About this title: The long-awaited fourth mystery in the bestselling Kurt Wallander series finds the detective deep in crisis after killing a man in the line of duty. Vowing to quit the police force, he instead becomes involved in solving a friend's murder.
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Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0099450089 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, New York, 2007; Very Good; no d/j; First Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Edition, First Printing; Translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New Press 2006
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781565849938ISBN:1565849930
Description: ISBN 9781565849938. Hardcover copy in near fine condition with near fine dustjacket. Tight clean copy. PR 7-5 1. Later Edition. Dustjacket included. read more
Edition: 2nd Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New Press, NY
Date Published: 1994
Description: Very Good+ in Near Fine Unclipped jacket. A bright, tight edition. DJ is uncut; clean; light ruffling at spine ends, no tears. Spine leans ever so slightly to one side. A good solid edition. read more
Description: Acceptable. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The Harvill Press
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781843431060ISBN:1843431068
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Wallander is depressed cause he shot a crim and still has relationship problems with his father - which is just layed on as a break from the investigation to show that he has problems outside work.
Is he coming back into the police after his bout with depression and hard drinking. Yes he is and on day one - he is given the case of a father and son pair of solicitors who are murdered. And he is welcomed back as a returning hero.
For a crime book - this contains no red herrings / false trails / interest / excitement. The man (a rich businessman who does everything including ripping of councils and body part trafficing! Please!) is identified as the killer at the start of the book and 300 pages later, he is the killer. Not great reading.
And to top it all - after storming the villians lair for the big literary confrontration - a washed up 50 year manages to overpower two armed special forces henchmen on his way to his execution. With a stone.
This is the laziest, least exciting, non event of a crime book that is shocking that it was ever released. Will I read the next one in the series. Maybe. Maybe they get better."
"I would not have ever read this book but a friend gave it to me because he ordered double on accident. I liked it though not as much as the the Stieg Larsson mystery I just finished. It built up this big mystery and then at the end, it was sort of anti-climatic. Some of Mankell's other books (not the Wallander series) look interesting though so I might look into those."
"I love the gloomy, foggy, windy, damp, or bitterly cold (etc.) Swedish setting, which mirrors Kurt Wallander's depression, angst, and solitude. The unraveling of the mystery is a bit less complicated than you'd like it to be."
"The Man Who Smiled is number four in the Wallander series, picking up some time after Wallander's experiences in book 3, The White Lioness. As book four opens, Wallander is still on sick leave, and has made the decision during a period of incredibly intense depression that he will not be continuing on in his career as a policeman. But all of that changes when a friend seeks him out to ask him for help regarding the case of his father's death. The police had ruled it a car accident, but the friend is convinced that it was not. Wallander tells him that the police are most likely correct -- but then his friend is also mysteriously killed. This prompts Wallander to return to the job to find out what lays behind the deaths of father and son ... and uncovers much more than he bargained for.
While the plot will keep you turning pages and provide you with more than a few tense moments, what really made this book stand out was the character of Kurt Wallander. For the first time, really, since I started this series, I really got an insight into how Wallander thinks and what makes him a great cop. Mankell's characterization of Wallander is absolutely stunning, making him much more human in this book as compared to all of the other ones. It was absolutely amazing to be allowed into Wallander's thought processes -- I think Wallander became very real for me in this book for the first time in the series. When a character can become that real, it's definitely a sign that his or her creator is a top-notch writer.
The author does not only offer up a first-rate criminal and first-rate policemen here; he also raises several questions about the future of police forces, about the decline of the whole basis of the modern Swedish state as the profits of corruption become more entrenched, and about issues of morality & the true nature of justice in a world where crime is constantly changing and the police and justice system are trying to adapt. These questions are not relevant just to Sweden, but everywhere.
A bit on the gloomy side, this is not a book for readers looking for a lighthearted crime novel. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a superb reading experience, but I suggest starting with book one, Faceless Killers, and continuing the books in series order. Mankell is an excellent writer, definitely not to be missed."
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