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66th out of 907 books
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856 voters
The Dogs of Riga (Kurt Wallander #2)
Second in the Kurt Wallander series.
Sweden, winter, 1991. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team receive an anonymous tip-off. A few days later a life raft is washed up on a beach. In it are two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead. The dead men were criminals, victims of what seems to have been a gangland hit. But what appears to be an open-and-shut case soon takes o...more
Sweden, winter, 1991. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team receive an anonymous tip-off. A few days later a life raft is washed up on a beach. In it are two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead. The dead men were criminals, victims of what seems to have been a gangland hit. But what appears to be an open-and-shut case soon takes o...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
April 13th 2004
by Vintage
(first published 1992)
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I was looking forward to reading this one because it hadn't been adapted for Kenneth Brannagh's Wallander TV series, which I've been a fan of. I suppose I should have wondered instead why they'd skipped it. This one starts off ok, with an intriguing mystery of suited men, dead of gunshot wounds, adrift in a dinghy. There's some interesting hangovers from Faceless Killers, not least Wallander's former confidant, the deceased detective Rydberg haunting his decision making. Mankell tries to establi...more
I understand that there's so little crime in Sweden that a mystery writer has to look to redder fields, but the whole Latvian plot is so incredibly unbelievable! Why on Earth would Wallander agree to help a bunch of people who repeatedly refuse to tell him what's going on? How could he ever trust them.
I'll stick to Brannagh's Wallander, thanks.
I'll stick to Brannagh's Wallander, thanks.
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Diciamo bello perché comunque tiene avvinti, la storia é abbastanza intricata e magari un po' ambiziosa, con un Wallander un po' obsoleto che per amore della bella Baiba e del senso di giustizia compie atti che non gli appartengono molto. Comunque era ancora giovane, 43 anni, e quindi concediamoglielo.
Anche Menkell era giovane e probabilmente infervorato nella scrittura non si é accorto che il povero Kurt W. a pg 245:
... inciampò e cadde in avanti battendo il ginocchio sullo spigolo del cerchio...more
Anche Menkell era giovane e probabilmente infervorato nella scrittura non si é accorto che il povero Kurt W. a pg 245:
... inciampò e cadde in avanti battendo il ginocchio sullo spigolo del cerchio...more
Wallander in den Grabenkämpfen der Macht
Das Buch ist der zweite Krimi der Wallanderreihe und ganz bestimmt nicht der beste. Dennoch ist dieses Werk nicht zu unterschätzen. Henning Mankell zeichnet eine sehr interessantes Bild über Dinge, die in einem Land geschehen können, dessen staatliche Macht teilweise zusammengebrochen ist.
Wallander wird in einen Fall gezogen der mitten im Baltikum spielt. Dort wird er zum Spielball der Mächte die gegeneinander um die Vorherrschaft kämpfen; jene Mächte die...more
Das Buch ist der zweite Krimi der Wallanderreihe und ganz bestimmt nicht der beste. Dennoch ist dieses Werk nicht zu unterschätzen. Henning Mankell zeichnet eine sehr interessantes Bild über Dinge, die in einem Land geschehen können, dessen staatliche Macht teilweise zusammengebrochen ist.
