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The Troubled Man (Kurt Wallander #10)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 4,526 ratings · 712 reviews

The much-anticipated return of Henning Mankell’s brilliant, brooding detective, Kurt Wallander.

On a winter day in 2008, Håkan von Enke, a retired high-ranking naval officer, vanishes during his daily walk in a forest near Stockholm. The investigation into his disappearance falls under the jurisdiction of the Stockholm police. It has nothing to do with Wallander—officially....more

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Published March 29th 2011 by Vintage (first published January 1st 2009)

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Aug 02, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-in-translation

Reading this, Henning Mankell's latest and final in the Kurt Wallander series, was like finding myself in a well-known and beloved landscape: Kurt Wallanderland. Mankell is not a great stylist but he has managed to do something remarkable in his creation of Police Detective Wallander. I love this melancholy man. Smart, humane, brooding, somehow both slow and sharp, he is an old and dear friend to me.

I think I've now read all of the Wallander novels. A few of them don't quite work (The Dogs of Ri...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Anke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Halfway through the book, I find it hard to believe how fast this reads, and how hard I find it to put it down. I have a soft spot for Mankell ever since I saw him talk live (and found that I could well listen for a few more hours) but in some of the Wallander mysteries, I got a bit tired of rants about the political climate in Sweden. This one had only a reasonable amount of that, and I'm enjoying it.

_____________

Finished the book - a bit sad that this is definitely the end of the series, but I...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, nordic-noir, detective, mystery, police-procedural, suspense, thriller

Great read. Kurt Wallander is a wonderful character. So real with his vulnerabilities. His illnesses and his fear of death. He sees himself on a journey he can not turn around from nor can he change the final destination. He lives alone because of his obsession in solving cases leaves no time for anyone else, yet he dreams of a relationship with Baiba a former love interest. In his world he has a daughter and grand-daughter who love him but there is no one else. There is a detective story, a mys...more

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Jan 16, 2012 sosser rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i bid a sad farewell to kurt wallander. it's been wonderful eagerly reading thru all of his cases. more than ordinary police procedurals these novels are character driven stories, a look into the deeper issues of the changing social and political side of a modern sweden thru the eyes of a flawed and aging citizen obsessively searching for the truth.

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Jan 30, 2013 Dalia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 04, 2013 Dorian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very, very sad book. But a brilliant crime novel, one of the very best I’ve read in ages.

When Mankell is at his best, as he is here, there are two things that I especially love about his work.

The first is the pace: it’s always suspenseful, but it takes its time. Things don’t happen quickly, Wallander has to mull over stuff, usually while he’s doing other things. This book is unusual in that the central crime is not one Wallander is supposed to be solving, so he’s working on a number of other...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Jenn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, mystery

Brace yourself. Stream of consciousness "review" below.

I discovered this series/author in a convoluted path. My library has an online catalog for digital audiobooks & ebooks. When browsing the online catalog I noticed these books - the description of "Swedish mystery" and "If you like the Stieg Larsson books" caught my eye, but I decided I didn't want to get into a new series. Then, on Masterpiece Mystery, they had three episodes of the BBC's "Wallander" series, where Kenneth Branagh plays K...more Brace yourself. Stream of consciousness "review" below.

I discovered this series/author in a convoluted path. My library has an online catalog for digital audiobooks & ebooks. When browsing the online catalog I noticed these books - the description of "Swedish mystery" and "If you like the Stieg Larsson books" caught my eye, but I decided I didn't want to get into a new series. Then, on Masterpiece Mystery, they had three episodes of the BBC's "Wallander" series, where Kenneth Branagh plays Kurt Wallander, the policeman central to the Henning Mankell books. I enjoyed those episodes so much (despite my general impatience with Branagh) that I went to Wikipedia and got some background information.

