Rating: 
Summary: Another winner in this Swedish police procedural
Review: "One Step Behind" is one of the books in the Inspector Kurt Wallander series but, to be honest, because the English translations of this series have been released out of order of original publication, I haven't a clue where it belongs in the ongoing story. Having read all the books released thus far, I will say it is one of the later entries in this excellent Swedish police procedural. This is the story of the search for a serial killer who has not only coldly murdered a number of young people but one of Kurt's police comrades. It is a finite police procedural and not for someone who is looking for a page turner. Wallander and his crew endlessly go over each clue looking for a break in the case. At times I found this rather annoying and wanted to scream...."I know, I know...let's move on." In retrospect, I believe that in "One Step Behind," Mankell's aim was to give us an insight into how much work goes into a police investigation. To see Wallander pore over each lead and get into his mind as he struggles to make sense of a senseless series of murders is the joy of this book. In this book, we don't get to see as much of Kurt's angst as we have in the earlier books. He has put his personal problems on the side for the duration of the investigation and his only goal is to find the killer before he strikes again. Unlike most of Mankell's other books, there was a minimum of violence and no gruesome murder scenes. Kurt seems to have mellowed out and so has Mankell's writing.
Rating: 
Summary: More like a half step
Review: Henning Mankell is a dour dark Swedish writer. Inspector Kurt Wallander, aches & pains (mind, body & soul) plods along. This time out Mankell is less than his usual self in my humble, but still so vastly superior to almost everybody else (except New Mexico's Steve Havill) that I'll also reread this one again--like the four others thus far translated into English. One big gaff in mistaken identity prolongs the story so--I guess--that plodding Wallander can get physical. Pretty stupid Cop 101 mistake--inexcusable from almost anybody else.
Rating:
Summary: Maniacal mass murderer on the loose
Review: Henning Mankell, once again proves to be a literary nonpareil in his creation of tense police dramas, aptly demonstrated in his superb "One Step Behind". Mankell is brilliant in his character development creating realistic people with issues and foibles. His characters presevere to overcome personal distractions to perform their duties. He also gives insight into the mental machinations of the minds of both criminals and police.
Ystad police detective Kurt Wallander is confronted with a series of crimes that have deep personal ramifications while he is dealing with the symptoms of early stage diabetes.
The novel commences with the apparently senseless murders of three young adults picnicking in a local nature preserve. They were garbed in 18th century costumes celebrating the Swedish holiday of Midsummer. The killer, somehow aware of this secret tryst, lays in wait concealed nearby. He suddenly emerges and remoselessly shoots each kid through the head with a silenced pistol. He then proceeds to dig a grave in a remote spot to hide the bodies. Within a short time, the mother of one of the victims becomes suspicious of foul play after receiving an apparently forged postcard from her daughter. She explained that she was travelling in Europe along with her friends.
Concurrently, Wallander is concerned by the absence of one of his colleagues, the punctual detective Karl Svedberg. Failing to reach him on the telephone on numerous occassions, they decide to break into his apartment. Svedberg is discovered dead, killed by a shotgun blast to the head. This ghastly discovery sends shock waves ythrough the department. An investigation is commenced immediately.
Within short order the bodies of the three murdered kids are discovered in the preserve. The deranged killer had returned to the scene of the crime and dug up their decayed corpses, arranging them as they had been at the picnic.
The investigation received an unexpected jolt when combing through Svedberg's apartment, two pictures were found in a secret hiding place. One contained a portrait of an attractive but peculiar looking woman. The second photo showed images of the victims of the triple murder. It seemed that Svedberg, who had recently had vacation time, had been investigating the crime in his spare time. Perplexingly, Svedberg had keep his inquest a secret from his colleagues.
The gripping novel proceeds as the killer commits additional murders. Wallander and his squad plod forward with their probe amid intense public pressure. They are unfortunately stymied by the paucity of clues due to the meticulous planning by the cunning and analytical killer.