Wallander wird in einen Fall gezogen der mitten im Baltikum spielt. Dort wird er zum Spielball der Mächte die gegeneinander um die Vorherrschaft kämpfen; jene Mächte die...more
Obviously if you have been paying attention to what I have been adding to my bookshelf lately I live in a world where nothing exists besides Henning Mankell. Although sometimes I take small breaks to watch my Netflix versions of Brother Cadfael which are of course just for fun. Shits and giggles aside, Mankell has got me hooked into his particular brand of literary detective story because he manages to combine the standard suspense driven narrative one might expect from that 'genre' of books tha...more
Het tweede boek uit de 'Wallander-reeks' begint met het dilemma van twee zeelieden, die een vlot zien drijven waarop zich twee lijken bevinden. Hun lading kan niet door de beugel. Daarom durven ze de vondst niet te melden, maar ze slepen het vlot wel naar de oever en alarmeren anoniem de politie. Het vlot spoelt op de kust van Skane aan, vlakbij Ystad, de woonplaats van Wallander. De mannen zijn vóór hun executie gemarteld. De politie stelt een onderzoek in. Als gebleken is dat het om twee Lette...more
Questo autore mi è stato consigliato da una conoscente, che spero non me ne voglia se dico che non ho molto apprezzato il libro in generale. Probabilmente, ho avuto la manina sfortunata e sono incappata in una storia in cui il commissario Kurt Wallander ha a che fare con i paesi baltici, la Lituania in particolare, la mafia russa, la difficile situazione politica che a tutt’oggi tormenta il paese e la droga, cioè ambientazioni e moventi che personalmente non amo molto.
Un bel giallo, a mio avvis...more
Un bel giallo, a mio avvis...more
Une fois de plus, Henning Mankell nous transporte dans un univers inquiétant, sur les traces du commissaire Wallander. Dans Les chiens de Riga, nous découvrons cette fois un environnement bien différent de sa Suède natale : les Etats baltes et plus particulièrement la Lettonie et sa capitale, Riga.
Tout commence en Suède avec la découverte de deux corps à bord d’un canot. Les victimes sont apparemment originaires d’un pays de l’Est et après quelques recherches, du renfort est envoyé de l’étrange...more
Tout commence en Suède avec la découverte de deux corps à bord d’un canot. Les victimes sont apparemment originaires d’un pays de l’Est et après quelques recherches, du renfort est envoyé de l’étrange...more
I enjoyed the first Wallander book and this one starts off promising but it ultimately fizzles. The set up rapidly takes us through some standard police procedural but after a few reveals it switches focus to a new, seemingly unrelated crime. Wallander is promptly sent to Riga in Latvia and for much of the middle section he wanders/mopes around Riga with little focus. He can't seem to figure out why he's there and I couldn't either to be honest.
After a lot of nothing very much he gets caught up...more
After a lot of nothing very much he gets caught up...more
SMELL REFERENCES:
Martinsson waded out into the water to pull the life-faft ashore, wearing gumboots. Wallander squatted down to examine the bodies. He could see Peters trying to calm the woman. It struck him how fortunate they were that the boat hadn't come ashore in the summer, when there would have been hundreds of children playing and swimming on the beach. What he was looking at was not a pretty sight, and there was the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh despite the fierce wind.
**
When the...more
Martinsson waded out into the water to pull the life-faft ashore, wearing gumboots. Wallander squatted down to examine the bodies. He could see Peters trying to calm the woman. It struck him how fortunate they were that the boat hadn't come ashore in the summer, when there would have been hundreds of children playing and swimming on the beach. What he was looking at was not a pretty sight, and there was the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh despite the fierce wind.
**
When the...more
Wallander 2 is better than Wallander 1. The Dogs of Riga is a strong 3 stars, whereas the first Wallander book was a weak 3.
As in the first novel, Wallander is everyman. Or should I say, every middle-aged man. He's cold. He's anxious. He's afraid of his father. He's intimidated by women. The plot is good enough. Ditto for the writing style. All in all the Wallander books are a very enjoyable read.
Mankell spends a lot of time writing about the societies in which Wallander's adventures take place....more
As in the first novel, Wallander is everyman. Or should I say, every middle-aged man. He's cold. He's anxious. He's afraid of his father. He's intimidated by women. The plot is good enough. Ditto for the writing style. All in all the Wallander books are a very enjoyable read.
Mankell spends a lot of time writing about the societies in which Wallander's adventures take place....more
Kurt Wallander, Swedish detective, is inexplicably sent to Latvia to investigate the death of a Latvian police officer who was killed ...in Latvia.
