In previous reviews of Mankell’s Inspector Wallander’s novels, I was sniffy about his habit of writing 500+ pages to weave his yarns of big-city crime in small-town Sweden. But I’d like to ammend my previous statement. I really enjoyed the gentle unravelling of the murderer’s conspiracy, mixed in with subplots of vigilante justice, official injustice, and everything else you need to fill 500 pages. I actually found myself in tears at one point, over Wallander’s alzheimer-suffering father, and my wife tells me I gaffawed a couple of times, though I don’t now remember what I could have found amusing in the pusruit of a serial killer who delighted in making the victims suffer. Makes me want to write that Japan police procedural I’ve long shelved as too ambitious to pull off. Maybe the time is right.
No. 7 of 12 books I intend to read and review in 2025.
I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, and write essays and Our Man in Abiko, a monthly newsletter highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.
Patrick Sherriff 