Monday, April 18, 2011

The troubled man

This is Henning Mankell's last Kurt Wallender book. I won't give away the ending but Kurt does acquire one of his greatest yearnings. Suffering from memory problems that lead to his suspension from the Ystad police, he takes on a case that is part mystery and part spy novel. His daughter's future father-in-law unexpectedly disappears and she asks him to look into the case. Hakan von Enke was a former naval commander who is obsessed with an incident which involved a Russian submarine in Swedish waters during the Cold War. Kurt pursues the idea that this led to his disappearance, but after Hakan's wife also disappears, he has to rethink his strategy. As this is the last book, Mankell brings the reader up to date on many of Kurt's colleagues and friends. His daughter Linda is very prominent in the story and Kurt has a grandaughter named Klara. This is a bittersweet and emotional story. Kurt wrestles with his old demons and a new monstrous one. The last 2 paragraphs of the book will break your heart.

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