The White Lioness (1993)

Another great Wallander, with an intricate plot that involves South Africa. Fascinating on many levels . . . ( )

Not entirely sure where I sit with this book; not a good sign.

Wallander is irksome, he flails and gets away with murder, so to speak. I was distracted by amusement at the RPF (Pik Botha/FW de Klerk! No, not really, but I thought it.) and irritated by the symbolism of the white lioness: white Afrikaners are Africans, too. If I never, ever, ever again read a story with a conflicted, hypocritical or just plain soul-ugly white South African being in love with the daughter of his childhood black housekeeper/gardner/other servant it will be too damn soon.

Perhaps other Wallander books, those without a South African storyline, are better.

( )

Not the best Wallander book I've read, but a very interesting context. Made me realize I was alive for some incredible events, like the fall of apartheid in South Africa, and that I would like to know more about it (the and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Gulf War 1, and on, and on...). ( )

Best of the series so far... ( )

This book was so not what I expected and this is despite the fact that the other Wallander novels I've read are... not what I expected?

This one has Wallander being his usual angst-ridden self, but it also has a storyline that once again tackles politics, but this time on a bigger scale which includes a plot to assassinate President F.W. De Klerk (as this takes place just after the release of Mandela) and a black finger of an assassin, the only lead to go on in finding the murder of a woman who simply wandered into a situation at the wrong time.

It's a pretty ambitious novel, the narrative switching between Wallander's investigation and the South African conspiracy. I could have done without Klerk actually having a role and lines (it kind of threw me out of the story at times), but overall, it's a gripping read with a lot of food for thought. ( )