Wallander doesn't know why he's in Latvia. Henning Mankell doesn't appear to know why Wallander is in Latvia. I don't know why Wallander is in Latvia. After 300 pages of Wallander being driven around Latvia, being cold, eating omelettes, drinking coffee, wandering around with a map, and sitting around asking himself why he's in Latvia, I don't actuall...more
Wallander doesn't know why he's in Latvia. Henning Mankell doesn't appear to know why Wallander is in Latvia. I don't know why Wallander is in Latvia. After 300 pages of Wallander being driven around Latvia, being cold, eating omelettes, drinking coffee, wandering around with a map, and sitting around asking himself why he's in Latvia, I don't actuall...more
Considering when it was written (1991) this novel makes some very prescient connections between organised crime and the rapidly collapsing state institutions in the Eastern Bloc (as was). Mainly set in Latvia, the claustrophobia and paranoia of the time is captured very well. This is just as well really as the whodunnit elements of this novel are fairly weak, to be honest.
Kurt Wallander is a likeable character, he comes across as a rather naive man in some ways, but one who realises that the wo...more
Kurt Wallander is a likeable character, he comes across as a rather naive man in some ways, but one who realises that the wo...more
Henning Mankell is a gifted author. His mysteries are fast moving, engaging and give you a detailed view of Sweden, its culture and politics. Kurt Wallender, Mankell's main protaganist is skilled but troubled master detective. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team at the Ystad police station in Skåne, southern Sweden, receive an anonymous tip-off that comes to pass a few days later: a life raft is washed up on a beach. In it are two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead. The dead men were E...more
This is the first Kurt Wallander (and Mankell) book I've read, as far as I remember.
Winter 1992. Two bodies are found on the wintery coasts of Sweden in a life raft. They turn out to be East Europeans, dressed in expensive clothing, and both having been shot. No witnesses, no motives, no crime scene, but Wallander does a great job tracking these anonymous men to Latvia. The Latvian police sends an interesting police officer, major Liepa, to invetigate. The case seems closed for Sweden when Liep...more
Winter 1992. Two bodies are found on the wintery coasts of Sweden in a life raft. They turn out to be East Europeans, dressed in expensive clothing, and both having been shot. No witnesses, no motives, no crime scene, but Wallander does a great job tracking these anonymous men to Latvia. The Latvian police sends an interesting police officer, major Liepa, to invetigate. The case seems closed for Sweden when Liep...more
I really enjoyed this mystery and look forward to reading more from the series. Swedish detective Kurt Wallander is reminded of the darkness that can lie behind bright exteriors and enforced conformity in his home country, and then he learns of the terrors of a place (Latvia in 1991) where no such pretense of order reigns, corruption rules, and puzzles lie within puzzles. The book begins as a smuggling case and ends as a tale of criminal conspiracy--complete with mysterious women and top secret...more
I'm supposed to be reading Game Change and Wicked, but I picked up this book this afternoon and finished it tonight. As fictional detectives go, I have always loved Lord Peter Wimsey, and Inspector Maigret best ---and the guy in The Name of the Rose. I still do, but I also really like Kurt Wallander. This time he's off to Latvia on a dangerous and extremely unofficial mission, and it's very exciting. He's still clueless, but learning!! He's lost his best friend and mentor, and he's looking for l...more
I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading the Wallander series, but I kept thinking about Wallander in that way you do if an author has done a great job with the character -- as if Wallander were a real person. So I bought the 2nd in the series (not available on Kindle -- ahem!) and jumped back into what feels like the unending Swedish winter.
In this book, which I enjoyed just as much as the first, the murder of two men, found tortured and shot, then set to sea in a lifeboat, quickly becomes se...more
In this book, which I enjoyed just as much as the first, the murder of two men, found tortured and shot, then set to sea in a lifeboat, quickly becomes se...more
I picked this up while on the waiting list for "A Girl Who Played with Fire". I heard #1 in a BBC radio play. I've also since seen a few of the Swedish TV episodes and the Brannaugh BBC TV series. The stories are 80% "interior dialogue" (I think that's what my high school Lit teacher called it - where most of the action takes place in the hero's mind.) IMHO, TV can capture Sweden's beautiful summers / desolate winters, but the famous Wallander compassion and political commentary evaporates.
