so. He discovers that there was a couple from Estonia at the farm. But, alas that lead leads no where as well. Or, does it?