This is the second Wallander audiobook I listened too, after "The Fifth Woman." In some ways, they are very different books - in some ways, The Fifth Woman reminded me more of A Place Of Execution than The Troubled Man. Both "The Fifth Woman" and "Place of Execution" focused largely on the lead investigator as well as the central mystery. Though in some ways, "The Fifth Woman" reminded me quite a bit of The Silence of the Lambs, with the grotesque crimes and the occasional chapter from the point of view of the criminal.

One thing that didn't bother me, but I did notice, was the difference between Wallander's memories of his father between "The Fifth Woman" and "The Troubled Man." The books do take place over a decade apart in time, but it just seems odd to me that Wallander is so affectionate and close with his father in the earlier book, but remembers him as distant and cold in the second book. Mankell also never mentions Wallander's father's second wife in the later book, just talks about Wallander's memories of his father's lonely life. This discrepancy is a little hard for me to take, but I decided, since I really like these books, to interpret this instead as a sign of Wallander as an unreliable narrator. His daughter Linda serves as a good foil to this - she is constantly pointing out when he contradicts himself, or when his memory of an event is differently interpreted by his father, daughter or ex-wife. I don't take this to mean that he is a liar, or dishonest, or delusional - just that he is human. But since this book pretty much takes place entirely from his point of view, it is nice to have Linda there to point things out.

One problem that I have with listening to audiobooks, as an aside, is that I have no idea how to spell anyone's name, so bear with me.

This novel is, to sum it up shortly, about Kurt Wallander, a 60-ish year old man who lives on his own and is quite a successful police investigator, respected in his town and region. He has a daughter, Linda, who gives birth to his grandchild, Clara, at the beginning of this book. About this same time, an incident occurs that leads him to take a leave of absence from his job. During that time, he attends a birthday party for Linda's father-in-law, Hakan Von Enke. Shortly thereafter, Von Enke disappears. Wallander, both at his daughter's request and the request of the official investigating officer, begins to look into this disappearance. The rest of the story unfolds, and is a story of both Wallander's detective process, and of Wallander himself.

This novel is not a light or fast read. I found it both dark and satisfying. It's not a mystery in the traditional whodunnit sense. I guess you would call it more of a thriller, though it doesn't have the insanely heightened tension of the other books I referred to earlier ("The Fifth Woman", "The Silence of the Lambs"). Despite reading these all out of order and over all sorts of media, I am intrigued to learn more about Kurt Wallander. This book is the last one, I think, and even though I started at the middle and skipped to the end, I am eager to fill in the gaps the best I can. Though it seems to me pretty obvious that in the end, Kurt Wallander is as unknowable as anyone else.(less)

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Nov 27, 2012 Maria João Fernandes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, henning-mankell, own

"E é tudo. A história de Kurt Wallander termina irrevogavelmente. Os anos de vida que ainda lhe restam, talvez dez, talvez alguns mais pertencem-lhe, a ele e a Linda, a ele e a Klara. A mais ninguém."

É com estas palavras que termina "Um Homem Inquieto", o 11 º livro que leio do autor sueco Henning Mankell. Foi com um prazer enorme, e alguma tristeza também, que li o último livro da série do incomparável policia de Ystad, Kurt Wallander.