This...more
This...more
This is the second of the Wallander-novels - and my first Wallander, so I can't compare it to the others in the series - but I really enjoyed this detective.
At least in The Dogs of Riga Wallander is surprisingly vulnerable - with chest pains and bowel problems - a distaste for police work and a misanthropic nature. And the case he's thrown into gets him quickly out of his comfort zone - a trip to Riga where he's powerless most of the time and has to rely on his instinct rather than facts. It's...more
At least in The Dogs of Riga Wallander is surprisingly vulnerable - with chest pains and bowel problems - a distaste for police work and a misanthropic nature. And the case he's thrown into gets him quickly out of his comfort zone - a trip to Riga where he's powerless most of the time and has to rely on his instinct rather than facts. It's...more
like a 3.5, really; I rounded up.
Even though the rating I give this book comes out like average, it's still a good story. Not quite as good as the first in this series featuring Kurt Wallander (Faceless Killers -- which I thought was excellent), but still an enjoyable read. I'd definitely recommend it to people who want to follow the series, and to mystery readers in general. These mystery novels are very intense and may not appeal to people who would rather read cozy mysteries (not that there's...more
Even though the rating I give this book comes out like average, it's still a good story. Not quite as good as the first in this series featuring Kurt Wallander (Faceless Killers -- which I thought was excellent), but still an enjoyable read. I'd definitely recommend it to people who want to follow the series, and to mystery readers in general. These mystery novels are very intense and may not appeal to people who would rather read cozy mysteries (not that there's...more
Somewhere in the first third of this book, something changed and suddenly I was hooked. It's not that I wasn't enjoying the first third, but from the moment Wallander lands in Riga (and I'm not giving anything away here, the clue is in the title), there's something about the pacing, the writing and the sequence of events that made me really sit up and take notice - hence finishing it in two days, in the journeys to and from work. A far cry from the Aurelio Zen anti-hero, Kurt Wallander definitel...more
I've enjoyed other books by Mankell, including the first in the Wallender series, so was taken aback by how poor *The Dogs of Riga seems by comparison. I wondered whether it was written much earlier than *Faceless Killers, and only published (?publishable) in the wake of Mankell's success with subsequently written books.
As with a lot of detective fiction, interest in protagonist is dependant on the backdrop of a fairly static, tried and trusted set of co-characters. This is missing from from th...more
As with a lot of detective fiction, interest in protagonist is dependant on the backdrop of a fairly static, tried and trusted set of co-characters. This is missing from from th...more
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I wondered why the Kenneth Branagh productions had failed to film, "The Dogs of Riga"; now I have a good appreciation for why they gave it a miss.
Although this book appears to borrow the concept of displaced detective in a foreign land from, "The Man Who Went Up In Smoke" by Sjowall and Wahloo, it ends there.
Wallander's experience of Riga, Latvia is nothing short of outrageous. He is thrown into situations that appear highly unlikely and which push our sense of belief to the absolute limit. Alth...more
Although this book appears to borrow the concept of displaced detective in a foreign land from, "The Man Who Went Up In Smoke" by Sjowall and Wahloo, it ends there.
Wallander's experience of Riga, Latvia is nothing short of outrageous. He is thrown into situations that appear highly unlikely and which push our sense of belief to the absolute limit. Alth...more
The first thing that the reader must realize about this book was that it was written in 1991 when conflict and turmoil were abundant in Latvia due to the country trying to regain its' independence from Soviet Russia. Without having a general knowledge of the history of Latvia, at times the story may seem difficult to follow. The opposition between the Soviets and Latvians seemed to create a society where people needed to be extremely cautious of everything they did and avoid suspicion because po...more
Poor old Kurt Wallander. I just want to buy the guy a beer and tell him to quit being so hard on himself.
