A Dead Man in Malta by Michael Pearce

We have all heard of cot deaths. But in pre first World War Malta still under British Rule, it is not the infants who are dying of Cot Deaths but Soldiers. First, a British Sailor dies and then another in a Hospital. Then a German Soldier's parachute has an accident, though he is not hurt, he is moved to a Naval Hospital for observation where he dies. It looks like a natural death, a cardiac arrest brought on by the accident probably? But this is third death under mysterious circumstances. Are the hygiene standards in the Hospital so bad that the patients are dying mysteriously or is somebody responsible for these cot deaths? Seymour of Scotland Yard is sent to investigate these cases. Malta is under British Rule and the Maltese resent the British. So is something else at play here? Is somebody trying to create trouble in the already troubled relationship between Britain and Germany? 

While the mystery is interesting and puzzling, and bunch of the characters are eccentric, the narrative did not grab my attention and I found myself drifting. I didn't guess the killer, but then I didn't care. Premise, the setting and bunch of eccentric characters should have worked for me, sadly it didn't. 

The Sweetness of Life by Paulus Hochgatterer

In the Austrian town of Furth am See, a six year old girl finds her grandfather dead, with his head smashed and all. The girl stops speaking after the shocking discovery. She taken for visits to a child psychiatrist who tries to make her speak. Who killed the grandfather and why? Will the child speak and reveal if she knows something? 

I was looking for a book based in Austria for the German Literature Month event, I had a choice between Greed by Elfriede Jelinek and The Sweetness of life by Paulus Hochgatterer, both available in the local library. Greed by Noble prize winning author looked like something heavy that would need sometime to ingest the subject, on the contrary The Sweetness is a slim volume and is a murder investigation something that I would read in a night. But it is not so. The Sweetness is also a heavy disturbing book. 

The story starts with the girl finding the dead grandfather which is disturbing and moves on to Horn, a child psychiatrist. We get to meet all his patients, from the aggressive man who takes out on his wife and children and comes running to the psychiatrist to get a get out of jail free card, to the young mother who believes that her baby is the devil. We also meet Kovacs who is supposed to be investigating this case. There is the first person narrative of a disturbed boy on what he and his brother are up to after they face their father's wrath. While I was immediately drawn into the story and lives of these people, the fact that there isn't much investigation either by Kovacs or Horn slowly lost my interest in the story. I didn't guess the killer and there is a nice twist in the end. 

Translated from German by Jamie Bulloch

Police by Jo Nesbo

In crime fiction, to trace the killers it is essential for the Police to find out how serial killers choose their victims and why the killers kill them. We have all kind of victims from those who buy high heels, those who call emergency services, and those who order Pizza for delivery. We have all kinds of motives from an abusive mother who had a thing for high heels, to taking vengeance against those who misuse emergency services, and those who make the guy deliver Pizza in chilling temperatures when he would rather sleep at home. Not only do serial killers have to use some imagination in selecting their victims, and find motives for their handiwork but they also need to be imaginative in their methods. Not to worry. If one faces a mind block, they can lift a page from a famous crime novel and also kill the writer by the method and scene the novelist has created in his/her book. Choosing a victim should solve the purpose of venting their vengeance against them but also make it difficult to get caught. Who better to kill than the Police? Serves dual purpose, kill them all, so nobody to catch the killer and act as a warning for Police who do not take their work seriously, if you don't solve the case the killer will get to you. No need to be very imaginative either, just use the crime scene of their famous unsolved case, use the same method. That's exactly what happens in Jo Nesbo's Police. The killer is killing the Police in their own unsolved crime scene. Who is killing them and why?

Like in other Harry Hole books, this story has multiple twists and Nesbo creates quite tense scenes. While there are many surprises, I did find out the killer, if you have read other Nesbo books, it wouldn't be difficult to find out the killer, he does use a pattern. But the various other twists, and the chilling killing scenes more or less compensates for being able to spot the killer. Like other Nesbo books this one is violent too.

If you have not read any other Hary Hole book this may not be a good place to start as this story has many spoilers for previous mysteries. I can't say anything much because it could be a spoiler to the story. Thrilling and chilling roller coaster ride!

Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett. 

