Henning Mankell - The Troubled Man

this is london“A fully satisfying conclusion to a great series...” The Troubled Man delivers in full as a whodunnit, as all the Wallander books do, beneath their impassive surface. But mystery and suspense have never been the main business for Mankell...

The Telegraph“The pace is funereal at times...” The mystery element is well crafted here, but of secondary importance: Mankell, and we, are more concerned with seeing how Wallander is facing up to the indignities of old age...

The Boston Globe“A poignant farewell...” Mankell deftly weaves in the strained politics of peacetime military alliances and the understated beauty of Sweden's seaside geography and applies his exacting sense of character to produce a highly engaging modern mystery...

Los Angeles Times“Mankell ups his game and enters John le Carré territory...” Not only does "The Troubled Man" widen the scope of the detective's investigations into the world of international geopolitics and the relationship of Sweden to the U.S. and Russia, it is a work of genuine heft and substance...

The New York Times“The Wallander career needn’t have ended this way...” At the end of “The Troubled Man,” Henning Mankell needs only six short lines of narrative to pull the plug on his enormously popular series of Kurt Wallander detective novels. Mr. Mankell doesn’t do this delicately...

Scotsman“A sorrowful but fully satisfying conclusion to a great series...” So The Troubled Man delivers in full as a whodunit, as all the Wallander books do, beneath their impassive surface. But mystery and suspense have never been the main business for Mankell...

Financial Times“Wallander is far too good to lose...” Altogether, this is a magnificent finale; it’s to be hoped that Mankell may be persuaded to revive his grumpy Nordic inspector, complete with his stomach cramps, failing eyesight and Ikea furniture...

Daily Express“The sadly final outing for Kurt Wallander...” Mankell must have known he had to deliver something really special and that is precisely what he has done. This is a perfect valedictory novel if, that is, we believe Mankell won’t find some way to reactivate his hero...

Booklist“An unforgettable series finale...” This is a deeply melancholy novel, at times painful to read, but Mankell, sweeping gracefully between reflections on international politics and meditations on the inevitable arc of human life, never lets his story become engulfed by darkness...

The Independent“Mankell is undoubtedly a skilled writer...” The anchor of Wallander's person-ality ensures that The Troubled Man operates as a good, gritty procedural rather than a spy thriller, but the historical context adds depth and texture to the investigation...