The Man Who Smiled (Wallander #4)

by Henning Mankell

book data

717 ratings, 3.74 average rating, 89 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		18%
4		44%
3		30%
2		5%
1		1%

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published

September 25th 2007 by Vintage Books USA (first published 1994)

details

Paperback, 336 pages

characters

Kurt Wallander

setting

Sweden

isbn

1400095832 (isbn13: 9781400095834)

description

After killing a man in the line of duty, Kurt Wallander resolves to quit the Ystad police. However, a bizarre case gets under his skin.

A lawyer drivi…more

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Feb 09, 2008

Marsha rated it:

(review of isbn 0099450089)

bookshelves: mystery-detective

Read in February, 2008

I love Kurt Wallander, the cynical & filled with existential angst detective. And this is so European. It's nice to remember that a fictional killer can have some real hangups about taking someone else's life. I can't remember the last time that was played out on US tv. Wallander spins a great tale, although I could do without the comments on how crime is becoming worse in Sweden. While he links this to the demise of social-democracy, he still insinuates that it is also because people are inhere...more

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Dec 14, 2008

Reinhold rated it:

(review of isbn 3423205903)

bookshelves: crime

Read in January, 2003

Mankell liefert üblicherweise Besseres

Henning Mankell kann es besser als er es in diesem Werk vermuten lässt. Die Story in diesem Buch ist an sich sehr gut. Ein toter Anwalt und noch ein toter Anwalt und dann geht es bald richtig zur Sache. Hinter all dem steckt der "Mann der lächelt", ein gevifter und mächtiger Geschäftsmann, der praktisch unantastbar erscheint.

Verglichen mit "Die weiße Löwin" und "Mittsommermord" ist jedoch die Erz�...more

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Dec 12, 2009

Ria rated it:

(review of isbn 904450200X)

Kurt Wallander is op vakantie in Denemarken. Hij maakt er een strandwandeling. Hij is moe, depressief en wil ontslag nemen uit het politiekorps van Ystad. Aan het thuisfront in Zweden vinden echter twee moorden plaats die hem op andere gedachten brengen. Het gaat om de 69-jarige advocaat Gustaf Torstensson en diens collega en zoon Sten, een jeugdvriend van Wallander.[return][return]Op weg naar huis in het zuiden van Zweden weet de 69-jarige advocaat Gustaf Torstensson ternauwernood te stoppen vo...more

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Nov 23, 2009

Diane rated it:

Read in November, 2009

The Man Who Smiled begins promising enough, with a murder disguised to look like an accident on a dark Swedish highway. Then we move to Kurt Wallander, brooding on a Jutland beach, trying to decide whether to quit the Ystand police department after he has killed a man in self defense. Of course, we know he won't quit, and he manages to get deeper and deeper into a murder investigation that soon turns into a gruesome investigation of a world-wide organ theft operation.

The problem wit...more

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Sep 24, 2009

Mappi rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in September, 2009

This is a real crock of a book.

Wallander is depressed cause he shot a crim and still has relationship problems with his father - which is just layed on as a break from the investigation to show that he has problems outside work.

Is he coming back into the police after his bout with depression and hard drinking. Yes he is and on day one - he is given the case of a father and son pair of solicitors who are murdered. And he is welcomed back as a returning hero.

F...more

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Aug 01, 2009

Nancy rated it:

bookshelves: mystery---part-of-series, mystery---scandinavian

Read in July, 2009

The Man Who Smiled is number four in the Wallander series, picking up some time after Wallander's experiences in book 3, The White Lioness. As book four opens, Wallander is still on sick leave, and has made the decision during a period of incredibly intense depression that he will not be continuing on in his career as a policeman. But all of that changes when a friend seeks him out to ask him for help regarding the case of his father's death. The police had ruled it a car accident, but the fri...more The Man Who Smiled is number four in the Wallander series, picking up some time after Wallander's experiences in book 3, The White Lioness. As book four opens, Wallander is still on sick leave, and has made the decision during a period of incredibly intense depression that he will not be continuing on in his career as a policeman. But all of that changes when a friend seeks him out to ask him for help regarding the case of his father's death. The police had ruled it a car accident, but the friend is convinced that it was not. Wallander tells him that the police are most likely correct -- but then his friend is also mysteriously killed. This prompts Wallander to return to the job to find out what lays behind the deaths of father and son ... and uncovers much more than he bargained for.