Death on a Galician Shore by Domingo Villar

A body of a fisherman has washed ashore on the Galician Shore, and the general belief is that the fisherman had committed suicide. Inspector Leo Caldas and his subordinate Rafael Estevez investigate the death. Leo Caldas is not satisfied that the death is a suicide and believes that there is more to this death as he realises that the fisherman was recently spooked by messages and events that reminded him of a shipwreck that happened nearly ten years before. If it is not suicide, how was he murdered and why? Does the mystery of this death lie in the shipwreck? What happened in the shipwreck? Out of the four crew members, the captain died in the shipwreck, while somehow his crew managed to survive. What happened that night? If something suspicious did happen, why is somebody involved in the shipwreck, killing after all this years?

Leo's father maintains an interesting book, a list of all the umm.... Idiots he meets, called the Book of Idiots. Leo still participates in the Radio Program as he was in the previous book Water-Blue Eyes, and he is both irritated with the presenter and the public.

If you thought only those who have recently moved to Galicia are exasperated by the inability of the Galicians to answer questions directly. We also find that it is a problem even to those who have settled here for a long while.

Our heroes are obsessed with the cases, they don't have families and can even work on weekends. What about their subordinates? Do they have a family, girlfriend etc? And are they obsessed with the cases too? And how do they feel about their bosses for taking them on wild goose hunts on weekends? Rafa, as Leo calls him, is quite vocal about his spoiled plans for the weekend. Interestingly, I quite like the tumbling bull in the shop, Rafa , ready for a fight, easily ruffled and easily angry.

Domingo Villar paints a beautiful picture of a fishing village in the Galician Shore and takes on a voyage on a stormy night in a Ship to the roots of the crime. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Villar's Water-Blue Eyes and look forward to read other books that would appear in this series. 

Translated from Spanish by Sonia Soto.

Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen

" I'm first and foremost a police officer, second a Finn, and only third a Jew." - announces Inspector Ariel Kafka of Helsinki when confronted with the idea of conflict of interest. He also points out the reason Jews are rare in police force in Finland.

"People seemed to have a strong belief that Jews have some secret, Old Testament-based motive for not joining the police force. In reality, there was only one reason: the lousy pay."

Inspector Kafka is called to the scene of crime where bodies of two Arabs are found, one stabbed, shot and mutiliated, the other crushed by a train as he jumped off a bridge in front of a moving train. From the sparse clues they find on the bodies, they discover another location with uhm.. two more bodies of Arabs. Also from the initial clues they find uhm... two more bodies. So that's six so far. The story starts with finding another body that is not connected to this crime. That's not all there are three more bodies to be discovered before the story comes to a conclusion. That's ten bodies, nice round number.

After finding the first two bodies, Kafka's subordinates come up with a few theories. After discovery of two more, they come up with some more theories. There are abundant theories, do they accommodate all the dead bodies that would crop up?

The problem with finding these bodies, in usual crime fiction/ thriller, the suspicion moves from one to another, as the person comes into focus, he/she is killed and there is some build up of suspense before the person is killed. Nothing like that at all here. It is more like digging a graveyard. You just unearth more and more bodies. Mostly Arab, some Jews, and a few Finns too.

I liked the beginning and the humour when it surfaces now and then. And as the story progresses and more bodies crop up I got irritated. And by the time suspicion moves from one person to another there are just too many theories to even bother.

Ariel Kafka is a Jew for a purpose, isn't he? Bring in the anti-semitism angle, Mossad, Israeli-Palestinian problem, with it terrorism. Also involve important members from his Synagogue in the plot. They show keen interest in the case, including his own brother. So why are these people interested in the investigations? Do they have a personal stake?But we know in the fictional world, the reason for killings is always simple. Will the solution for these deaths be simple? It is. And that's part I liked most. The final twist with its simple solution. To reach the simple solution you have to go through a really complicated plot with lots of twists.

Translated from Finnish by Kristian London and published in English in 2012.

Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

Roger Brown is one of the best headhunters in Norway, at least prides himself as one. One who is responsible for the appointing of CEOs of big organisations in Norway. Roger Brown leads a very expensive lifestyle, he owns a state-of the art gallery near the city centre, a posh modern dwelling. How does he manage all that? Not with his income as a headhunter. Roger Brown is also an art thief. To supplement his income, he steals paintings from his clients. Roger is arrogant and too full of himself. He uses the FBI interrogation method to interview and assess a person's suitability for a high profile job. He has a reputation that the candidates he has recommended has never been turned down for a job. Roger is also the kind of guy we all love to hate. The cocky guy we want to see fail and fall down, the kind of guy we wish his methods are used on himself and then we want to see if he would be so self-assured and confident or would he fall crumbling down.

