Pyramid: and Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries
930252
I just love Mankell books. I don't know how much people are interested in Swedish Writers... but there are some very good to great books I recommend. Maybe the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" will open up some interest.
1354757
Department Q is yet again solving historical cases!
Any one who enjoy reading Henning Mankels story about Kurt Wallander and Sweden will find an equally addicting line up of characters!
This is entertainment, pure and simple, with a great dose of culture and history from a great Scandinavian Country!
4300741
Well done. SAlander has a lot of siblingst yet to be discovered.
62380
This is the third book of Martin Beck police mysteries. In this story, all the main characters; Martin Beck, Gunvald Larrson , Sten Lennart Kellberg , Fredrik Melander, and Einar Ronn appear. Although they're not so friendly and particularly Martin Beck doesn't like Gunvald Larrson, they have to investigate together to arrest a murderer. The murderer who has committed disgusting crimes is suffering from a kind of mental illness caused by the society. The authors are trying to describe the prevailing oppressive atmosphere in the Swedish society at that time, and I think that they have succeeded.
2040063
An elderly farmer is brutally beaten to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. Then we get to meet our protagonist Kurt Wallander, a forty-two-year-old detective, who is struggling with his personal life, his marriage is falling apart, his self-esteem getting lower and lower since he has put on weight and to crown the whole, his daughter is no longer talking to him. He became a stranger with his own people. I truly enjoyed this reading this book; the reader is basically going step by step with the author to solve a double murder case. Throughout the story, Wallander continually runs into dead ends with the case  the clues seeming to lead nowhere. But, we get the impression that he doggedly focuses on the case because solving it could be the most manageable of all of his problems. We learn that, in addition to his job.
In addition to the character development, Mankell portrayed a wonderfully realistic image of the current Sweden, with the harsh feeling and anger against the migrants climbing up, Mankell crafted a bleak atmosphere of the country.
2155622
A great Wallander episode which pits Wallander against a clever and resourceful psychopath set on revenge. When a murdered woman's body is found hanging upside down from the ceiling; a taxi driver is stabbed to death; apparent leaks in the investigation leads Wallander to believe the murderer is one of their own. When his daughter is kidnapped by the serial killer, the investigation takes the cat and mouse game to another level.
4839282
I like these crazy Scandinavians-- the writers and the characters.  Wallander was almost comic in his avoidance of sleep so I read him when I had my own insomnia.  Good company.
3529766
Typical Wallander mystery, well plotted and written. Very good entertainment.
3098145
Wallander is a great series. Kenneth Branagh plays a troubled detective in the series.
Every show deep and well done with a lot of suspense.
Highly recommended!
4406066
"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" concludes Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" series of three sex crime books featuring the hacker/detective Lisbeth Salander and her journalist friend Mikael Blomkvist.  (A fourth novel reportedly was left unfinished on Larsson's laptop when he died of a heart attack.)  While the first two books ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played with Fire") may be read independently of the other, "Hornet's Nest" requires reader familiarity with both of the earlier volumes.

"Hornet's Nest" picks up right where "The Girl Who Played with Fire" left off.  At the end of that second book, Salander was awaiting transport to a hospital with a bullet in her head after being shot by her sociopath father, Alexander Zalachenko.  "Zala," as it turns out, was a Soviet agent who had defected to Sweden.  When Salander was only 13, and after Zala had brutally beaten her mother, Salander tried to kill him with a Molotov cocktail; she succeeded only in severely burning him.

Much of "Hornet's Nest" is concerned with Blomkvist's uncovering the rogue Swedish security police element that had protected Zalachenko and kept Salander locked up and mistreated in a mental institution through her teens.  Late in the book, the story takes up the trial of Salander for the attempted murder of her father--or so it was presented, but after the testimony focuses on Lisbeth's mistreatment by the state, the attempted murder gets lost as the conspiracy unravels.

This points to a weakness (or a charm, depending on how you look at it) in Larsson's writing: his expository sections tend to go on ...and on.  We don't really need all the background history of the Swedish Security Service, for instance, but we get it, seamlessly blended in with the fictional events of the novel.  Also, the account of the trial, after slaking the reader's thirst for justice, drowns the reader in continued court dialogue.  When the judge offers to let Salander go if she promises to return to court and Salander admits that she would flee the country if he did so, you're ready to go with her.  When she at one point does leave Sweden for Gibraltar, the chronology becomes confusing, and in any case the sequence seems pointless.  An editor needed to take scissors to manuscript, methinks.

A rather substantial subplot involves Millennium editor-in-chief Erika Berger's decision to accept a position with the prestigious if stodgy newspaper, Svenska Morgon-Posten.  Once ensconced in her new job, Berger is threatened by a mysterious rival and detractor.  This entire story line, though, aside from underscoring the overall men-who-hate-women theme of the series, appears to be a plot device to allow Berger's frequent lover, Blomkvist, to take up an unlikely affair with a security service officer.