Rating:
Summary: deserves 10 stars or more
Review: I had two books on a short trip this weekend and had to choose between Michael Connelly [a personal favorite] and this unknown writer whose book I just picked up by chance.I chose this book over the latest Connelly;after the first two pages I just couldn't put it down. The hero, Kurt Wallender, is like Harry Bosch but, if you can believe it, even more realsitically detailed. The plot literally grinds away at you --for me, I found the suspense at times almost intolerable. It took awhile to get used to the Swedish names and locales but within a few hours I was completely hooked to the point that I got up this morning at 4:00 AM unable to sleep due to the intricacies of the plot and my tie to the characters. This is just a smashing thriller superior to anything I have read by Connelly, James Lee Burke or Michael Malone, my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Unwashed Detective
Review: Kurt is always talking about going home to change his shirt but he never takes a shower. Is he a Swedish detective or French? He is depressing and the fact that he never calls in for assistance is unrealistic in this day and age yet these books are better than the Per Wahloo and Maj Sjovall? books of many years ago
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: Mankell writes police procedural featuring a detective called Wallander. His novels are set in a southern rural province of Sweden and they are written against a backdrop of the political issues of the day and the problems in life of the main character. Previous issues have dealt with such issues as immigration and the problems of the newly democratic Baltic countries. The author in this book senses a decline in Sweden as a society and that is mirrored by the health problems of the main character who is now in his 50s and suffering from diabetes. Mankell's books are generally slow moving but the attraction is that they have a greater sense of realism than books by writers such as Stephanie Plum or David Baldacci. Not to say they are totally realistic as one would imagine that the area in which they are set has far fewer and much more mundane murders than occur in the pages of Mankell?s fiction. However what happens is that a very human detective who is no action hero tries methodically to sort out who is the person who has committed some eight murders, including that of a police officer in his area. The main character does not jump into bed with super models but deals with more mundane problems those of ill health. One suspects that the author himself has probably been diagnosed with diabetes as the picture painted of the hero Wallander dealing with the disease is so accurate. The feeling of depression after diagnosis and the problems of modifying diet and lifestyle while dealing with the pressures of work and a lifetime of habit. In the end the reason we read crime fiction is for entertainment. We pick up such books as we want to keep turning the pages. By this test, Mankell's latest book is a success. It gets you in more than some of his previous offerings. In reality a successful crime novel has to be more than the revelation of a mystery. It must generate some interest in the characters, have some feel about the society in which it is set and to some extent have an edge or a feel. Mankell is a good crime writer because he does all of these things.
Rating:
Summary: Silence of the Lambs-esque, but not quite
Review: My Swedish roommate had an English copy of this book, and lent it to me, saying that Mankell was quite a well-known and popular author in Sweden. In any case, since I had absolutely no preconceptions or expectations of the book, I can't say that it particularly disappointed me. However, because of the psychopath-killer, I can't avoid comparing it to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal by Thomas Harris, especially the way that Mankell describes his psychopath's thoughts and activities. In that sense, One Step Behind certainly pales in comparison; but maybe it's not supposed to be a psychological thriller!!! I did like the way that Mankell seems to address his characters with brutal honesty - no one is perfect, everyone is fallible, and the frustration palpable. The cast of characters will not fail to entertain or frighten, whether you look to Sture Bjorklund, who researches the relationships between monsters and people, to the mysterious "Louise" (who turns out to be a drag queen) to Wallander himself. One of the reviews put out by the industry said that the gloomy Scandinavian setting of the Wallander series fails to attracts readers in the US, but I think that the setting is part of the novel's appeal. In terms of the murders, corruption, and overwork, it is especially interesting to consider Mankell's work as a critique of Swedish society. Some threads are never adequately finished off, like the Divine Movers cult to which the three initial murder victims are said to have belonged, or Erika, a possible and tangential love interest for Wallander. As a whole, however, this mystery will keep you reading. I gave it 4 stars because this genre is one that I hardly ever read (therefore I'm not familiar with what makes a really good or really bad detective novel - but I enjoyed this one, although I probably wouldn't re-read it). I don't feel that I should judge One Step Behind against the Western canon.
