One Step Behind by Henning Mankell
Three role-playing teenagers are shot on Midsummer’s Eve in a remote Swedish meadow while they are costumed as people from the seventeenth century. Inspector Kurt Wallander recognizes the killings are connected when one of his most dependable coworkers—someone he intended to rely on for assistance in solving the case—also turns up dead. But he can’t even begin to comprehend how the only lead he has is a picture of a woman no one in Sweden seems to know. Wallander follows the murderer’s deadly path as he deals with the death of his own father and his own declining health. Wallander is constantly only one step behind him as he races to catch up with him before he attacks again.
One Step Behind by Henning Mankell
138 used from $1.51
Free shipping
Amazon.com
The eighth Kurt Wallender procedural is a little tedious and tiresome, if only because Wallender is “one step behind” in solving the crime throughout the entire novel and the case is simultaneously personal to him.
The murders of three young individuals enjoying a Midsummer picnic in a remote region set the suspenseful story’s opening scene. The investigation has been drawn out in part as a result of the victims’ initial misidentification as missing and subsequent body searches. The death of one of Wallender’s coworkers and the intriguing possibility that the two killings may be connected complicate the inquiry.
Readers are invited to participate in the investigation through Wallender’s eyes and thoughts, which is part of the brilliance of Mankell’s weaving of the story. While an effective narrative tool, Wallender’s diagnosis of diabetes interferes with his thought process, and – believably – there are a lot of dead-and-loose ends that must be investigated in order to piece together the who and why’s behind the crimes.
While essential to the tale, pursuing these red herrings and sorting through the evidence slows it down a bit. The finale of this thriller, which is brought to a spectacular conclusion by Mankell, will get your heart racing and elevate your blood pressure despite the fact that it starts out a little slowly.