Henning Mankell é, para mim, o melhor escritor, ponto final....more

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Sep 01, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was recommended the Wallander series by a friend who shares my love of Nordic Noir TV and books.
This is the latest, and last, of the series and I wish I had read the other 10 first so I would have understood more the detective’s back story.
The novel centres around an episode during the 1980s and a controversial incident involving a Russian submarine in Swedish waters. Much of the novel concentrates on the political situation and espionage between America, Sweden and Russia in the 1980s and I...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Erica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read all the Kurt Wallander books in order, and I loved what Henning Mankell did with Kurt in this final book. Kurt has always been a melacholy character, but in this final adventure he has become more like his late father and at times is just a plain old curmudgeon. But I like that his character has developed and in the course of 10 books and 20 Wallander years, of course the character has changed. Linda drove me nuts in some parts of this book, but she is her father's daughter.
I thoroug...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Lee Goldberg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won't rehash the plot, others have done a fine job of that. My problem with the book is that Henning Mankell was astonishingly lazy with his plotting. He seems to have made up the plot as he went along, with no clear idea of where he was going or what the solution would be. There's a stunningly inane, unbelievable, and contrived coincidence a third of the way through the book that ultimately ends up being totally unnecessary. I can't understand why Mankell didn't cut it, because it asks for su...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Brendan Lyons rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Scandinavian gloom reaches its fascinating apogee with this series of detective novels by Henning Mankell, of which The Troubled Man would appear to be the last. Kurt Wallender, the middle-aged police detective and anti-hero of the series, is a divorced, lonely, rather unhappy man, who happens to have a real talent for sniffing out the truth behind complicated criminal cases. Two television series (one English, starring Kenneth Branagh, and the other Swedish which is far more authentic if you ca...more Scandinavian gloom reaches its fascinating apogee with this series of detective novels by Henning Mankell, of which The Troubled Man would appear to be the last. Kurt Wallender, the middle-aged police detective and anti-hero of the series, is a divorced, lonely, rather unhappy man, who happens to have a real talent for sniffing out the truth behind complicated criminal cases. Two television series (one English, starring Kenneth Branagh, and the other Swedish which is far more authentic if you can get your head around Swedish with subtitles - I swear you begin to understand the language more and more!) have been made about these books. The stories are centred around the town of Ystad on the southern tip of Sweden and the characters always seem to be hopping over to nearby Copenhagen for some R&R, possibly for relief from the rather earnest nature of rural Sweden. The plots are interesting because they bring in issues such as refugee-smuggling and the sometimes difficult relations between Sweden and its Baltic neighbours. The country's neutral role during WWII and it's ambivalent relationship to NATO also come under inspection. Wallender has a daughter Linda who has become involved with a young financier (working in Copenhagen, naturally!) whose parents suddenly disappear one after the other. The father was a former naval officer and submarine commander who was concerned with several (actual) Soviet submarine incursions into Swedish territorial waters during the early 1980s. There is more than a hint of political intrigue tying in to the pro-American attitudes of the Swedish military and its open distaste for the Social Democrat prime minister Olof Palme, who was assassinated on a Stockholm street in 1986, a crime which has never been solved to this day. Wallender, plagued by his failed marriage, dental problems, and his growing fear of death as he passes the 60 mark finds himself leaving his dog with his neighbours more and more ("Are you sure you don't want to sell him?") as he travels to Riga, Berlin and various parts of Sweden in an attempt to unravel the puzzle. There are times when one feels like giving him a good swift kick but his obduracy and dogged unrelenting approach to the problem elicit reluctant admiration. What really happened? Read (or listen to)the book! (less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Ann Sloan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ~Dylan Thomas

After reading all the Kurt Wallander novels, including Before the Frost, A Linda Wallander Mystery, it saddens me that this series is coming to an end. Kurt Wallander is an unrelenting, determined, committed, and very intelligent detective. He is a loner, having divorced and living alone. He has had a few love affairs, but they have all ended unhappily. His f...more Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ~Dylan Thomas

