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Linda Wallander #1
Before the Frost
Sweden’s bestselling and award-winning author Henning Mankell joins Vintage Canada with the first Kurt and Linda Wallander Mystery.
Linda Wallander is bored. Having just graduated from the police academy, she is waiting to start work at the Ystad police station and move into her own apartment. In the meantime, she is living with her father, and like fathers and daughters everywhere, they are driving each other crazy. Nor will they be able to escape each other when she moves out. Her father is Inspector Kurt Wallander, a veteran of the Ystad police force, whom she will have to work alongside. Linda’s boredom doesn’t last long. Soon she is embroiled in the case of her childhood friend Anna, who has inexplicably disappeared. A few rookie mistakes result in life-threatening scenarios. And as the case her father is working on dovetails with her own, something far more calculated and dangerous than either could have imagined begins to emerge.
Linda Wallander is bored. Having just graduated from the police academy, she is waiting to start work at the Ystad police station and move into her own apartment. In the meantime, she is living with her father, and like fathers and daughters everywhere, they are driving each other crazy. Nor will they be able to escape each other when she moves out. Her father is Inspector Kurt Wallander, a veteran of the Ystad police force, whom she will have to work alongside. Linda’s boredom doesn’t last long. Soon she is embroiled in the case of her childhood friend Anna, who has inexplicably disappeared. A few rookie mistakes result in life-threatening scenarios. And as the case her father is working on dovetails with her own, something far more calculated and dangerous than either could have imagined begins to emerge.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
883 people are currently reading
5288 people want to read
About the author
Henning Mankell
268 books3,818 followersHenning Mankell was an internationally known Swedish crime writer, children's author and playwright. He was best known for his literary character Kurt Wallander.
Mankell split his time between Sweden and Mozambique. He was married to Eva Bergman, Swedish director and daughter of Ingmar Bergman.
Mankell split his time between Sweden and Mozambique. He was married to Eva Bergman, Swedish director and daughter of Ingmar Bergman.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 869 reviews
December 29, 2020
This book, translated from the Swedish, is one of the Kurt Wallander series - Nordic noir. It’s different from the other books in the series in that the main protagonist is Wallander‘s daughter, Linda, who just graduated from the police academy. So most of the story is written from her point of view, not her father’s.
There’s an interesting story about this series. The book is subtitled Linda Wallander #1, but it’s the only one. Wikipedia states that Mankell began an intended trilogy of novels with her as the protagonist. However, following the suicide of the actress playing the character at the time in the Swedish TV series, Mankell (1948-2015), was so distraught that he decided to abandon the series after only the first novel.
The story is about a cult of religious fanatics intent on punishing “sinners” by ritual murder. The leader of the group has ties to the infamous cult in Jamestown, Guyana where more than 900 people committed forced suicide in 1978. But it turns out that Linda unknowingly has friends who have ties to the cult. So she gets directly involved and endangered.
Linda and her father have the same easily-triggered violent temper. At one point she flings an ashtray at him and cuts his face. They both yell and scream at each other while she temporarily lives with him. Her impending start as a full-fledged police officer in one week makes for a tricky on again, off-again situation for both of them. Since she is friendly with some people involved in the case, at times he tells her to stay out of it; at other times he invites her to come with him to interview suspects or witnesses. She’s erratic in her behavior too; at times acting professionally as she was trained, at other times going off on her own, not following procedures, and endangering herself and others.
As a geographer I particularly enjoyed one character who was a retired cultural geographer who spent her time cataloging and mapping ancient hiking trails in the woods. Unfortunately she is an early victim of the crazies.
One of the cult members gives money to a street beggar and then thinks “I’ll crush your face with a single blow, in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Christian uprising.”
A line I liked: “We lie to make our half-truths seem more plausible...”
It’s a complicated, tightly knit plot but it all hangs together and with frequent discussions between father and daughter we don’t get lost in the story.
It’s a good read and my third Wallander. I have given all of them “4’s” but I liked best the first in the series, Faceless Killers, then this one, and then The Man Who Smiled (#4 in the series).
Top photo: Ystad on Sweden's south coast where much of the story takes places
The author from inspector-wallander.org
There’s an interesting story about this series. The book is subtitled Linda Wallander #1, but it’s the only one. Wikipedia states that Mankell began an intended trilogy of novels with her as the protagonist. However, following the suicide of the actress playing the character at the time in the Swedish TV series, Mankell (1948-2015), was so distraught that he decided to abandon the series after only the first novel.
