The Man Who Smiled
A Kurt Wallander Mystery

Our main character is a Swedish detective who is “lost.” He’s on leave suffering from deep depression from having to justifiably kill a man. He’s also disgusted with the increasing bureaucracy of the system and dislikes the new ways displacing the old. He fears the administrative bloat of the system......more

The opening of the fourth novel in this series finds Kurt Wallander in a deep depression. At the conclusion of the last book, he shot a man to death, and even though it was clearly a case of self-defense, he's devastated by the fact that he has taken another man's life. After brooding over the incid......more

The Man Who Smiled brings Kurt Wallander into his 4th episode of the series by Henning Mankell. It’s been a while since I’ve read one of these, but it doesn’t matter much where you jump into the lineup. I liked this one better than some of the later ones where Wallander is ill, deep in depression an......more

The fourth Kurt Wallander novel, The Man That Smiled, I liked the least so far, though it’s still good, and part of the continuing story of the sad sack cop. As opposed to the more ambitious third book, The White Lionness, that takes place in Sweden and South Africa and involves a (thwarted) assassi......more

Another story covered on tv by Kenneth Branagh as Wallender. Kurt is recovering after shooting someone in self defence. He is so agitated by the event that he plans to quit the police force. Luckily(for me) he is approached by an old solicitor mate who believes his father’s death was no car accident.......more