And then Roger meets more than his match. There are some interesting situations like this proverb in Tamil, a language spoken in Southern India, that goes "Thirudanunku thel kottunamadhiri" which roughly translates as "like when a thief is stung by a scorpion'. Roger is in a situation where he discovers something painful but he cannot talk about it. There are some really disgusting and macabre situations too like all other Nesbo novels I have read. The other books I read are 'Leopard', 'Phantom' and 'The Bat'. The twist in the end is predictable and this is the first book I read by Nesbo that the twist is so obvious. And the 'Why' is not so easy to buy into.

Considering the other tomes by Nesbo I read, all around or above 500 pages, this book is less than 400 pages is a fast read with numerous plot twists. No Harry Hole here!

Translated from Norwegian into English by Don Bartlett.

Treachery in Bordeaux by J.P.Alaux and N.Balen

Treachery in Bordeaux

A classic whodunit in French wine country

(no murder, no sex, no violence - cozy, epicurean)

Genre: whodunit/mystery

BISAC cat.: Mystery/Detective

Synopsis

In modern-day Bordeaux, there are few wine estates still within the city limits. The prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion is one of them. When some barrels end up contaminated, world-renowned winemaker-turned-gentleman-detective Benjamin Cooker starts asking questions. Is it negligence or sabotage? Who would want to bring down this esteemed vintner? Cooker and his assistant Virgile Lanssien search the city and the vineyards for answers, giving readers and inside view of this famous wine region. Treachery in Bordeaux is the first of the 20-book Winemaker Detective series that delves into the underworld of a global luxury industry, where money, deceit, death, crime, inheritance, jealousy constitute all the ingredients needed to distill a fine detective series!

Treachery in Bordeaux has been adapted for television in France.

Authors: Jean-Pierre Alaux, Noël Balen

Translator: Anne Trager

Publisher: Le French Book, Inc.

First published in French (Fayard, 2004)

Marketing launch Date: October 9, 2012

Specs: direct to digital translation, ebook exclusive, 30,000 words

Genre: whodunit/mystery

BISAC cat.: Mystery/Detective

ISBN: 978-0-9853206-2-1 (Kindle)/

978-0-9853206-3-8 (epub)

List Price: $7.99

Retail orders: Amazon.com, BN.com, ibooks, other ebook platforms

Buying links:

For your Amazon Kindle.

For your Barnes & Noble Nook.

For your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

For your Kobo.

Praise for Treachery in Bordeaux

“I love good mysteries. I love good wine. So imagine my joy at finding a great mystery about wine, and winemaking, and the whole culture of that fascinating world. And then I find it's the first of a series. I can see myself enjoying many a bottle of wine while enjoying the adventures of Benjamin Cooker in this terrific new series.”  — William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and The Lincoln Letter

“Treachery in Bordeaux is a fine vintage forged by the pens of two very different varietals. It is best consumed slightly chilled, and never alone. You will be intrigued by its mystery, and surprised by its finish, and it will stay with you for a very long time.” — Prize-winning, international bestselling author Peter May

About the Authors

The authors of Treachery in Bordeaux are Epicures. Jean-Pierre Alaux is a magazine, radio and television journalist when he is not writing novels in southwestern France. He is a genuine wine and food lover and the grandson of a winemaker. For him, there is no greater common denominator than wine. His coauthor Noël Balen lives in Paris, where he shares his time between writing, making records, and lecturing on music. He plays bass, is a music critic and has authored a number of books about musicians in addition to his novel and short-story writing.

http://www.lefrenchbook.com/our-authors/jean-pierre-alaux-noel-balen/

 Contact:anne@lefrenchbook.com

Website: http://www.lefrenchbook.com

More at: http://www.treacheryinbordeaux.com

Facebook: LeFrenchBook

Twitter: @LeFrenchBook

My Review

Treachery in Bordeaux is a gentle paced mystery where the authors take us on a tour into the vineyards in Bordeaux, and give us a glimpse into the history of the area. It starts with the protagonist, Benjamin Cooker, an authority on winemaking, contemplating on his creative work. Benjamin Cooker spends sleepless nights, deleting pages, ordering and reordering pages, organising them worrying about even the smallest details and most of all worrying about being late for the publishers. Sounds familiar? The travails of creative work!