The story is about a cult of religious fanatics intent on punishing “sinners” by ritual murder. The leader of the group has ties to the infamous cult in Jamestown, Guyana where more than 900 people committed forced suicide in 1978. But it turns out that Linda unknowingly has friends who have ties to the cult. So she gets directly involved and endangered.
Linda and her father have the same easily-triggered violent temper. At one point she flings an ashtray at him and cuts his face. They both yell and scream at each other while she temporarily lives with him. Her impending start as a full-fledged police officer in one week makes for a tricky on again, off-again situation for both of them. Since she is friendly with some people involved in the case, at times he tells her to stay out of it; at other times he invites her to come with him to interview suspects or witnesses. She’s erratic in her behavior too; at times acting professionally as she was trained, at other times going off on her own, not following procedures, and endangering herself and others.
As a geographer I particularly enjoyed one character who was a retired cultural geographer who spent her time cataloging and mapping ancient hiking trails in the woods. Unfortunately she is an early victim of the crazies.
One of the cult members gives money to a street beggar and then thinks “I’ll crush your face with a single blow, in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Christian uprising.”
A line I liked: “We lie to make our half-truths seem more plausible...”
It’s a complicated, tightly knit plot but it all hangs together and with frequent discussions between father and daughter we don’t get lost in the story.
It’s a good read and my third Wallander. I have given all of them “4’s” but I liked best the first in the series, Faceless Killers, then this one, and then The Man Who Smiled (#4 in the series).
Top photo: Ystad on Sweden's south coast where much of the story takes places
The author from inspector-wallander.org
May 27, 2021
1.0 stars — I just finished my first ( and hopefully last) book by Henning Mankell. I was hoping that Mankell might be another Jo Nesbo but “Before the Frost” was nowhere close to any of Nesbo’s works. My main issue with the book was the very slow pace of the novel. There are large sections in the book where absolutely nothing happens and the stilted unrealistic dialogue between characters drones on for page after page. The main character, Linda Wallander , has just been hired as a police officer at the same department as her father, a detective who has been with the force for some time. Their love/ hate relationship is supposed to provide some tension or comedic fodder but instead feels forced and unrealistic. The central mystery as well as the villains in the book also fall flat. Their ridiculous religious purity motive for committing the crimes has been done much better in many books I have read. Any book that you finish with the thought “ thank gosh” is not one I would recommend to anyone. Hopefully, Mankell has improved since he wrote this one, and one day I might have the courage to read him again.... but I doubt it.
December 22, 2020
The first and last Kurt Wallander book from Henning Mankell that features Wallander's daughter Linda, just on the cusp of her career. Intended to be the first in a trilogy, Mankell was too distraught to continue writing it when the woman who was playing Linda in a film adaptation of the book, and a good friend, committed suicide.
I was a little confused about how I felt about the book in places. For the first half it was my favorite of all the nine Wallander books I have read, but then it lost steam for me as the plot got more and more outlandish. Not sure I still feel about it all. But there are many things I really liked about it, so maybe I'll work things out for myself as I write.
The 2002 book's prologue focuses on the 1978 story of Jim Jones of the People's Temple who, in Guyana, got more than 900 of his followers to commit suicide and/or he and his chief assistants murdered them. The book was written in the aftermath of 9/11 and focuses on the issue of violent religious fanaticism/terrorism. It features a guy who we are told managed to escape that horrific day only to recreate his own version of it in Sweden, involving murder/suicide/church bombings all in the name of religion, ostensibly in response to abortion (recalling Planned Parenthood bombings, killing in the name of religion).
So it would seem Henning is in in this book in a state of how own righteous wrath over religious terrorism; there's a lot of outrageous violence and cruelty in the book, including the burning of swans, the burning of an animal clinic, the decapitation of a woman. We have to connect the dots between all these events and the prologue and two missing friends of Linda's.
Linda graduated from the Police Academy in the spring, but can't begin police work with her father until the fall. She meets old friend Anna who thinks she has seen her (Anna's) father who has been missing for several years. Then Anna herself goes missing for a few days, and yet another friend goes missing. And Linda, Wallander makes clear, is not yet a cop and is probably over-reacting about a friend who probably just skipped town for a couple days. Stop investigating this stuff, she is told!
The tale is told in third person but from the perspective of Linda, so we see for the first time Wallander through her daughter's eyes. We never knew why Mona left Kurt, but find that it was his violent (!) temper, and we not only hear of incidents of Kurt's temper from Linda's past but we see both Linda and her father violently angry at each other in this book. Yes, we find that Kurt once had hit Mona, and yes, Linda draws blood when she throws an ashtray at her father.