While the plot will keep you turning pages and provide you with more than a few tense moments, what really made this book stand out was the character of Kurt Wallander. For the first time, really, since I started this series, I really got an insight into how Wallander thinks and what makes him a great cop. Mankell's characterization of Wallander is absolutely stunning, making him much more human in this book as compared to all of the other ones. It was absolutely amazing to be allowed into Wallander's thought processes -- I think Wallander became very real for me in this book for the first time in the series. When a character can become that real, it's definitely a sign that his or her creator is a top-notch writer.

The author does not only offer up a first-rate criminal and first-rate policemen here; he also raises several questions about the future of police forces, about the decline of the whole basis of the modern Swedish state as the profits of corruption become more entrenched, and about issues of morality & the true nature of justice in a world where crime is constantly changing and the police and justice system are trying to adapt. These questions are not relevant just to Sweden, but everywhere.

A bit on the gloomy side, this is not a book for readers looking for a lighthearted crime novel. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a superb reading experience, but I suggest starting with book one, Faceless Killers, and continuing the books in series order. Mankell is an excellent writer, definitely not to be missed. (less)

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Feb 01, 2010

Tori Hoeschler rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in February, 2010

Ok, by my definition, this book is not a mystery. This is a book ABOUT a mystery, and unless I'm totally missing a point here, it's just not a good book at all.
Here we have a story about a detective, Kurt Wallander, who has come out of retirement to solve the mysterious death and apparent murder of two local attorneys. I'm just going to stop right here and say that the reason he goes into retirement is because he's conflicted over killing some criminal in a face off I assume took place...more Ok, by my definition, this book is not a mystery. This is a book ABOUT a mystery, and unless I'm totally missing a point here, it's just not a good book at all.
Here we have a story about a detective, Kurt Wallander, who has come out of retirement to solve the mysterious death and apparent murder of two local attorneys. I'm just going to stop right here and say that the reason he goes into retirement is because he's conflicted over killing some criminal in a face off I assume took place in a previous book in the series. The author must've been so pleased with his initial telling of this prequel climax that he feels compelled to reference it almost every other page of this book, and let me tell you, it gets old. FAST. We get it: Wallander feels bad about killing a man in the line of duty so let's all take some Paxl and move on with our lives.

Now, less than 20 pages into the book the reader is told who the killer is so in my experience, when you know who did it, the remainder of the book is typically dedicated to fleshing out a really intriguing back story that ultimately leads to additional suspense at the end. Not the case here. Not only are you told who did it, but you get to spend the next 250 pages waiting for our melancholy hero to catch up to your foregone conclusion. Think that's fun? Well you're wrong. You don't actually get to read about how he catches up to the conclusion; you get to read about how he feels about catching up. There is literally a 30 page section where the author pontificates about how Wallander can't help but feel that something is amiss. His can just feel it in his gut. Three people have turned up dead, two more murders have been attempted, including an attempt on Wallander himself, and his gut is telling him something is amiss. Congrats, Wallander, your gut has a profound grasp of the obvious.
What I'm assuming was meant for a dramatic ending is actually a melodramatic, unbelievable 20 page stint at the very end of the book that actually had me saying out loud, "You have to be kidding me. I waited 300 pages for THIS??? That was it???" Absolutely infuriating!
Again, I say it, maybe I'm missing something but this is one of the most tedious and un-gratifying non-mysteries I've ever read. (less)

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Mar 27, 2008

kareem rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in April, 2008

this came highly recommended, so my expectations were pretty high. it was a bit slow, but readable, with a payoff (that was somewhat far-fetched, imho) coming in the final 20-30 pages. i'm curious to read some of the more highly-rated books in the series, but i'm not sure i would recommend reading this one as an intro to the series.

k.

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Dec 30, 2009

Judi rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in January, 2010

My first finish of the decade!