The Swedish police detective isn’t faring much better in the second book of the series than he was in the first. Still lonely after his divorce and worried about his flighty daughter and elderly father, Wallander has also lost his best friend on the police force to cancer. The new breed of crime rising in the early ‘90s in Sweden continues to shock him and makes him uncertain whether he shou...more
The Swedish police detective isn’t faring much better in the second book of the series than he was in the first. Still lonely after his divorce and worried about his flighty daughter and elderly father, Wallander has also lost his best friend on the police force to cancer. The new breed of crime rising in the early ‘90s in Sweden continues to shock him and makes him uncertain whether he shou...more
More political intrigue & drama than your usual police procedural. I want to like the Wallender series more than i do....
ps: What the hell is going on with this translation/edit? I was often distracted by wording and typos - and I'm far from a stickler for details, it's just that the flow of this book keeps getting interrupted for me by things such as the following:
"Weber had never cheated him, but he'd made up his mind once and for all that he was not [TO] be trusted". (p 2)
"We ought to be...more
ps: What the hell is going on with this translation/edit? I was often distracted by wording and typos - and I'm far from a stickler for details, it's just that the flow of this book keeps getting interrupted for me by things such as the following:
"Weber had never cheated him, but he'd made up his mind once and for all that he was not [TO] be trusted". (p 2)
"We ought to be...more
This second Kurt Wallander book was surpsingly different from the first. My dissapointment after what I thought was the start of a very promising police procedural series makes me rate this lower than the book probably deserves.
I was expecting another gloomy, realistic rendering of a murder case, and the first chapters offered me just that : a mysterious boat is found in the Baltic with two unidentified corpses in it. Wallander tries to unravel the mystery, but he has a hard time because there a...more
I was expecting another gloomy, realistic rendering of a murder case, and the first chapters offered me just that : a mysterious boat is found in the Baltic with two unidentified corpses in it. Wallander tries to unravel the mystery, but he has a hard time because there a...more
3 stars out of loyalty for the series, and because compared to some of the 2s I've awarded, at least Dogs of Riga is a stylistically painless read. But the bad news is that the whole story is utterly implausible - irritatingly so.
Shortly after the initial discovery of the bodies it is absolutely clear that the murders weren't committed in his jurisdiction, let alone his country and the victims not Swedish. Nonetheless after the death - not in Sweden - of a non-Swedish detective, Wallander is sud...more
Shortly after the initial discovery of the bodies it is absolutely clear that the murders weren't committed in his jurisdiction, let alone his country and the victims not Swedish. Nonetheless after the death - not in Sweden - of a non-Swedish detective, Wallander is sud...more
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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.
More about Henning Mankell...
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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“I'm a religious man," he said. "I don't believe in a particular
God, but even so one can have a faith, something beyond
the limits of rationality. Marxism has a large element of
built-in faith, although it claims to be a science and not
merely an ideology. This is my first visit to the West: until
now I have only been able to go to the Soviet Union or
Poland or the Baltic states. In your country I see an
abundance of material things. It seems to be unlimited. But
there's a difference between our countries that is also a
similarity. Both are poor. You see, poverty has different
faces. We lack the abundance that you have, and we don't
have the freedom of choice. In your country I detect a kind of poverty, which is that you do not need to fight for your
survival. For me the struggle has a religious dimension, and
I would not want to exchange that for your abundance.”
—
4 people liked it
God, but even so one can have a faith, something beyond
the limits of rationality. Marxism has a large element of
built-in faith, although it claims to be a science and not
merely an ideology. This is my first visit to the West: until
now I have only been able to go to the Soviet Union or
Poland or the Baltic states. In your country I see an
abundance of material things. It seems to be unlimited. But
there's a difference between our countries that is also a
similarity. Both are poor. You see, poverty has different
faces. We lack the abundance that you have, and we don't
have the freedom of choice. In your country I detect a kind of poverty, which is that you do not need to fight for your
survival. For me the struggle has a religious dimension, and
I would not want to exchange that for your abundance.”
“He was so excessively polite that Wallendar suspected he had endured many humiliations in his life.”
—
4 people liked it
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