So we have loved Wallander in the series as depressed, grumpy, and yes he has an explosive temper, but we are willing to set this all aside because we have come to love him, and we have never (until now) seen him as angry as he is at his daughter in this book. It recalls the anger between Kurt and his father, who had the beginning of Alzheimer's when he died, and makes you worry about the unhealthy and angry Wallander and where things may end up for him.
Linda makes lots of rookie mistakes, recalling the tale of Wallander's own impulsive rookie mistakes in the novella, "Wallander's First Case," (in Pyramid, 1999). So these parallels with Wallander's early life abound in this book. He is a lone wolf who breaks the law to solve cases, and so is she. But in this book Wallander rages bout his daughter's mistakes, her doing police work behind his back.
The resolution is kind of outlandish, over-the-top, a rescue that involves Anna's estranged father and the Jim Jones escapee and Wallander and his daughter and churches on fire and yes, violence. I thought it was a little too crazy, but was it any more outrageous than Jim Jones (responsible for the phrase "drinking the kool-aid") or 9/11 or Waco and the Branch Davidians? or the bombing of black churches by white "Christians"?
Ultimately I guess I liked it quite a lot, it'll be one of the most memorable in the series for me, maybe in part because it ties the murderous religious violence in the global community to the milder but still concerning Wallander family violence in the small town of Yslip, Sweden. Maybe it raises the issue about our own righteous wrath about things we disagree with, as is relevant in the USA right now. True, we like Wallander a little less now, after this book, but maybe he becomes a little more interesting as he gets angrier.
I was a little confused about how I felt about the book in places. For the first half it was my favorite of all the nine Wallander books I have read, but then it lost steam for me as the plot got more and more outlandish. Not sure I still feel about it all. But there are many things I really liked about it, so maybe I'll work things out for myself as I write.
The 2002 book's prologue focuses on the 1978 story of Jim Jones of the People's Temple who, in Guyana, got more than 900 of his followers to commit suicide and/or he and his chief assistants murdered them. The book was written in the aftermath of 9/11 and focuses on the issue of violent religious fanaticism/terrorism. It features a guy who we are told managed to escape that horrific day only to recreate his own version of it in Sweden, involving murder/suicide/church bombings all in the name of religion, ostensibly in response to abortion (recalling Planned Parenthood bombings, killing in the name of religion).
So it would seem Henning is in in this book in a state of how own righteous wrath over religious terrorism; there's a lot of outrageous violence and cruelty in the book, including the burning of swans, the burning of an animal clinic, the decapitation of a woman. We have to connect the dots between all these events and the prologue and two missing friends of Linda's.
Linda graduated from the Police Academy in the spring, but can't begin police work with her father until the fall. She meets old friend Anna who thinks she has seen her (Anna's) father who has been missing for several years. Then Anna herself goes missing for a few days, and yet another friend goes missing. And Linda, Wallander makes clear, is not yet a cop and is probably over-reacting about a friend who probably just skipped town for a couple days. Stop investigating this stuff, she is told!
The tale is told in third person but from the perspective of Linda, so we see for the first time Wallander through her daughter's eyes. We never knew why Mona left Kurt, but find that it was his violent (!) temper, and we not only hear of incidents of Kurt's temper from Linda's past but we see both Linda and her father violently angry at each other in this book. Yes, we find that Kurt once had hit Mona, and yes, Linda draws blood when she throws an ashtray at her father.
So we have loved Wallander in the series as depressed, grumpy, and yes he has an explosive temper, but we are willing to set this all aside because we have come to love him, and we have never (until now) seen him as angry as he is at his daughter in this book. It recalls the anger between Kurt and his father, who had the beginning of Alzheimer's when he died, and makes you worry about the unhealthy and angry Wallander and where things may end up for him.
Linda makes lots of rookie mistakes, recalling the tale of Wallander's own impulsive rookie mistakes in the novella, "Wallander's First Case," (in Pyramid, 1999). So these parallels with Wallander's early life abound in this book. He is a lone wolf who breaks the law to solve cases, and so is she. But in this book Wallander rages bout his daughter's mistakes, her doing police work behind his back.
The resolution is kind of outlandish, over-the-top, a rescue that involves Anna's estranged father and the Jim Jones escapee and Wallander and his daughter and churches on fire and yes, violence. I thought it was a little too crazy, but was it any more outrageous than Jim Jones (responsible for the phrase "drinking the kool-aid") or 9/11 or Waco and the Branch Davidians? or the bombing of black churches by white "Christians"?
