I picked this up because Mankell is hailed as the best writer of these frozen mysteries that have come into vogue after Stieg Larsson hit the big time. Sadly, I left the novel disappointed. The biggest crime, to be honest, is that it's boring. It's just simply boring to watch a policeman follow up several dead-ends and only crack the case like nine months later. Wallander isn't all that interesting of a character - he seems rather ordinary and any attempts to make him seem interesting simply made him more paint-by-numbers. I suppose I'm finding my tastes in mystery novels more defined as I probe the various boundaries of the genre - but while the political bent of Mankell's work ought to attract me, I just didn't want anything to do with it.More about why Mankell is the Law & Order of Nordic crime fiction - and why I prefer Psych - at Raging Biblioholism: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-q1