After reading all the Kurt Wallander novels, including Before the Frost, A Linda Wallander Mystery, it saddens me that this series is coming to an end. Kurt Wallander is an unrelenting, determined, committed, and very intelligent detective. He is a loner, having divorced and living alone. He has had a few love affairs, but they have all ended unhappily. His father was a painter who produced the same painting 7,000 times. His daughter, Linda, tried to commit suicide as a teenager, although by this book their relationship is well on the mend. He seems the last man to go gentle into the dying of the light. I would have expected him to rage, rage against the closing of his day.
Set in Sweden (what is up with these Swedish mystery writers?), the novels have a strong sense of setting. The novels have an underlying question: "What has gone wrong with Swedish society?" The murders generally have a underlying political cause that Wallander must discover.
The title The Troubled Man clearly refers to Kurt Wallander himself. Throughout his detection of this latest case, he is uneasy about his occasional lapses of memory. At the end, “the shadow grew more intense.” He has Alzheimer’s and Mankell concludes, “The years – ten, perhaps more – he has left to live are his own.”
All of the books (dates are the English language publications)
Faceless Killers (2000)
The Dogs of Riga (2001)
The White Lioness (1998)
The Man Who Smiled (2005)
Sidetracked (1999)
The Fifth Woman (2000)
One Step Behind (2002)
Firewall (2002)
The Pyramid (2008)
The Troubled Man (2011)
are powerful, well-plotted, character-driven (by Kurt Wallander), and most satisfying.
Mankell has written other novels not in the Wallander series. I have one, The Return of the Dancing Master, which I have had for some time but resisted because I wanted to be faithful to Kurt. Now that he has gone gently into that good night, I will move on to other Mankells.
(less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Jeff Archibald rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I watched a BBC series with Kenneth Branaugh about the Swedish detective Wallander, and since I had read a couple of other Swedish mysteries and because I had like the TV program, I picked this up at the library. I hadn't done my research, obviously, because this is the last in the series of 10-ish (?) novels about Wallander. Oh, well.

I really liked it. Wallander is getting older and while there were lots of passages about the mystery itself, there was also an underlying meditation on getting ol...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, bookcrossing

The last book in Wallander series. While the writing was still good, detailed, and gave a lot of atmosphere to people and places, it wasn't as enjoyable as the early Wallanders. I had read them in order until about the middle, to now quickly cheat to read this (to later give it to my mother-in-law), and then go back to where I left the series. All the elements of Wallander are still there - the sad, melancholic way of seeing everything around him, the ghosts of his horrible ex-wife Mona, his dau...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Helen Farrell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved all the other Wallander books, where we struggle with Kurt Wallander as he painfully addresses the crime scene in Ystad, as well as his own rather barren personal existence. This book, however is somewhat harder to read. Wallander is coming to the end of his career. His ex-wife is an alcoholic, his former lover is terminally ill with cancer, and he himself is troubled by 'a shadow' that has begun to affect his memory.

Wallander is a character that I have probably been more interested in...more

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May 29, 2012 Bob Pearson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a fan of Mankell's books, and often when I mention a Mankell book to another avid reader, I hear that he (usually he) is a devoted fan. My brother told me he thought he'd read every book Mankell has written. This one is no exception to the Mankell standard. It starts in one direction, meanders around through various characters and possibilities and then one of the competing implausible outcomes begins to take shape. For this one, Mankell has picked the Cold War -- and its aftermath -- long...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Dick Gullickson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 22, 2012 Larraine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I picked this book off the library shelf, I didn't realize I was reading the last book in the famed Kurt Wallander series. In fact, I only read one the other day. At least I know that someday I'll be able to "catch up" the series since I just got a copy of the FIRST Wallander the other day. Henning is one of those mesmerizing writers although this one, especially, is very melancholy. In fact the New York Times Review of the book says "His brusque, gloomy Swedish police inspector can be down...more When I picked this book off the library shelf, I didn't realize I was reading the last book in the famed Kurt Wallander series. In fact, I only read one the other day. At least I know that someday I'll be able to "catch up" the series since I just got a copy of the FIRST Wallander the other day. Henning is one of those mesmerizing writers although this one, especially, is very melancholy. In fact the New York Times Review of the book says "His brusque, gloomy Swedish police inspector can be downbeat even by the standards of Sweden, where the bar for brooding is already set so high."

The review also says that the book is less about the mystery that Wallander is trying to solve than it is about Wallander's own deterioration. Someone said that they weren't happy with the way Mankell finished his character. He did not, as Agatha Christie, did send him to his death as she did ultimately, or to retirement raising "marrows" as she did initially. Wallander is approaching 60 and feeling old.

His daughter is pregnant and in a relationship with a wealthy stock trader whose father is a retired naval officer Hankel Van Ecken. Wallander is invited to a 75th birthday party for Van Ecken. During the party, Van Ecken asks him to a private room where he tells him a story about a Russian submarine that was "let go" by someone in power. He glances out the window and seems concerned. Shortly thereafter he disappears.