Ultimately I guess I liked it quite a lot, it'll be one of the most memorable in the series for me, maybe in part because it ties the murderous religious violence in the global community to the milder but still concerning Wallander family violence in the small town of Yslip, Sweden. Maybe it raises the issue about our own righteous wrath about things we disagree with, as is relevant in the USA right now. True, we like Wallander a little less now, after this book, but maybe he becomes a little more interesting as he gets angrier.
July 30, 2011
I'm not quite ready to give up on the Swedish mysteries but this one has me close to it. What a horrid, spoiled, immature brat the main character, Linda Wallander is - very unlikable. I was wishing one of the bad guys would off her so the story would end. There were parts that I had to laugh at and had me wondering if perhaps the author is totally unaware of how a young woman should be. The plot held promise but that quickly died after the 2nd chapter as the main character had one tantrum after the other.
I did like the series Wallander starring Kenneth Brannagh, however and might have to take one more stab at Henning Mankell's work before giving up on the Swedes altogether.
I'd forgotten that I did read and liked very much Henning Mankell's The Man From Beijing. I have to think Before the Frost must have been either an off time for him or maybe he was under a big deadline to get Before the Frost out?!
I did like the series Wallander starring Kenneth Brannagh, however and might have to take one more stab at Henning Mankell's work before giving up on the Swedes altogether.
I'd forgotten that I did read and liked very much Henning Mankell's The Man From Beijing. I have to think Before the Frost must have been either an off time for him or maybe he was under a big deadline to get Before the Frost out?!
September 10, 2018
Mankell is one of the best ever.amazing story and a nice combination of Wallander and his daughter Linda who joins the forece.
May 18, 2020
Excelente novela de Mankell. Compleja trama que parece no tener fin. Impecable la relación entre padre e hija. Totalmente creíble. Fue mi primer novela de este autor, pero no será la última. El fanatismo religioso es algo muy peligroso y el autor ha podido plasmar con maestria el miedo de los personajes.
Excellent Mankell novel. Complex plot that seems to have no end. The relationship between father and daughter is impeccable. Totally credible. It was my first novel of this author, but it will not be the last.
The religious fanaticism is something very dangerous and the author has been able to masterfully express the fear of the characters.
Excellent Mankell novel. Complex plot that seems to have no end. The relationship between father and daughter is impeccable. Totally credible. It was my first novel of this author, but it will not be the last.
The religious fanaticism is something very dangerous and the author has been able to masterfully express the fear of the characters.
July 26, 2025
Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander is one of the quintessential protagonists of solid Scandi Noir. He epitomises so much of the character and personality of the somewhat damaged and broody detective who gives himself to relentlessly solving some of the darkest crimes that Sweden has to offer.
I finished the Wallander series last year - a ten book set that I have loved and savoured. Beyond the Frost is almost like the 11th book in the series, however, it’s actually the first in the Linda Wallander series. Linda is Kurt’s daughter and we meet her a number of times in the main book series. Her decision to follow in her dad’s footsteps and become a police officer is the motivation for what was to be a three part series. Unfortunately due to the suicide death of the actor playing her part in the tv Wallander series, Mankell did not follow through with this plan so hence, we have just this one.
Beyond the Frost is kind of like two Wallanders for the price of one. Both Kurt and Linda feature heavily in this book and I must admit I felt I saw a slightly different side to Kurt than I had seen previously. A bit more aggressive, aloof and not as kind as I had assumed him to be. Perhaps seeing him through the eyes of Linda brings a different perspective.
The storyline was relatively interesting although a few tried and true cliches that didn’t really interest me. Overall a good read and I definitely would have been keen to read the next two books had they been written. Probably 3.5 stars rounded down I think.
I finished the Wallander series last year - a ten book set that I have loved and savoured. Beyond the Frost is almost like the 11th book in the series, however, it’s actually the first in the Linda Wallander series. Linda is Kurt’s daughter and we meet her a number of times in the main book series. Her decision to follow in her dad’s footsteps and become a police officer is the motivation for what was to be a three part series. Unfortunately due to the suicide death of the actor playing her part in the tv Wallander series, Mankell did not follow through with this plan so hence, we have just this one.
Beyond the Frost is kind of like two Wallanders for the price of one. Both Kurt and Linda feature heavily in this book and I must admit I felt I saw a slightly different side to Kurt than I had seen previously. A bit more aggressive, aloof and not as kind as I had assumed him to be. Perhaps seeing him through the eyes of Linda brings a different perspective.
