Before the Frost

by Henning Mankell
Before the Frost  
published February 14th 2006 by Vintage
binding Paperback
isbn 1400095816   (isbn13: 9781400095810)
pages 384
description In this latest atmospheric thriller, Kurt Wallander and his daughter Linda join forces to search for a religious fanatic on a murder spree. Just grad...more
date added
01-20-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 212)



James
James rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/14/08

Read in April, 2008
before the frost, the eighth book in swedish author henning mankell's kurt wallander mystery series, is a flawed novel, but an engaging one nonetheless. the characters (for the most part) are likeable, if a little lost in the translation sometimes, and the setting (a town on the southern tip of the swedish peninsula) is chillingly atmospheric in the same kind of way that the film insomnia is, cold, windswept, and barren-feeling, even in the middle of the forest.

dealing with ...more
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Writerlibrarian
Writerlibrarian rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/25/07

bookshelves: mystery, read2006
Read in June, 2006
This is the start of a new series for the writer featuring Linda Wallander, the daughter of his hero Kurt Wallander. This first book is kinda a passing of the torch. Mankell explores religious extremists, Christians ones, in this tale of deceit and twisted love. We have Linda waiting to start her new job as a beat police officer in Ystad, she reconnects with old high school friends, one of which, Anna is not all that she appears. Both young women have difficult father-daughter relationship. This...more
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Diane
Diane rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/07/08

Read in March, 2007
recommended to Diane by: Harry Schwartz '06 Reader's Retreat
recommends it for: Readers who like puzzles
This was the book that started me reading international mysteries. It was in a give-away bag at at Reader's Retreat and once I read my way to it (I'd picked up 20 other books at the same retreat!), I was hooked. The characters aren't flashy but they are believable,likeable (sometimes) and interesting. The small Swedish town location provides a glimpse into a different culture but stories - including this one - branch out to other geographies. Sometimes startling ones.

"After the Frost...more
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Jeff
Jeff rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
12/17/07

Read in December, 2007
I read this over the weekend. I was kinda hungover on Saturday and picked it up in the afternoon, and I finished it Sunday morning/early afternoon. I had heard that Henning Mankell books were very good and I liked it alright, but not enough to really seek out more. Enjoyed the Scandinavian setting, and it was pretty good for a crime novel, but I am just not really into the mystery/crime genre.

Also, since it was about a suicide-cult survivor, it was hard not to compare to Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor but it...more
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Laura
Laura rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
09/12/07

Oh, Henning Mankell! This was the first one of his I picked up, and then I seared a path through all of his other Kurt Wallander mysteries. They're flawed, I guess, but the best ones are just exactly what I want to read most of the time. Spare prose, ambiguous, unsolvable (to a certain extent) mysteries, and Wallander is at the heart of their appeal, second only to Jane Tennyson (sp?) in terms of gruff-but-loveable fictional detectives.
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Steve
Steve rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/10/08

Instead of Kurt being the hero, Linda Wallander, his estranged and previously suicidal (of course) daughter is becoming a cop and has all the intuitiveness of her dear old dad. In all of the Mankell stories, he brings in either philosophy, existentialism, or a combination. This story uses the Jim Jones church and Guayana tradegy as a stepping off point and a terrific back story. Very good story-tellings. Highly recommend it.
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Christopher
Christopher rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/22/08

bookshelves: scandinavian
Read in January, 2008
Mankell's Skane is wonderful. This mystery follows not only the father (Detective Wallander) but his daughter (Linda) who is about to join the Ystad police force. The connection to Jonestown is interesting too.

There's no need to have read other Mankell mysteries to understand the character stories here. It's a complete novel unto itself.
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RuthG
RuthG rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/20/08

bookshelves: mysteries
Read in January, 2008
This book begins with a second generation detective in the Swedish police force. The daughter of the detective in Mankell's series has chosen to follow her father's footsteps. The story of her introduction to life as a police officer includes her confusion about how to handle her new and sometimes confliting responsibilities.
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Tenli
Tenli marked it as to-read
10/26/07

bookshelves: to-read
After I started this book, I realized that the detective is the daughter of the detective in the earlier books by Henning Mankell. Since I always read mystery series in order, I have to go back and read the whole Mankell series from the beginning before I read this one. Luckily, we seem to have the first book in the house!
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Jennifer
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
01/15/08

This was a little disappointing. This is the first book in a series based on Kurt Wallender's daughter, Linda, becoming a cop. Her character was not as fully developed as Kurt's and I felt less empathy towards her.
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Bonitagirl
Bonitagirl rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
01/16/08

I couldn't finish this book because the murderer kills animals! I am currently inhaling every book written by Henning Mankell but this one was too harsh for my animal loving self.
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Mark
Mark rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/30/07

bookshelves: mystery
Read in June, 2006
In this entry in the Kurt Wallander series, his daughter Linda, with whom he's had a touchy relationship, becomes a rookie cop and plays a major role
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Katharine
Katharine is currently reading it
01/15/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
Read in January, 2008
My favorite who-dunnit author, plus, I have an almost magnetic attraction to anything sort of bleak and Scandinavian, so this fits the bill.
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Jennifer
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/19/08

bookshelves: read-in-the-last-year
Read in March, 2008
Linda makes a pleasant addition next to her father. Menkell writes her well. The larger issue of religious extremism was well tackled.
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Sandra
Sandra added it
10/28/07

Read in October, 2007
The latest on the Kurt Wallander detective series. I love this Swedish writer.
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Beth
11/01/07

Read in March, 2006
Fictional character Kurt Wallander's daughter Linda starts to solve crimes.
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Rcharbon
Rcharbon rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
04/29/08

Standard police mystery translated from Swedish. Nothing special
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Justin
Justin rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/16/08

Couldn't put it down. No - really, it became fused to my hands.
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Denise
Denise rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
06/28/08

 

Sandor
Sandor rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/18/08

 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.76 (175 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.85 (144 ratings)
number of reviews: 21






other editions

Vor dem Frost. (Taschenbuch)
Before the Frost: A Linda Wallander Mystery (Hardcover)
Vor dem Frost. (Hardcover)