This is the first Wallander book that I didn't like. I finished it but I didn't really enjoy it. what's the point of going back in time and writing about his relationship to Mona when all they do is fight like we're already used to reading about when Wallander thinks back to their time together?? There are time jumps between each short story so it would have been nice to read about a time where they were actually happy together... The stories were nice enough I guess but this is not one of my favorites. Hoping the last few I have left in the Wallander series is better. I don't usually read collections of short stories. I often find them too abrupt. Someone had given me this collection and I have read several books by Henning Mankell so I decided to read it anyway. If you like short stories, then I recommend you read these. It is five stories about Kurt Wallander, a detective in Sweden, that cover different stages of his career starting with his first case. As a point regarding the abruptness of some of these stories, the author says near the end of several of the stories "...after that everything happened very quickly."
Five very good short stories about Wallander that take place before the series began.
—Berenize
Simplistic, agonizingly slow plots, cardboard characters, unimaginative cases.
—regalstarlight
Henning Mankell has a lot to say about Sweden but it reads so well!
—skipper5001
جيدة لهواة النوع
—nick
3 1/2 stars
—CATLUCKY