Although it's not in his jurisdiction, he is drawn into the investigation. At the same time, his health seems to be in steep decline. This is a long book with so many incredible twists and turns. Nothing is as it seems in the shadowy world of international intrigue and espionage. The mysteries are never fully resolved, the ending is quick and leaves many loose ends. It's as if Henning is saying that this is life - full of loose ends and unsatisfactory endings. Henning seems to be facing his own mortality here also, unless, of course he appears with a whole new character. One never knows! (less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Andrea Homier rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first time I've read Henning Mankell. Apparently this is the last in his Wallander series (although I am wondering if the spirit of Wallander will live on in a series about his policewoman daughter). I enjoyed Mankell's detailed writing style and the depth of character development. There was much going on besides the mystery plot, and I appreciate that, even if some of it seems extraneous.

The events of the novel take place during present day, but are the long-coming results of action...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Alyssa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 12, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a surprise to find another Mankell book at the library translated into English. This one was either better written or better translated than the first one I read ("Faceless Killers"). I read it because I was traveling and had nothing else to read, but at times it was slow, and yet I had to find out what the whole disappearing act had to do with the Cold War. It is good to read books written by non-Americans as it gives one a sense of how others live and think and what they think of the USA...more

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Dec 10, 2011 Rod rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the last novel in the Wallander Series and I find it impossible to review it without spoilers. As usual in this series there are pieces of a jigsaw waiting for Wallander to fit together. Unusually, though, several are left out of the completed picture. Small stones are mentioned, one of which appears to travel from Sweden to Germany. What does this signify? I have no idea. A woman, Louise, is murdered, this being the only murder in the book. By whom? I have no idea. Why? There is a sugge...more This is the last novel in the Wallander Series and I find it impossible to review it without spoilers. As usual in this series there are pieces of a jigsaw waiting for Wallander to fit together. Unusually, though, several are left out of the completed picture. Small stones are mentioned, one of which appears to travel from Sweden to Germany. What does this signify? I have no idea. A woman, Louise, is murdered, this being the only murder in the book. By whom? I have no idea. Why? There is a suggestion, but no evidence to back it up. And why were her shoes left lying beside her body? Having read the book I am none the wiser.

Louise is the wife of an officer in the Swedish navy. For the first part of the book it appears she has been spying for the Soviet Union, then Russia. Given she is a school-teacher this seems unlikely. To make it more plausible, Louise visits East Germany from time to time in connection with sport.

Wallander eventually comes to the view that Louise was not the spy, her husband was. Secondly, he concludes that her husband was spying for the Unites States, not the Soviet Union. This is possible since Sweden was neutral and not part of NATO.

Some of this is likely. A spy needs information. Louise had none but her husband had. It is also quite likely that the US was spying in Sweden, as everywhere else. On the other hand, and especially in the Soviet era, the USSR was perceived to be the danger and I am sure many Swedes would have been happy to cooperate with the US.

So why was Louise murdered? The suggestion is that she might have discovered what her husband was up to and had to be silenced. Unfortunately for this theory, Wallander has gone out of his way to visit a retired STASI officer and leaves persuaded that the method used to murder her was developed in East Germany. So the communists murdered Louise to prevent her disclosing the fact that her husband spied for the US? I don’t think so.

How good is this book? In life, not all loose ends can be tied up, but there are too many here.
In order to explain what has happened, Wallander is reduced to speculation on a large scale since he lacks the necessary evidence. In fact, he leaves a written account of his thinking in the hands of the police officer responsible for investigating the death of Louise. So confident is he of his conclusions that he doesn’t sign it. One loose end is tied up, but it has nothing to do with the case. He is visited by his ex-lover Baiba, who is dying. (This mirrors a similar occurrence in Mankell’s novel, Italian Shoes).