The denouement is made for the movies: it is suspenseful, dark, and grim.  The payoff is big, with a violent but satisfying finish.  (One might say Larsson, ahem, nails the ending.)  The coda, too, wraps (most) things up nicely.

All in all, it is the characters that make the story work so well.  Salander is a compelling character: an anti-social, counter-cultural, almost idiot savant, technogeek, woman warrior.  Blomkvist, too, holds great appeal, despite his lack of any apparent personal integrity in his intimate relationships.  The three books have well-constructed stories, if overripe exposition, but it's the smart, strong and occasionally vulnerable characters that draw the reader in.

I can't praise the reader, Simon Vance, highly enough.  His interpretation of the material really made this story come alive.  I know I've elsewhere criticized his Count Chocula version of private security chief Dragan Armansky, but all of his other voices, including Salander's, are superb.  He is the rare male reader who can convincingly do women's voices.  Vance's reading is definitely worth springing for the audio book.
656015
I like Mankell's writing style and character development.  The mystery is well woven and Kurt Wallander does not dissappoint.
2514836
Loved this book. Filled in all the blanks for Kurt Wallander. Excellent comfort novel...Well done! I know Henning Mankell is going on to write about other things, but I am so glad he wrote this book. I really enjoyed it - It seems to give me a better sense of who Kurt was as a human being, why his marriage went sour, why his relationship to his father was strained, and why he has such a sense of sadness about him.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Pyramid-The-First-Wallander-Cases-Vintage-Crime-Black-Lizard/dp/1400095824/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Pyramid: The First Wallander Cases (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)</a>
4452367
Who Watcheth (An Irene Huss Investigation) by  Helene Tursten, Swedish author of the Irene Huss series of Scandinavian mysteries. Her thrillers, which include "Detective Inspector Huss," "Night Rounds," " The Torso," "The Glass Devil," "The Golden Calf," " The Beige Man," and "The Treacherous Net, have been translated into 18 languages, made into a television series. The writer was born in Goteborg, Sweden, where she sets her police procedurals, now lives in that city with her husband and daughter.  Of her work, the New York Times Book Review has said, These days Scandinavian crime writers are thick on the ground. Its nice to see that the women can be just as bloodthirsty as the men. Her work has been recommended, in this regard, to fans of Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo, current leaders of the Scandinavian school of crime fiction, who themselves followed in the estimable footsteps of Stieg Larsson, author of the international best-selling Millennium Trilogy.

In the book at hand, a woman has been found dead in a church cemetery, strangled, carefully wrapped in plastic. Just a few days before her death, the victim had received a flower, an unintelligible note, a photograph of herself. Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues on the Gteborg police force have neither clue nor motive to track in the case; when similar murders follow, their search for the murderer, dubbed the Package Killer, becomes increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, strange things have been going on at home for Irene: first the rose bush in her garden is mangled, then she receives a threatening package with no return address. And all the while, the Package Killer watches women from the shadows. He believes he has an understanding with them; as long as they follow his rules, they are safe. But when he believes that they have sinned, he sentences them to death.  And he is very strong, able to mete out his personal death sentences.

I did have a couple of small problems with the book, of which I received an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) that is clearly identified as uncopyedited.  The translator  used woken several times as a synonym for woke.  Apparently it is an actual English word, but Ive never seen it or heard it before in my long life, and found it jarring. Woke would have done perfectly well.  Also, and more important, at one point Huss and her husband are ordered to a hotel in light of the threatening events at their home.  Then they are suddenly back home.  My reaction was, Whoa, Wha happened, one minute ordered to hotel, next at home as if nothing had intervened.  Has a chapter been lost somewhere?

The author was a nurse and a dentist before turning to writing. Maureen Corrigan of the Washington Post Book World, described  WHO WATCHETH as An absorbing, intelligent mystery that holds its own alongside the best feminine hardboiled novels currently being written.  Im not sure I can really improve on that. I was an early adapter to Scandinavian mysteries, having begun with Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall, (THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN), read and reviewed a great many more since.  And I always love a hardboiled female-centered mystery. This is a dandy one.  The writers Irene Huss is a strong, smart woman, not afraid to make a decision, follow it through, do what needs to be done.  The detective story, with its complex plot, was surely a page turner, kept me reading, reluctant to leave its pages and retire for the night.  Recommended.
987558
On a rural road outside the small Swedish city where Chief Inspector Kurt Wallander works as a police detective, an estate agent tries to locate an unoccupied house and winds up stopping for directions at another house that is supposed to be vacant but isn't. The man whom she asks kills her with a single shot to the head. It takes time for the Ystad police to locate her body, and during that time the killer and those with him in the house have disappeared. The one clue left behind: a black man's severed finger.