The storyline was relatively interesting although a few tried and true cliches that didn’t really interest me. Overall a good read and I definitely would have been keen to read the next two books had they been written. Probably 3.5 stars rounded down I think.
January 11, 2010
I'm a huge Henning Mankell fan, and I love Kurt Wallander. All through the series, his daughter Linda has always been there, but here she plays a major role. The book is touted as "a Kurt and Linda Wallander novel," and from that I gather that he's planning to write more with the father-daughter duo as a unit. After Wallander solo, it's going to be tough, because that particular series is so good that it's really difficult to top. And thus, we come to this particular novel, Before the Frost.
The novel opens with, of all things, an escapee from the horrible Jonestown Massacre that happened in Guyana in November of 1978. Fast forward a few years to an unknown figure setting swans on fire in Sweden. What the two have in common will be made obvious as the story progresses.
Linda Wallander has finished up at the police academy and is waiting for her first assignment in Ystad. For the time being she's staying with her dad, Inspector Wallander, and decides to go catch up with some old friends. One of these friends, Anna, tells Linda that she's just seen her long-lost father, then Anna disappears. Linda tries to get her father interested in finding Anna, but Kurt Wallander and his team are looking into the disappearance and death of another woman, whose name mysteriously appears in Anna's journal, later found by Linda. The coincidence leads Wallander to believe that maybe Linda's got something here. From here, the story takes several strange twists and turns, and the investigation leads them to a rather bizarre group who have set a deadline for something terrible to happen.
To be honest, this isn't my favorite book featuring Kurt Wallander. It tends to drag in places, is a bit melodramatic, and the core mystery is a bit over the top, as in the prior book featuring Wallander, Firewall. Considering that this is "Kurt and Linda" Wallander novel, Kurt tends to play less of a role than his daughter. My guess is that Mankell wants the readers to become more familiar with Linda in her new role, especially if there will be more novels featuring this pair. Many of the other characters, especially the really bad guys, just didn't ring true to me, and it seemed like the addition of Linda in her new role toned down the edginess and suspense of Mankell's other Wallander novels.
Mankell is great at police procedurals as well as intense social criticism, and that's what keeps me reading his books. It will definitely be interesting (if he chooses to continue the series featuring father and daughter) to see if Linda Wallander and younger members of the police turn out to be as cynical about their society as is Kurt Wallander and his group, or if the generational aspect leads them to view things in a different light. I would still recommend it for Mankell and Wallander fans, and for fans of Swedish crime novels in general. I wouldn't make this one my first Wallander novel, but would definitely start with Faceless Killers and move through the series in order.
Overall...not my favorite, but it wasn't bad, either.
The novel opens with, of all things, an escapee from the horrible Jonestown Massacre that happened in Guyana in November of 1978. Fast forward a few years to an unknown figure setting swans on fire in Sweden. What the two have in common will be made obvious as the story progresses.
Linda Wallander has finished up at the police academy and is waiting for her first assignment in Ystad. For the time being she's staying with her dad, Inspector Wallander, and decides to go catch up with some old friends. One of these friends, Anna, tells Linda that she's just seen her long-lost father, then Anna disappears. Linda tries to get her father interested in finding Anna, but Kurt Wallander and his team are looking into the disappearance and death of another woman, whose name mysteriously appears in Anna's journal, later found by Linda. The coincidence leads Wallander to believe that maybe Linda's got something here. From here, the story takes several strange twists and turns, and the investigation leads them to a rather bizarre group who have set a deadline for something terrible to happen.
To be honest, this isn't my favorite book featuring Kurt Wallander. It tends to drag in places, is a bit melodramatic, and the core mystery is a bit over the top, as in the prior book featuring Wallander, Firewall. Considering that this is "Kurt and Linda" Wallander novel, Kurt tends to play less of a role than his daughter. My guess is that Mankell wants the readers to become more familiar with Linda in her new role, especially if there will be more novels featuring this pair. Many of the other characters, especially the really bad guys, just didn't ring true to me, and it seemed like the addition of Linda in her new role toned down the edginess and suspense of Mankell's other Wallander novels.
Mankell is great at police procedurals as well as intense social criticism, and that's what keeps me reading his books. It will definitely be interesting (if he chooses to continue the series featuring father and daughter) to see if Linda Wallander and younger members of the police turn out to be as cynical about their society as is Kurt Wallander and his group, or if the generational aspect leads them to view things in a different light. I would still recommend it for Mankell and Wallander fans, and for fans of Swedish crime novels in general. I wouldn't make this one my first Wallander novel, but would definitely start with Faceless Killers and move through the series in order.