The other aspect of the book worth noting is that Wallander is now in decline. He has been so for some years, of course, most notably suffering from diabetes. But now his mind is going as well and Mankell deals with the onset of dementia here. It is hard to know how well, but I find it both scary and convincing.

Wallander often reflects on the infirmity of old age, and he does come across as seriously out of condition. Being both older than the detective and more active, I find this odd. He seems to me old before his time. Mankell must have been 63 or 64 when writing this book so I hope he isn’t writing from experience.

(less)

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Oct 06, 2011 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I agree with several other reviewers that this is not the book to start with the Wallender series. I have read all the previous ones and tried to do so in order. Wallender felt like someone I knew personally, not someone I would always like, sometimes he really is an unlikable character, but someone I would respect and would want to like me. I liked that he is so flawed in so many ways but also so smart and tenacious and hard working. I didn't know that it was Mankell's last Wallender book and s...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Javi Fornell added it · review of another edition

Mankell ha despedido a Wallander. En esta época de crisis y paro, Henning ha decidido que ha llegado el momento de jubilar al genial inspector sueco. Y lo hace dejando cerrada una posible vuelta que nos alegraría a los que sentimos tristeza por su adiós.

Y en esta despedida del viejo policía de Ystad, más allá de la historia narrada –la desaparición de sus suegros- Mankell descubre las claves de su pensamiento político, que ya se había ido dejando entrever en otras obras del mismo protagonista. S...more Mankell ha despedido a Wallander. En esta época de crisis y paro, Henning ha decidido que ha llegado el momento de jubilar al genial inspector sueco. Y lo hace dejando cerrada una posible vuelta que nos alegraría a los que sentimos tristeza por su adiós.

Y en esta despedida del viejo policía de Ystad, más allá de la historia narrada –la desaparición de sus suegros- Mankell descubre las claves de su pensamiento político, que ya se había ido dejando entrever en otras obras del mismo protagonista. Sí hasta ahora Wallander había mostrado su miedo ante los cambios que se producían en la sociedad sueca, ante la llegada de inmigrantes del este, el aumento de la delincuencia y de la violencia en los delitos. Incluso se podría hablar de su anti-europeismo, escondido entre otros muchos pensamientos. Pero hasta ahora no había dado opiniones políticas.

En “El hombre inquieto” Mankell pone en boca de Wallender sus miedos e inquietudes sobre EEUU y el intervencionismo de la Unión Europea en Suecia. El miedo del poder que las decisiones de las dos grandes potencias puedan tener sobre la política de interna de su país. Sin dejar de lado la critica al sistema comunista, Mankell acusa a la sociedad occidental de mirar sólo al este cuando del miedo a un posible ataque se trate. Idea que ya se deja ver en otras obras suyas como el Chino.

Pero, además, Mankell muestra en su alter ego, el miedo a la muerte. Un miedo que ha ido apareciendo paulatinamente en sus obras y que tiene su punto culmen en “Zapatos Italianos”. El miedo a la enfermedad y la entereza necesaria para luchar contra ella. Por segunda vez desde “Zapatos” el protagonista de su novela va a recibir la inesperada visita de una mujer en las puertas de la muerte. Y por segunda vez esa mujer cambiará la perspectiva del protagonista frente a la vida. Una vida que camina por pasos naturales hasta la muerte.

Con “El hombre inquieto” desaparece Walllander, esperemos que las inquietudes de su autor continúen vivas en otras obras, tal vez con Linda de protagonista.(less)

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Jul 09, 2011 KarenC rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to KarenC by: Bookmarks Magazine

Shelves: better_than_tv, bookmarks, police, spies, scandinavian

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Jul 07, 2011 Verena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amidst the hoopla about Swedish detective novels, most notably Stieg Larrson’s trilogy, I discovered that Henning Mankell is a notable author who has created the Kurt Wallander character. I saw several excellent BBC dramatizations starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander and I wanted to get better acquainted with this complex character. I probably should not have chosen Mankell’s latest and final story about Wallander. At 60 years old he is feeling his age as he reviews his life, questions the choi...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Paul Patterson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavian-mysteries

I just completed all of Henning Mankell's Wallander novel and it is by far my favorite scando-mysteries series. The last in the series The Troubled Man refers to both the subject of inquiry as well as Kurt Wallander himself. Both plots are jam packed with great character development as well as plot twists but I was most moved by the older Wallander, as he learns the lessons of aging and contemplates his diminished health.

