One of the latest entries in the Kurt Wallender series, Before the Frost features his 30 year old daughter Linda as the 3rd person narrator of the story.[return][return]The Prologue, however, takes place at the mass suicide/massacre of the followers of the Revered Jim Jones at Jamestown in 1976, and recounts the escape of the single survivor. [return][return]The first chapter of the book, which takes place in August, 2001, is a graphic account of the murder by burning of a flock of swans on the shores of a lake near Ystad. The murderer is not identified. The call to the police is not taken seriously.[return][return] The book switches abruptly to Linda, who has recently completed Police Academy training, and who is staying with her father while waiting impatiently for the start of her posting with Wallender's station in Ystad at the beginning of September, 2001. The living arrangement does not proceed smoothly, although both make an effort to co-exist more or less peacefully.[return][return]Bored, Linda looks up two old friends, Zeba, a single mother and Anna, a rather odd young woman with whom Linda has had a difficult history. During one visit, Anna confides to Linda that she believes that she has just seen her father, who disappeared 24 years ago without a trace.[return][return]The very next day, Anna misses an arrranged meeting with Linda, who becomes convinced that Anna has disappeared. But she has no luck in convincing her father, who suddenly has on his hands the brutal murder and mutilation of an older woman. Frustrated with the response and worried that something may have happened to Anna, Linda begins her own investigation. This will lead her to a terrifying confrontation with the leaders of a bizarre Christian sect in which her own life and those ofher friends are in danger.[return][return]With the exception of the Prologue and the first chapter, the book moves very slowly until about the half way point. Linda's obsession with the safety of Anna somehow does not ring true. As the action picks up, so does the pace, until the last quarter of the books is a true page-turning thriller.[return][return]If you are one of many readers who wish to avoid descriptions of animal cruelty and torture, then do not read this book. There are 3 separate and brutal instances, fairly graphically described, especially the scene with the swans. While the incidents are integrated into the plot, one has to ask whether or not the story could have evolved without such violence towards animals. I suppose it is a measure of our times that we tend to look on the most barbarous acts of humans towards each other with a fair amount of indiffference, yet flinch when such acts are carried out against helpless animals. I personally lean towards the view, for this book, that the animal violence is gratuitous, and more in keeping with selling books to jaded audiences than as a necessary part of the plot. For me, the plot could have been contrived differently. As evidence for this view, I noted that while Wallender's reaction to the brutal murder of the woman is one of horror, no one seems very disturbed about the three animal cruelty/murder scenes. I really don't think that's indicative of Swedish culture. I think it's just the result of Mankell needing some species of cruelty to jack up the horror in the book.[return][return]The writing is good, once the book picks up the pace. The characters are believable enough, and the plot is as well. Mankell's evocation of the Swedish landscape and culture is as always very good. But the slow pace of the first half and what I view as gratuitous animal cruelty bring the book down in my opinion.
Henning Mankell is, for me, a hit-and-miss writer. While I’ve enjoyed the Wallander series (about a detective in Ystad), I haven’t particularly liked his other novels. Mankell tends to focus on the darkest aspects of the human psyche, and without the narrative device of the investigator (Kurt or, in this case, Linda Wallander), I can’t find much positive to hold on to, which is why I avoid the non-Wallander books these days. I would definitely recommend reading the other books in Wallander series before this one, as this appears to be a changing of the guard more than the start of a new series.This book is told mostly from the perspective of Wallander’s adult daughter Linda, who has just finished her police training and is weeks away from becoming an official member of the police force. But her best friend’s disappearance is followed quickly by the murder of an elderly woman and a series of seemingly unrelated, bizarre events, and she’s soon convinced that the events are all linked—and despite her father’s admonishments, she decides to investigate. Being a rookie, she makes all manner of mistakes, but she’s got the support of her father, who is willing to listen to her conclusions and, once presented with the evidence, starts an official police inquiry.The portrayal of the relationship between Kurt and Linda is uneven. Having read so much from Kurt’s point of view as he worked through his relationships with his ex-wife and with his own father, I enjoyed having another perspective. But some of Linda’s reflections on her father seemed less the thoughts of a daughter about a parent and more the thoughts of a parent about a misunderstood child, as though Mankell wanted to correct readers’ misperceptions of Kurt Wallander.My reaction to this book is in some part an emotional response to the bookend device Mankell chose for its structure. The two events referenced are mass murders done for religious reasons: in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978, and the events of September 11, 2001. Religious fundamentalism is a global issue, but to me it was a bit jarring to have these two events—the victims of both of which were overwhelmingly American—used as the link for a story about a very small cult in Sweden. This is not to say that it was inappropriate; it wasn’t, and it was well done, but for me it just didn’t work.
