

I closed the book with a real glow of enjoyment.įew characters arrive on the scene as fully-formed as Kurt Wallander. The ending was ingenious and in keeping with all that had gone before. I found myself reading into the early hours of the morning just to find out what happened. There are enough twists and turns, red herrings and dead ends to keep you turning the pages. This is where the story is based on the patient accumulation of evidence and elimination of suspects. The plot is excellent, particularly if you're a fan of police-procedural novels. This book had me hooked right from the beginning. When the press get hold of this there's a tide of racial hatred, and Wallander is left with a double murder to solve as well as the responsibility for the protection of an unknown number of asylum seekers. All that Maria Lövgren can tell the investigators before she too dies is that the killers were foreign. Instead he finds that the elderly farmer, Johannes Lövgren, has been brutally killed and his wife is near death. When Inspector Kurt Wallander is summoned to an isolated farmhouse one freezing January morning he thinks that it will be nothing more than a routine call-out.

Not recommended to buy as there are problems with the editing of the book which make it an annoying read in places. Summary: The first book in the Kurt Wallander series has a good plot and characterisation - it's a real page-turner.