Rating:
Summary: Silence of the Lambs-esque, but not quite
Review: My Swedish roommate had an English copy of this book, and lent it to me, saying that Mankell was quite a well-known and popular author in Sweden. In any case, since I had absolutely no preconceptions or expectations of the book, I can't say that it particularly disappointed me. However, because of the psychopath-killer, I can't avoid comparing it to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal by Thomas Harris, especially the way that Mankell describes his psychopath's thoughts and activities. In that sense, One Step Behind certainly pales in comparison; but maybe it's not supposed to be a psychological thriller!!! I did like the way that Mankell seems to address his characters with brutal honesty - no one is perfect, everyone is fallible, and the frustration palpable. The cast of characters will not fail to entertain or frighten, whether you look to Sture Bjorklund, who researches the relationships between monsters and people, to the mysterious "Louise" (who turns out to be a drag queen) to Wallander himself. One of the reviews put out by the industry said that the gloomy Scandinavian setting of the Wallander series fails to attracts readers in the US, but I think that the setting is part of the novel's appeal. In terms of the murders, corruption, and overwork, it is especially interesting to consider Mankell's work as a critique of Swedish society. Some threads are never adequately finished off, like the Divine Movers cult to which the three initial murder victims are said to have belonged, or Erika, a possible and tangential love interest for Wallander. As a whole, however, this mystery will keep you reading. I gave it 4 stars because this genre is one that I hardly ever read (therefore I'm not familiar with what makes a really good or really bad detective novel - but I enjoyed this one, although I probably wouldn't re-read it). I don't feel that I should judge One Step Behind against the Western canon.
Rating:
Summary: strong Swedish police procedural
Review: On Midsummer's Eve 1996, the three twentyish friends garbed in period piece costumes celebrate the holiday in the woods that is near the midpoint between their homes until someone kills the trio. Swedish Inspector Kurt Wallander just returned from vacation worries about what diabetes is doing to his health, but the shootings take precedent over his personal pity. Though the illness seems to tire him, he contends with the demands from the media, brass, and politicians to solve the case yesterday. Adding to Kurt's pressure is the murder of a fellow officer Svedberg with half the man's head blow to bits. Kurt digs deeply into the personal life of Svedberg, uncovering things he can not fathom with what he knew of his peer. As he realizes that the cases tie together and a serial killer haunts the south of Sweden, Kurt and his team constantly fails to stop an adept killing machine. ONE STEP BEYOND is not a rehash of the scripts from the TV show, but instead is a terrific English translation of a strong Swedish police procedural. Though at times the interpretation seems off, the story line provides the audience with a delightful investigation and a deep look at the aging protagonist as he struggles with health problems. The sleuthing makes for a wonderful time for those readers who relish international flavor to their law enforcement stories. However, the key to this novel is the hero, a tired person who pushes to perform his duty. The genre audience has the treat of six other Wallander cases will also be translated and published over the next two years. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: strong Swedish police procedural
Review: On Midsummer's Eve 1996, the three twentyish friends garbed in period piece costumes celebrate the holiday in the woods that is near the midpoint between their homes until someone kills the trio. Swedish Inspector Kurt Wallander just returned from vacation worries about what diabetes is doing to his health, but the shootings take precedent over his personal pity. Though the illness seems to tire him, he contends with the demands from the media, brass, and politicians to solve the case yesterday. Adding to Kurt's pressure is the murder of a fellow officer Svedberg with half the man's head blow to bits. Kurt digs deeply into the personal life of Svedberg, uncovering things he can not fathom with what he knew of his peer. As he realizes that the cases tie together and a serial killer haunts the south of Sweden, Kurt and his team constantly fails to stop an adept killing machine. ONE STEP BEYOND is not a rehash of the scripts from the TV show, but instead is a terrific English translation of a strong Swedish police procedural. Though at times the interpretation seems off, the story line provides the audience with a delightful investigation and a deep look at the aging protagonist as he struggles with health problems. The sleuthing makes for a wonderful time for those readers who relish international flavor to their law enforcement stories. However, the key to this novel is the hero, a tired person who pushes to perform his duty. The genre audience has the treat of six other Wallander cases will also be translated and published over the next two years. Harriet Klausner
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