While an authority on winemaking and a critic, he is a "man tormented by the meaning of his words, the accuracy of his judgements and an impartiality that he brandished like a religious credo?", a person who is assailed by self-doubt when it comes to his own work.

Benjamin receives an emergency call from his winemaker friend who finds barrels of wine from his vineyard contaminated. Benjamin's work is mainly to save the contaminated wine and also to see that the contamination does not spread. Even though Benjamin is not a detective, he decides to find out who contaminated the wine with some help from his former detective friend. Is the contamination accidental or done on purpose? If it is done on purpose who did it and why?

Benjamin also is an art collector and he finds an interesting overmantel featuring a Bordeaux vineyard during harvest. He also finds that this overmantel is part of a greater picture. Will Benjamin trace the original?

We get interesting details like why even though a vineyard may not be in a region, why the wine could be attributed to the region. There are other interesting observations like

"You know well enough that it is never simple to make anything simple."


It is not a traditional whodunit in the sense you don't have a set of characters where the suspicion moves from one to another and finally the perpetrator is revealed. Benjamin does not start looking for the perpetrator for two-thirds of the book. It is a straightforward mystery, where we can't guess the perpetrator because she/he is not known to us, and Benjamin solves the case just by a coincidence, but the 'why' though hinted comes as a surprise. It is a short cozy mystery with interesting insight into vineyards and human beings. 

****

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Sunday, July 14
Review at Valli’s Book Den

Saturday, July 27
Review + Giveaway at Melina’s Book blog

Sunday, July 28
Guest-post + Giveaway at Mary’s Cup of Tea

Tuesday, July 30
Review + Giveaway at Words And Peace

The Golden Egg by Donna Leon

The Golden Egg by Donna Leon is the 22nd book in the Commissario Brunetti series based in Venice. It's Autumn in Venice, Poala, Brunetti's wife, informs him that the boy working in the laundry place is dead, she wants him to find out more about the boy. The boy is not a boy but a man who is deaf and mute probably with some mental problem. Poala feels bad that she doesn't even know his name though she has seen him for a long time. Brunetti starts looking for information initially to soften the guilty conscience of his wife. There are things about this issue that hold his attention. There are no papers like Birth Certificate or anything to identify the man. The mother claims that they were lost during transit. Is it possible to live in this modern world without any identification papers? As one of the characters in the book points out that there are forms to be filled from prenatal stage. How come this person has no identification? There should be birth certificate, medical records, school certificates, driving license, Passport, disability records, as this person is disabled, especially to get a disability allowance. How can one escape notice of the system completely? More and more Brunetti looks more and more he feels that there is something that many people know, but are not open about it. What is it? 

Brunetti's subordinates glean information by feigning a connection with the person. Brunetti couldn't help feeling that his department is nurturing vipers. When you work with people there is a need to have a connection with them, some kind of empathy to get the information essential to solve a case. I couldn't help wondering why this empathy should be fake, couldn't  it be natural? Leon brings in adeptly that it takes two to tango. 

The story game the Brunetti family plays in the beginning is clever and fun. Leon makes an interesting observation about how the dialects separate the people instead of the language bringing them together. I also like the other observations Donna Leon makes. Like the receptionists in the hospital, who wouldn't let you in, without checking your identification, even if it is urgent. Even if he probably knows who you are. Well, as Brunetti remembers his wife's words, this is the only way that person feels powerful, just go along with him. Donna Leon cleverly brings in the theme of her novel throughout without giving away the final shock. Yes, what came in the end came as a shock to me, something we read and see in News and wonder, how did this happen, why didn't anybody do anything about it, kind of shocking news. 

If I Never See You Again by Niamh O'Connor

A woman is found murdered with her hand severed in an unoccupied apartment complex where our Detective Jo Birmingham is training for her promotion.  What does the severed hand refers to? Why does somebody go to such great lengths to sever the hand? How did somebody gain access to an unoccupied apartment used for training purposes by the police? Jo feels that this is not the murderers first killing and starts looking for other related cases and finds some. Somebody is using a paragraph from Bible to punish people. What did the murdered woman do to be avenged this way? Is a serial killer on the prowl in Dublin?

At the home-front, Jo is in the process of separating from her husband and her relationship with her husband is quite complex. And her husband is her boss and they got separated because Jo decided to have a second child sixteen years after the first child. Her husband didn't want the second child. After the separation he went on to have an affair with his secretary. Now after the birth of the child, he is very much there for the child but his affair has created a distance between them. Now he wants to be back. Jo sometimes feel the need for him but she cannot forgive him the affair, and has a nagging feeling that maybe he was seeing his secretary long before they got separated.  Jo's family dynamics with a one year old baby and Sixteen year old playing truancy and her complex relationship with her husband is interesting. 