What do You think about Before The Frost (2006)?
I'm a massive Henning Mankell fan and like many others have a Kurt Wallander-shaped hole in my life following the end of the series. Before the Frost follows Kurt's daughter Linda as she embarks on a career with the Ystad police. Although all the usual elements are there, the plot was trivial in places, the style seemed altogether too gothic, and Kurt was notable by his absence. Mankell dangles him just out of view for most of the novel and then has him as a superman figure saving the day at the end. I enjoyed it because I love Mankell's books, but I'd be very pleased if Linda went back to being a furniture upholsterer and just left Kurt to it. It sounds like the flat on Mariagatan is a bit small for both of them anyway.
—Jenny
Well, I've finally come the end of the Kurt Wallendar books. How I wish that Henning Mankel has more of them waiting in his writing queue!This one is the culmination of the ones that came before, because Wallendar's daughter, Linda, has joined him as a police officer. We've been hearing about Linda since novel #1. I highly recommend this series to crime novel lovers. These books are not just "mysteries," they really do succeed in being novels, at least for me. Of course, some are better than others, but they're all carefully plotted, without having the plot dominate everything so much that the characters, settings and personal life of Kurt fade under the strength of the plot.The only thing I will say is that the translation from the Swedish is awkward at times. I almost wish I could study Swedish so I could read them in the original language.Just kidding.Enjoy them.
—Ann
Perfekte Übergabe des StaffelholzesMankell präsentiert einen neuen Protagonisten. Linda Wallander, die Tochter des grantigen Kommissars, den doch so viele liebgewonnen haben. Und ganz ehrlich, diese Entscheidung war grandios. Wenn man sich von Anfang an darauf einlässt, dass Linda die neue Hauptfigur ist, dann wird man sie sehr schnell mindestens genauso gern mögen, wie ihren Vater.Nach zwei schwächeren Werken kehrt Mankell wieder zu seiner Bestform zurück. Er findet seinen wunderbaren Erzählstil wieder und bereitet damit ungemeine Lesefreude. Das Besondere daran ist nicht bloß, die Tatsache, dass er es versteht, die Handlungsstränge höchst interessant zu verweben, sondern seine Sprache und Beschreibungen sind einfach traumhaft. Der Plot der Geschichte ist sehr interessant und erzeugt permanent Spannung. Zusätzlich hat sich Mankell im Lauf der Zeit auch sprachlich entwickelt. Mit "Vor dem Frost" kehrt er innerhalb seiner Krimiserie wieder an den Olymp zurück den er z.B. mit Mitsommermord bereits einmal gestürmt hatte.Inhaltlich nimmt er sich diesmal des Themas religiöser Fanatismus an, allerdings abseits des Islam an den viele sofort denken werden. Eine kleine christliche Sekte überschreitet die Grenze zur Normalität und das alles in der Umgebung von Kurt Wallanders Tochter Linda, die kurz vor ihrem Eintritt in den Polizeidienst steht. Auch für Stefan Lindmann, den wir bereits in "Die Rückkehr des Tanzlehrers" kennen und schätzen gelernt haben, ist wieder Platz.
—Reinhold