He is humbled as he reviews his life but he displays genuine vulnerability...more

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May 23, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

THE TROUBLED MAN is the tenth and final book in the Kurt Wallender series. Mankell has allowed Wallender to age, to slide even deeper into the melancholy that made Kurt an unusual protagonist.

Kurt is moving into an uncertain old age. On the day he goes to lunch at a place where he is known well, he makes the mistake that changes his life. He takes his service pistol with him and, inexplicably, leaves it at the restaurant. The owner takes it to the police station and, after, a time Wallender plac...more

THE TROUBLED MAN is the tenth and final book in the Kurt Wallender series. Mankell has allowed Wallender to age, to slide even deeper into the melancholy that made Kurt an unusual protagonist.

Kurt is moving into an uncertain old age. On the day he goes to lunch at a place where he is known well, he makes the mistake that changes his life. He takes his service pistol with him and, inexplicably, leaves it at the restaurant. The owner takes it to the police station and, after, a time Wallender placed on administrative leave, his future unclear.

Kurt is nearly sixty when Linda becomes pregnant. The father of her child is Hans von Enke, a banker and the son of a retired submarine commander in the Swedish Navy. Hakan gives himself a seventy-fifth birthday party and takes Wallender aside to tell him a long and confused story about foreign submarines in Swedish waters in the early 1980′s. Hakan is the officer responsible for making the submarine surface but, before the submarine emerges from the deep water, Hakan is given an order to end the activity. He never knows what country has violated Swedish waters but he believes it is the Russians.

A few months later, Hakan Von Enke leaves for his usual daily walk and disappears. His wife, Louise, knows nothing. Hans is convinced his father is alive but has no idea why the family has not heard from him. Then Louise disappars as well and Mankell crosses into Lecarre territory.

I found the beginning of the book slow but once Kurt makes up his mind to use his skills and his contacts to find Hakan the book is more like the Wallender novels readers have come to expect. Wallender is determined to provide answers for Linda and Hans. Hakan’s story about the submarines brings up the political confusion at the end of the Cold War. And then there are the rumors about the very successful Swedish spy who has been giving military secrets to the Russians, a female spy. What has this to do with Hakan?

Writing a review that doesn’t give away the story is difficult. There are many strands to this story and Mankell ties them all together at the end. Mankell treats Wallender with dignity. His health is failing and he has fears about his future. The author leaves no doubt that this is the last Wallender book. Mankell is letting him go. Readers don’t have to do so. After reading the end, I am going to go back to the beginning and meet Kurt Wallender again. He is one of fiction’s greatest characters.(less)

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May 10, 2011 M.J. Fiori rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: krimi-mystery-thriller-procedural, actually-reviewed

I'm disappointed. But am I disappointed because mysteries are left mysterious as things come to an end? Because here we have the unknowable and the inevitable? Because Henning has killed some darlings and the dreaded thing has happened?

Of course, the experience of reading a Mankell/Wallender book is this: first thinking how very simple and flimsy, how superficial and impersonal; then being reeled in a bit; then confusion and murkiness and the grand desire for closure, the reading ahead, the rac...more

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About Henning Mankell

Henning Mankell is an internationally known Swedish crime writer, children's author and playwright. He is best known for his literary character Kurt Wallander.

Mankell splits his time between Sweden and Mozambique. He is married to Eva Bergman, Swedish director and daughter of Ingmar Bergman.

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“People always leave traces. No person is without a shadow.” — 12 people liked it

“You forget what you want to remember and remember what you would prefer to forget.” — 10 people liked it

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The Troubled Man (Kurt Wallander #10)

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