In the initial crime scene, Jo picks up some money from the wallet of the dead woman. Can't help wondering what is happening here? It's all so matter of fact, I couldn't help wondering if Jo is one of the cops who has turned bad, more so because I read Simon Kernick's Ultimatum before reading this book, and there is a similar scene where the protagonist is tempted to take money from the Crime Scene. You know we live in hard times, everybody is short of money, take some from somewhere,  where nobody is going to miss kind of argument. Thankfully, our Jo ain't like that. Later it is explained why she picked up the money.

Niamh O'Connor presents an argument against recreational drug use as she points out that this fuels the drug trade which is linked to various other problems including prostitution. The story takes place in Dublin and takes a look into the gangland warfare and drugs- How the organised drug trade creates terror on citizens who want to fight it. There is the case of the journalists whose daughter is kidnapped and returned by the drug-lords as a warning not to publish news. The returned daughter is undergoing psychiatric treatment as she wouldn't talk about what happened to her.  Are these cases related? Like a whodunit the suspicion moves from one key character to another as the truth is finally revealed. I didn't guess the killer and it is a clever mystery all around.

Published in 2010 this is the first book featuring detective Jo Birmingham. A clever mystery!

The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Zouroudi

In a remote Island  in Greece is a church that holds the icon of the Lady of Sorrows, who is known to do miracles and listen to the prayers of the faithful. Greek detective Hermes umm, Fat Man, that's how he is addressed throughout the book, visits the church, only to find that the Icon is a clever imitation. Leaving matters to his friend Kara, he decides to sail away on his holiday. Only in the meanwhile, the Icon painter is found poisoned. Who killed him and why? What happened to the Orginal Lady of Sorrows icon?

The story moves at a leisurely fashion, the Fat Man goes about enjoying his life, swimming with his friend Kara, sailing happily, going to Peach orchards to get the pick of the best Peaches, and also solving the case. He has no official standing, just gossips with people makes them talk and get the information. He asks seemingly random questions and finally solves the case with the answers to these seemingly random questions.  Almost like Sherlock Holmes, only we have no Dr.Watson here to ask the reasons for the seemingly random questions. Given the leisurely pace, the last few pages have lots of twists and turns. I couldn't quite fathom how the fat man guessed what had happened and how he solved the case. I couldn't guess who the killer is, but had a vague idea of the icon imitation. But it all kind of adds up in the end.

This book is very different in tone, setting and atmosphere from Zone Defence by Petros Markaris , the only other Greek Mystery I read and one of my favourite reads last year. But both the mysteries evoke the feel of the place. Zone Defence shows us the modern Athens with its traffic jams, pollution, corruption and deals with the death of a night-club owner, is a clever multi-layered Noir. The Lady of Sorrows takes us to a remote beautiful Island to a laid back leisurely life, to a place one would like to go on a holiday.  The other common factor in the books is the earthquake. The Lady of Sorrows published in 2010 is the fourth book featuring Greek Detective, Hermes Diaktoros. Enjoyable cozy mystery!


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This counts for various challenges including Crime Fiction Alphabet

Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

Roseanna is the first book in the Martin Beck police procedural series published in Swedish in 1965 and translated in English by Lois Roth. I read The man who went up in smoke , The Fire Engine that Disappeared and The Man on the Balcony in this series. Planning to read all the other books in the series, I read the first one at last.

The body of a woman in her late twenties is found while dredging of Lake Vattern. The local police at Motala headed by Ahlberg and Martin Beck from Stockholm police try to find out about the woman. There is no missing woman report identical to the woman found dead. Who is the woman? How did she end up in the canal? Why is nobody looking for her?

The story uses a matter-of-fact narration and is very straightforward and engaging, starts with the finding of the body in a lake to the apprehension of the perpetrator of the crime. The following monologue by Martin Beck gives an insight into Martin Beck and sets the tone not only for this novel but also the other books in the series, at least the ones I have read.

