Dick Hill did a good job with the narration but I didn't like this translation as much as the one in the Kindle edition. Since the two weren't the same as I had expected, I ended up opting to read the Kindle book for most of the time.

I did like the Prologue, which was not included in the Kindle edition for some reason. ( )

Much better than the first Wallander book, imo! I read and listened to this and prefer the translation in this Kindle edition. Not only because of some of the word choices but it also had many little details that the audiobook translation omitted. None of them were crucial to the plot but they added to the overall feeling of the book. Maybe the fact that it had a different cover was a hint about the different translation! (see below for the cover I had from Amazon for this ASIN)

Mankell wrote this in a manner that makes the culprit clear to the reader long before Wallander and his team figure it out. Normally I don't care much for that style of mystery, as it removes the puzzle aspect of the book and turns it into more of a thriller, but it worked very well in this case.

Tne cover my Kindle edition from Amazon had:

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I'm enjoying reading the Wallander series, watching Wallander's morose character develop, and getting a feel for small town Sweden. For that I'd give the books 4 stars--but man, this one is gory. ( )

Great story. Slow pace and some forgettable characters (maybe the Swedish names hard to remember for me). The main detective though is nice to follow and to empathize with.
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I registered this book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14077637

Another complex, improbable situation that is not what it first seems to be. Mankell is quite the master at this type mystery.

A teenage girl is seen in a farmer's rape field. She's out of place there and does not respond when the farmer calls to her. Her odd behavior brings the police, in this case Wallander, out. Ready to call the whole thing an illusion, Kurt Wallander is about to leave when he sees her out there and tries to reach her.

The most he can see is that she is afraid. As he is trying to get to her she douses herself in gasoline and sets herself on fire.

Tragic suicide? That's how it appears. And yet that fear gnaws at Wallander as he goes about investigating other cases. Horrible killings distract him from the girl's case.

This is one of those cases where we get to know the killer through his thoughts and actions, separate from Wallander's investigation. I was a little disappointed that the killer is clearly the kind of fictional nutcase so commonly found in some mysteries: he sees the world distorted by a few critical experiences and follows his own distorted logic. Thing is, it is a kind of logic, and he is aware of where it is leading. Serial killers, as a rule, are ruled by their urges, not by some path others can imagine. I don't particularly like getting into the minds of killers like this, who are actually rather simple characters compared to Wallander, for example.

So Wallander is on the track of the killer and thus sidetracked from the girl's story. Does he get back to it? Is it related to the killings?

I like this series but I have a little difficulty with the women Wallander likes. He works with women whom he admires, and we get some idea of their characters. I find it less the case for the women he is attracted to. They are close to blank slates, other than being attractive. It would be nice if they had fully rounded characters as well. ( )