This is one of my preferred Wallander books. The action is local, clean, logical in progression and has interesting characters. I think this is one of the few Wallander stories where we don't hear from the antagonist's voice/POV. Mankell hasn't spent a lot of time on that in prior stories, but there are usually some segments told from the killer's POV in many of the other books.

Here are a couple things about the Mankell policiers that I fin...more

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Jun 04, 2009

Sharon rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in May, 2009

I recently bought four or five of Mankell's books for our collection because Kenneth Branaugh is starring as the main character Wallander in the PBS "Mystery!" seriesand I thought there might be a demand for them. These are translated into English from their original Swedish. This particular novel is very much a character study of Detective Wallander. After shooting and killing the first criminal in his long career he has taken a sabbatical, which turns into a twelve-month drunk full o...more

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Feb 14, 2010

Lori DeMaria rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in March, 2010

This is the first Kurt Wallander mystery that I've read and I can say with pleasure that we will have a long relationship as I eagerly read through the rest of this excellent series by Henning Mankell. Even more joy when I think that I can see these mysteries dramatized on PBS in "Masterpiece Mystery!" starring Kenneth Branagh. In this novel Kurt Wallander has just returned to the police force after a one year absence to deal with the emotional reprecussions of killing a man while on d...more

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Feb 28, 2009

Tony rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

bookshelves: mystery

Read in February, 2009

I enjoyed the book but labored to get through it. It took me a couple of starts. Hard to get over the fact that a vet police officer would have a breakdown after shooting someone in self defense. That was hard for me to believe. Once I got past that I just soldiered through. There was another reviewer who said he would not recommend this book as an intro to Wallander. I would agree. A little predictable as far as who was the guilty party. A little over the top with some of the dirty busi...more

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Jul 27, 2009

Giles rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in July, 2009

My first Wallander book, after viewing 3 TV episodes twice. Very exciting and gripping reading. You also get to learn a little of Sweden's geography, if you take the chance. The plot is very unusual for a typical Wallander plot. It reads more like a James Bond thriller. Wallander is recuperating from a year's depression after having killed a criminal. He is on the point of resignng and then gets caught up in solving this case. So what's the conclusison: that a depressed Wallander beats a top of ...more

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Sep 28, 2009

Lars rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in September, 2009

Not quite as outstanding as numbers two and three of the Kurt Wallander series, where Mankell went beyond police procedural into the recent history of the Baltic States and South Africa. This time, it's all in Sweden. But still, pretty darn good. Wallander's bounce back from the depths of self abuse and degradation, a new addition to the Ystad police force, and the possibility of romance with Baiba Liepa add some spice to Mankell's formula: Wallander battling his own demons while he pursues ...more

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Sep 13, 2009

Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in January, 2010

I have now read novels 1,2 and 4 of the Wallander mysteries. I know, I know, but #4 is what Santa brought me. So, I will have to work on getting the remaining novels in the series and getting back to reading them in order.

Also, this book took me longer to read than it should have, and I do not want anyone to interpret that negatively. I loved the book. But, it has been freezing here (as most everywhere else) and I have had a cold. So, when I snuggle in at night to read, I fall asl...more

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Feb 06, 2009

Bibliophile rated it:

bookshelves: 2009

Read in May, 2009

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

I found the international intrigues of The Dogs of Riga and The White Lioness a bit hard to swallow; The Man Who Smiled finds Wallander back in a more domestic setting, although the titular man who smiled turns out to be involved in multinational shady dealings. Still, Wallander is no longer forced to play any king of James Bond-ish role; he just investigates murders based on his own rarely deceived instincts.