'You are stubborn and logical, and completely calm. You don't allow yourself to lose your composure and you act only professionally on a case, whatever it is. Words like repulsive, horrible, and bestial belong in the newspapers, not in your thinking. A murderer is a regular human being, only more unfortunate and maladjusted'

Martin spends sleepless nights trying to find out about the dead woman and her killer. As in real life, things don't happen in a jiffy. It takes time to get the first break. They learn that the victim is Roseanna, an American travelling alone in a cruise ship, limiting the suspects to the eighty-five passengers and crew of the ship. Did one of the eighty-five people kill her? Or is it somebody else? To track eighty-five people is no easy job, especially when the passengers belong to different countries, but with the help of authorities in other countries they track them. After the first break there is some activity and then again there is a lull and finally the case is solved. The case takes months to solve but Martin and Ahlberg are determined to find the culprit and find they did.
A great beginning to a great series.

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason

Ten-year old boy Elias is found stabbed to death near a block of flats near his home in Reykjavik. Elias is of mixed Thai and Icelandic origin. Is it the reason for what happened to the young boy? Is his killing related to the recent argument over immigration in his school? Or is his half-brother implicated? Is there some other unknown reason for killing? Is his death related to drug dealing in the school grounds? Detective Erlendur along with his team tackle this case.

I read Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason last year. While the mystery was very obvious, the book was quite haunting and Arnaldur creates quite a chilling atmosphere in Hypothermia.

As the dead boy is of mixed origin, Arnaldur takes on the issue of immigration in Iceland. We get arguments from all the sides. The anti-immigrant teacher, who vehemently hates immigrants and is quite vocal about it. The hardworking immigrant trying to make a decent life trying to stick to her language and facing problems learning a new language. The immigrant teenager who does not belong anywhere, who feels he is 'neither nor'. Neither an Icelander nor a Thai. The tolerant Icelander who does not mind immigrants and pro-immigrant Icelander who welcomes immigrants from his own personal experience. Yes! Yes! This is a crime novel but this is the major issue that it deals with. Erlendur meets all these arguments during his investigation. But this is not the only angle the investigation takes. Erlendur finds that there may be a paedophile residing in the area and not difficult to guess who. The case becomes complex when Sunee, Elias's mother doesn't trust the police and hides information and her other son. And there is the question of Sunee's elusive boyfriend. Is he somehow involved? Why didn't Erlendur impress on Sunee that she cannot hide important information?

Erlendur's back story of losing his brother in a blizzard is repetitive as I read all that in Hypothermia, though Hypothermia follows Arctic Chill and I never read books in order. Couldn't help wondering if his back story will feature in all his stories in detail. Arctic Chill is not as haunting or chilling like Hypothermia but here I couldn't guess the killer. Well, nobody could. I am looking forward to read other Reykjavik murder mysteries especially the one that won the CWA Gold Dagger. This one didn't win, the cover is misleading. This book is published in English in 2008 and translated from Icelandic by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb.

This is my post for Letter A for Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013 and counts towards various challenges.

The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell

When a life-raft floats up the coast of Ystad, Sweden, with two well-dressed men shot dead, Kurt Wallander starts his investigation. Who were these men and where were they from? How long did the life-raft float before reaching Sweden? There looks to be some connection with Latvia and Major Karlis Liepa from Riga visits Sweden to help Wallander with the case.

Wallander from the beginning hopes to push on the case to some other country. When the opportunity appears, won't he be happy? Only circumstance turn around, Major Liepa is murdered in Riga and Wallander is obliged to visit Riga to help in the investigation. Not knowing the language is not just the trouble, why is the Riga Police keeping watch on him and Baiba Liepa contacts Wallander secretly. What is happening here? The story is placed in the background of the freedom movement in Latvia in 1991.

Why is Wallander called to Riga? The Latvian police could have closed the case without causing much trouble. Wallander has quite an adventure, a small-town detective from Sweden, gets involved in greater things than he could ever imagine. When his adventures take a nightmarish turn, what will Wallander do? The Dogs of Riga are on the scent of Wallander, will he able to keep them at bay and find the truth. The hunter is closing on the prey. But who is hunting the hunter?

I have never seen a police officer in fiction who is so keen to push the case to somebody else. And when the time comes to quitting the case, he clings to it. The story moves away from the initial murders into international conspiracies and freedom movement. Wallander has a sense of somebody watching him throughout. We get a feel of what it is to live in a country under Soviet influence just before the fall of Soviet Union, under constant vigilance. Mankell plays a nice little trick in the end. This book is translated from Swedish by Laurie Thompson and published in English in 2001. An exciting adventure. I look forward to read more books featuring Kurt Wallander.