Overall...not my favorite, but it wasn't bad, either.
February 18, 2011
Mankell's novels are not bad usually, but this one was completely off the mark simply because of the main character. Linda Wallander is just graduated from the police academy and waiting through the summer until she begins her posting as a new police officer, in the same precinct as her famous detective father, Kurt Wallander. At the end of the summer, Linda entangles herself in a friend's disappearance, which (surprise, surprise) ends up tied into a case her father is working on.
What irritated me the most was the Linda acted like a total idiot throughout the novel. She did everything wrong--doing things she wasn't supposed to, saying things she shouldn't, sticking her nose way into too many stupid places. And what's even worse is that she realizes she's being stupid--and yet she doesn't stop! By the end of the novel, I was actually wanting her to die because of her stupidity. I simply could not muster any sympathy for her.
I know that a lot of police mysteries are based around a reckless cop, who bends and breaks the rules in the call of justice. But Linda clearly had no idea what she was doing and seemed to be breaking the rules simply out of boredom and a need to piss of her father. And that's the other thing that annoyed me. In the couple other Mankell novels I've read, Kurt Wallander was set up to be a good guy. A big, taciturn, thoughtful cop who puts his work above his personal relationship. Now, all of a sudden, he's portrayed as an abusive father with anger-control issues. He's a completely different character than I remember from other novels.
Overall, very disappointing.
What irritated me the most was the Linda acted like a total idiot throughout the novel. She did everything wrong--doing things she wasn't supposed to, saying things she shouldn't, sticking her nose way into too many stupid places. And what's even worse is that she realizes she's being stupid--and yet she doesn't stop! By the end of the novel, I was actually wanting her to die because of her stupidity. I simply could not muster any sympathy for her.
I know that a lot of police mysteries are based around a reckless cop, who bends and breaks the rules in the call of justice. But Linda clearly had no idea what she was doing and seemed to be breaking the rules simply out of boredom and a need to piss of her father. And that's the other thing that annoyed me. In the couple other Mankell novels I've read, Kurt Wallander was set up to be a good guy. A big, taciturn, thoughtful cop who puts his work above his personal relationship. Now, all of a sudden, he's portrayed as an abusive father with anger-control issues. He's a completely different character than I remember from other novels.
Overall, very disappointing.
September 15, 2014
"Che noia, che barba, che barba, che noia!" (cit.)
Questo è il primo libro di Mankell che leggo e molto probabilmente non il più indicato per accostarsi ad uno scrittore che in genere riscuote recensioni tanto entusiastiche.
Ad eccezione di alcune (poche) scene inquietanti, come l'immagine iniziale dei cigni dati alle fiamme, ho trovato la trama poco originale e piuttosto prevedibile negli esiti; certi dettagli dell'indagine, poi, sono alquanto inverosimili.
I personaggi appaiono scialbi, privi di fascino, di magnetismo o, più semplicemente, di simpatia: in particolare, la figura di Linda risulta a tratti irritante nella sua puntigliosa smania di agire contro ogni elementare norma di correttezza e buon senso. Sfruttato il tema del conflitto generazionale col padre; banale l'epilogo della vicenda; soporiferi i dialoghi e le digressioni "psicologiche".
Ho regalato una stelletta alla valutazione per l'ambientazione nordica che mi attrae sempre e per quelle (poche) scene inquietanti che mi avevano fatto sperare in una lettura appassionante.
Questo è il primo libro di Mankell che leggo e molto probabilmente non il più indicato per accostarsi ad uno scrittore che in genere riscuote recensioni tanto entusiastiche.
Ad eccezione di alcune (poche) scene inquietanti, come l'immagine iniziale dei cigni dati alle fiamme, ho trovato la trama poco originale e piuttosto prevedibile negli esiti; certi dettagli dell'indagine, poi, sono alquanto inverosimili.
I personaggi appaiono scialbi, privi di fascino, di magnetismo o, più semplicemente, di simpatia: in particolare, la figura di Linda risulta a tratti irritante nella sua puntigliosa smania di agire contro ogni elementare norma di correttezza e buon senso. Sfruttato il tema del conflitto generazionale col padre; banale l'epilogo della vicenda; soporiferi i dialoghi e le digressioni "psicologiche".
Ho regalato una stelletta alla valutazione per l'ambientazione nordica che mi attrae sempre e per quelle (poche) scene inquietanti che mi avevano fatto sperare in una lettura appassionante.
February 4, 2024
Can’t recommend, I don’t want to see things from the perpetrator’s pow.