That's the beginning of a tale which shifts back and forth between Sweden and South Africa, a case that drives Kurt Wallander to the edge and then over it. Set in the time between Nelson Mandela's release from Robben Island and Mandela's becoming South Africa's first black president, it's a taut suspense yarn in which Wallander isn't present for at least half of the time; but in this case that's fine, because without hearing the South African characters' stories the action in Sweden would make no sense. Wallander faces his greatest fear, that his work may place the one person he loves most - his adult daughter, Linda - in peril. Will he have to face his work causing her death? And will Wallander himself survive, psychologically as well as physically?

Mankell never leaves threads hanging, and I appreciate that. This book's ending leads naturally into the next volume in the series, but it does have an ending; and everything works despite the many shifts in viewpoint. My one question is whether or not the story works as well for a reader who doesn't remember the time about which Mankell is writing. I hope it does, because I enjoyed it thoroughly.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"
4848776
I have only read one Patricia Cornwell book before this one: PORTRAIT OF A KILLER (2002). PORTRAIT OF A KILLER was about Ms. Cornwells theory that artist Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper. I found her theory quite credible and I went to hear Ms. Cornwell speak about Jack the Ripper recently at the Dallas Museum of Art. Ms. Cornwell has done much more research in London and has even more evidence now to back up her theory, as presented in a soon-to-be-published follow-up. When she was in Dallas, Ms. Cornwell also spoke about her most recent Kay Scarpetta novel entitled CHAOS. I enjoyed learning about her characters in the Scarpetta series from the talk and was excited to begin reading DEPRAVED HEART.

The book did not disappoint since I enjoy these types of series novels. I have to say Ms. Cornwells writing is a step above my usual authors of crime fiction (Stuart Woods, Janet Evanovich). I did not find it necessary to feel I have to read this series from the beginning and in order. I know I will eventually get around to reading more Kay Scarpetta novels. I am not a scientific or mathematical person, but I enjoyed the forensic aspect and descriptions of evidence Dr. Scarpetta related in the novel. I very much enjoyed learning about Dr. Scarpettas cohort in crime solving, Marino, as well as learning the story of her niece Lucy and husband Benton. All of this was made more interesting to me after hearing these characters discussed in person by Ms. Cornwell.

In this book, Dr. Scarpetta is recovering from almost being killed by a spear gun and is called to a case in what seemingly is a fall from a ladder at a private residence. The main subject of this case is what Ms. Cornwell describes as data fiction. How appropriate to read about data fiction in this current time of fake news and the FBI and emails and the recent election. I found the book captivating and read the 466 pages as quickly as possible.

The only disappointing part of the process of reading this book was that there was not complete resolution with the murderer, a truly evil person with a depraved heart. Well, this will make things interesting in CHAOS, as DEPRAVED HEART was published before CHAOS. And, if this murderer is not present in CHAOS, I am sure the depraved heart will feature in a future book. If you like crime fiction and want to read and get to know characters in series, I recommend Ms. Cornwells Scarpetta books. Just after reading this one book, I know that you can enjoy each book on its own. I am delighted to have been introduced to Scarpetta and her cohorts in crime solving.
2687755
This is the first of seven best-selling novels by Swedish author Camilla Lackberg that's been translated to English. A character - rich mystery novel that helps fill the void left by another Swedish author, the late Stieg Larsson.

In The Ice Princess, a struggling author returns to her family home to find her childhood girlfriend has been murdered. From there, it's all a mystery just waiting to be unravelled; with the help of a new love interest, a local police officer.

While this book doesn't measure up to the standards of Larsson's Millennium Series, it's still a worthy read for those craving for some more Scandinavian mystery and adventure.
3072157
If you're a Mankell fan, you're a Wallander fan. If you think the parts of the Wallander books that don't feature Wallander were ho-hum and Return of the Dancing Master was good but Stefan is something of a Wallander rip-off, then you are about to meet heaven.
Linda Wallander is a chip off the old block. If Mankell is passing the torch down to Wallander's daughter and start a series there, he is on sure ground. She is every bit as fascinating a character as her father and since her father still features in the book, it works great.
What I especially love about this book is the way Mankell deals with their relationship. It shows Linda learning how to be a good cop, shows Wallander being his typical grumpy but brilliant self, and (as always) brings so damned much real humanity to the story that it's impossible not to feel you're participating.
Crime writers branching out with new characters is always iffy. Parker's Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone are good examples. But Mankell is giving real-time progress to his books by bringing Linda in.
It's absolutely fabulous and I can't wait to read more and more...