Wallander, who has been on leave for a year following a breakdown after ...more

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Aug 17, 2008

Zeno rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

bookshelves: mystery

Read in January, 2006

Kurt Wallander - He works tirelessly, eats badly and drinks the nights away in a lonely, neglected flat. Still, he tackles some pretty incredible cases --

Here are the titles in the series (with a few extras) -

Faceless Killers
Dogs Of Riga
White Lioness
The Man Who Smiled
Sidetracked
The Fifth Woman
One Step Behind
Firewall
Return Of The Dancing Master (a Stefan Lindman mystery)
Before The Frost (actually a “Linda Wallander�...more Kurt Wallander - He works tirelessly, eats badly and drinks the nights away in a lonely, neglected flat. Still, he tackles some pretty incredible cases --

Here are the titles in the series (with a few extras) -

Faceless Killers
Dogs Of Riga
White Lioness
The Man Who Smiled
Sidetracked
The Fifth Woman
One Step Behind
Firewall
Return Of The Dancing Master (a Stefan Lindman mystery)
Before The Frost (actually a “Linda Wallander” mystery)

An old man has been tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely alive beside his shattered body, victims of violence beyond reason. . . a teenage girl douses herself in gasoline and set herself aflame. The next day Sweden's former Minister of Justice has been axed to death and scalped in a murder that has the obvious markings of a demented serial killer… four nuns and an unidentified fifth woman are found with their throats slit in an Algerian convent, while in Sweden, a birdwatcher is skewered to death in a pit of carefully sharpened bamboo poles… a Swedish housewife is murdered execution-style in a string of events that uncovers a plot to assassinate Nelson Mandela involving the South African secret service and a ruthless ex-KGB agent… an old acquaintance of Wallander’s, a solicitor, who is tied to an enigmatic business tycoon hiding behind an entourage of brusque secretaries and tight security, turns up dead, shot three times after his father dies in a traffic accident (or was it an accident?). . . In woodland outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, the pages marked with handwritten corrections. A string of macabre incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, has been taking place, a group of religious extremists who are bent on punishing the world's sinners. … On Midsummer's Eve, three friends gather in a secluded meadow in Sweden. In the beautifully clear twilight, they don costumes and begin a secret role-play. But an uninvited guest soon brings their performance to a gruesome conclusion. His approach is careful; his aim is perfect. Three bullets, three corpses… An unknown killer is on the loose, and their only lead is a photograph of a strange woman no one in Sweden seems to know…A life raft washes ashore in Skane, Sweden, carrying two dean men in expensive suits, shot gangland-style. It is discovered that the men were Eastern European criminals… A man stops at an ATM during his evening walk and inexplicably falls dead to the ground. Two teenage girls brutally murder a taxi driver They are quickly apprehended, shocking local policemen with their complete lack of remorse. One girl escapes police custody and disappears without a trace. A few days later a blackout cuts power to a large swath of the country When a serviceman arrives at the malfunctioning power substation, he makes a grisly discovery… a shadowy group of anarchic terrorists, hidden by the anonymity of cyberspace. . . and we haven't even gotten to Kurt Wallander's personal issues!(less)

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Dec 03, 2009

Deborah Moulton rated it:

Read in December, 2009

This book was a disappointment after Henning Mankell's previous book in the Kurt Wallender series, "The White Lioness." At first, I thought it was the translator (from Swedish to English), but it's the same translator who did "The White Lioness." So, I'm left thinking that the author let his readers down with this one. There's some interesting observations about the first woman detective to join the police in Ystad, but the main plot of taking down a pillar of society was not...more

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Apr 28, 2009

Joe Hunt rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

I'll write more later!

I think I read this book. And/or Firewall.

I know I read at least one--maybe two--of his...a while ago.

I even saw one of the movies. Which one?

(Wait...or am I confusing...

Remember, that movie with Popeye...and that gangster...Al...Pacino.

I'm drawing a blank on everything.

But, so, the original Swedish one.

And, so...Who is that actor--Keifer Sutherland?--somebody who's portraying ...more

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Apr 04, 2008

Jennifer Klenz rated it:

(review of isbn 1565849930)

Read in April, 2008

It took a while for Wallander to grow on me but I am now a big fan and this is my favourite book so far. I like the observations of group dynamics between Wallander and his fellow detectives. I enjoy reading about Wallander's struggles to cope with evil and try to find a balance in his life.
I quote:
Winter is almost upon us, he thought. Snow and storms and chaos. And I am a police officer again. Life tosses us hither and thither. Is there anything we can truly decide for ourselves...more

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