August 30, 2010
I read this book after watching Kenneth Branagh play Swedish Detective Kurt Wallender in the BBC mini-series. Very moody, atmospheric; very muffled in tone, very Swedish. But the plots wear a bit thin. Not that one minds when one has Kenneth Branagh to contemplate. He is an eternally engaging actor. Anyway, Before the Frost is actually subtitled "A Linda Wallender Mystery," concerning principally his daughter, who is poised to join the Ystad police force herself.
The book was OK. I'm terrible at rating thrillers and mysteries. I have no real basis on which to review them and can only sheepishly confess that I read them from time to time in order to clear my intellectual palate. Can I tell good from bad, tropes from originality? I doubt it. However, comparing this to, for instance, the obvious choice, the Swedish Stieg Larsson trilogy, it's clear that Larsson was a master plotter capable of weaving dozens of sturdy strands at a time into his big design. Mankell's skills are more modest, though the character of Wallender himself does intrigue. He's not quite perfect in the way that the main character of the Cracker series was frustratingly imperfect, yet still somehow likeable, still relatable. Women are not falling all over themselves to bed our Wallender, who from time to time, caught up in a case, is (we are told) smelly, soiled, rumpled, distant, difficult, selfish, and tousled-but-not-in-a-good-way. But He Always Gets His Man. Here, the contrasts with other books end. I guess they all do, the protagonists of these books - get their man. Otherwise it would be far too unsatisfying to read them to the end.
Now I'm working my way through all the Wallender books available for the Kindle (I consume books on the Kindle; while I read, savor and work my way through books in HB or PB - 'dead tree books,' as the Kindle fanatics on the Kindle forums call them). It's that time of year. Yes, when I'm again putting off immersing myself in Paradise Lost. And Clarissa.
What I really want to do, actually, is watch endless Wallender movies starring Kenneth Branagh. Alas, there are only three and I've already seen all of them.
The book was OK. I'm terrible at rating thrillers and mysteries. I have no real basis on which to review them and can only sheepishly confess that I read them from time to time in order to clear my intellectual palate. Can I tell good from bad, tropes from originality? I doubt it. However, comparing this to, for instance, the obvious choice, the Swedish Stieg Larsson trilogy, it's clear that Larsson was a master plotter capable of weaving dozens of sturdy strands at a time into his big design. Mankell's skills are more modest, though the character of Wallender himself does intrigue. He's not quite perfect in the way that the main character of the Cracker series was frustratingly imperfect, yet still somehow likeable, still relatable. Women are not falling all over themselves to bed our Wallender, who from time to time, caught up in a case, is (we are told) smelly, soiled, rumpled, distant, difficult, selfish, and tousled-but-not-in-a-good-way. But He Always Gets His Man. Here, the contrasts with other books end. I guess they all do, the protagonists of these books - get their man. Otherwise it would be far too unsatisfying to read them to the end.
Now I'm working my way through all the Wallender books available for the Kindle (I consume books on the Kindle; while I read, savor and work my way through books in HB or PB - 'dead tree books,' as the Kindle fanatics on the Kindle forums call them). It's that time of year. Yes, when I'm again putting off immersing myself in Paradise Lost. And Clarissa.
What I really want to do, actually, is watch endless Wallender movies starring Kenneth Branagh. Alas, there are only three and I've already seen all of them.
March 30, 2025
Con lo mucho que me gusta la saga de Wallander, está novela no me ha gustado nada. Se me hizo largo y lento y toda la trama protagonizada por Linda Wallander estaba llena de incongruencias y elementos poco creíbles.
Espero que la próxima vuelva a lo que solía ser.
Espero que la próxima vuelva a lo que solía ser.
January 12, 2019
I'm typically not much of a detective/mystery reader, but I really like Henning Mankell and the ongoing saga of Kurt Wallander, though the focus in this particular novel is primarily on his daughter Linda who is joining the police force with him. Mankell is so good developing plot and character, really pushing the limits of the mystery genre, and the series overall is staggeringly good.
I'm slowly but surely reading through all of the Wallander books, in German no less, to keep up and I hope to improve my knowledge of Deutsch. I mean, I can't read Swedish, so I'd be reading the novels in translation if I read them in English--so I might as well get double value out of my reading.
I'm slowly but surely reading through all of the Wallander books, in German no less, to keep up and I hope to improve my knowledge of Deutsch. I mean, I can't read Swedish, so I'd be reading the novels in translation if I read them in English--so I might as well get double value out of my reading.
