The Dogs of Riga: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (2) (original 1992; edition 2004)

Another great Wallander mystery. This one takes place partly in Latvia, a country I know nothing about, so that was particularly interesting. This series is completely addicting! ( )

Many of the themes of The Dogs of Riga are applicable to most countries going through social transition; there are dogs in every instance. Dogs as recurrent symbols in the book are emblematic of the collective, blind forces of those in power who sick their shadowy minions on every freedom leaning individual in society.

In Dogs of Riga this metaphor would apply to the corrupt state police as well as the transglobal drug lords who are in cahoots with them. There are two sets of dogs but a third is possibly alluded to as well; the population has itself taken on a instinctual response due to its hunger and abuse.

Kurt Wallander becomes embroiled in international politics after an apparent accidental discovery of a life raft with two dead men, lying curled and frozen dressed post-mortumly in suits. Uncovering the likely source of the raft the Baltic state of Latvia (Capitial: Riga) brings about Wallander's collaboration with the Riga police Inspector Liepa. Liepa's style of investigation while vastly different from that of Western forces nevertheless has integrity, even an unexpected spiritual depth.

In an unanticipated turn of events Wallander finds himself involved in an ever expansive investigation that threatens his own self-understanding and his very life. He takes on the pseudo role of a unwitting, "not up to speed" revolutionary – a seeker after truth and transparency in a clandestine environment.

The book was an inspiring read, full of humaneness with enough complexity to keep the pages turning fast and furious. It forces the reader to consider the lot of those less free than themselves and reveals the true complexity of our "world of fear and widows", as Wallander describes it. ( )

Better than the first, but the storyline didn't really grab me. ( )

I really really really really really dislike detective novels or thrillers and whatnot. Or maybe I just dislike the idea, because it occurs to me I read quite a few Montalbanos...

Anyway! I'm not sure how I ended up watching Wallander, but I did (it probably had something to do with Kenneth Branagh, whose work I enjoy a great deal). I was hooked immediately. Those wide shots of fields and bleak landscape, the colours ranging from bright to bleached were enough to keep watching, but then there's Kurt Wallander too, a train wreck of a character. He's smart, sympathetic, a good cop, a good man and rather messed up because of all these attributes. I'd never seen a TV cop walking around with so much angst before; it was riveting.

I really had to pick up the source material and see how much of it was script, direction and acting choices and how much of it was canon. Both are different, but not a great deal. Wallander's opera-loving side is something more confined to the books, which is understandable since opera and detective are equal to Morse on British telly. The books (of which I've read only two as yet), are somewhat grittier, not afraid to show Wallander in a less than heroic light.

What I'm attracted to in both TV and book Wallander is that he's an infinitely likable character. He's a good policeman, but mostly a good person, both reflective and contemplative, qualities that take him beyond the line of duty and result in his bad health and relations.

The Dogs of Riga was only a slog of a read when it was about the crime, something I always find the least interesting in these kinds of books, but where the attention turns to the turning of Wallander's cogs and wheels, it's always gripping and fascinating. Having said that, big freaking kudos to Mankell because this doesn't feel like some little pulp mystery. Changing politics in Europe are the backdrop of this novel's crime and they turn out to be a much more frightening villain than you might expect.

It has to be said, very expertly written. ( )

Very interesting to see the clash between Swedish thouroughness and Eastern European indifference (caused by fear for something 'higher up', be it the chief of police, the communist party or rests of it).
It made me curl my toes every now and then, seeing the wall Wallander hits time and again, hoping that he'll see the small opening and appreciate the contributions of a woman that are very dangerous to herself. For me that was the catch in this book that made me read it almost in one read. ( )