August 26, 2013
I don't think I can correctly describe how I feel about this book. It was strange and just felt "off" in a number of places. Normally I really like Swedish crime novels and was really looking forward to the first by this author. I wish I hadn't started with this one, although, now they can probably only get better.
I think I could enjoy the character of Kurt Wallander in another setting where he is not overshadowed by the annoying character of his daughter Linda Wallander. She is 30 but comes across and has the dialogue of a 16 year old. She is constantly saying things like...."I knew something was there if I could only clear my head and remember..." and then a few pages later...."I was really mad and suddenly I remembered what it was...." this happened over and over.
Linda's character has just finished the police academy and is about 5 days away from officially starting. She will be working in the same place as her father, but as a patrol officer. Of course in this book she gets herself all caught up in his murder investigation. Her relationship with her father and her friends seems so juvenile at times, that I almost laughed out loud. This book isn't supposed to be funny, it deals with very disturbing subject matter. Here is one example...."Linda swept a salt shaker and a vase of withered roses to the floor. He had gone to far. She rushed out into the hallway, grabbed her coat, and slammed the front door behind her. I hate him, she thought, fumbling in her pocket for the keys. I hate his endless nagging." This might work between a 16 year old her father, but these are two adult police officers discussing a murder investigation!!!
Linda is also constantly "doing" police work she shouldn't be.....over and over throughout the book she says..."I'm not the person who should be doing this....."
My personal favorite though would have to be...."People have been murdered, Linda. This isn't an exercise at the police academy." Linda grabbed an ashtray from the table and threw it at him, hitting him right above the eyebrow. Blood ran down his face and dripped on Harriet Bolson's file. "I didn't mean to do that." Wallander pressed a fistful of napkins against the gash. "I just can't stand it when you needle me," she said. This scene took place in a conference room at the police station!!!! Really? Most of the Swedish crime I have read is hardcore....this seemed at times, just silly.
I have to believe some of this may have to do with the fact that it is translated. There are something like 10 Kurt Wallander books previous to this one, so I think I need to try one of them. The actual story itself was very interesting subject matter and some of the other characters were much stronger than Linda.
I think I could enjoy the character of Kurt Wallander in another setting where he is not overshadowed by the annoying character of his daughter Linda Wallander. She is 30 but comes across and has the dialogue of a 16 year old. She is constantly saying things like...."I knew something was there if I could only clear my head and remember..." and then a few pages later...."I was really mad and suddenly I remembered what it was...." this happened over and over.
Linda's character has just finished the police academy and is about 5 days away from officially starting. She will be working in the same place as her father, but as a patrol officer. Of course in this book she gets herself all caught up in his murder investigation. Her relationship with her father and her friends seems so juvenile at times, that I almost laughed out loud. This book isn't supposed to be funny, it deals with very disturbing subject matter. Here is one example...."Linda swept a salt shaker and a vase of withered roses to the floor. He had gone to far. She rushed out into the hallway, grabbed her coat, and slammed the front door behind her. I hate him, she thought, fumbling in her pocket for the keys. I hate his endless nagging." This might work between a 16 year old her father, but these are two adult police officers discussing a murder investigation!!!
Linda is also constantly "doing" police work she shouldn't be.....over and over throughout the book she says..."I'm not the person who should be doing this....."
My personal favorite though would have to be...."People have been murdered, Linda. This isn't an exercise at the police academy." Linda grabbed an ashtray from the table and threw it at him, hitting him right above the eyebrow. Blood ran down his face and dripped on Harriet Bolson's file. "I didn't mean to do that." Wallander pressed a fistful of napkins against the gash. "I just can't stand it when you needle me," she said. This scene took place in a conference room at the police station!!!! Really? Most of the Swedish crime I have read is hardcore....this seemed at times, just silly.
I have to believe some of this may have to do with the fact that it is translated. There are something like 10 Kurt Wallander books previous to this one, so I think I need to try one of them. The actual story itself was very interesting subject matter and some of the other characters were much stronger than Linda.
January 16, 2021
Detective Kurt Wallander's daughter Linda is about to join him on the police force in the town of Ystad in southern Sweden, and while she is waiting to start work Linda re-establishes contact with a couple of old school friends, Anna and Zeba. Then Anna says she thiinks she has seen her father, who had been missing for many years, and shortly afterwards goes missing herself. Linda begins searching for Anna, and thinks her disappearance may be linked to a case her father is working on, of animals that have been cruelly killed and then a murder, that seems to be linked to a religious motive.
Until about halfway through, I thought that this was the best book Henning Mankell had written. The point of view has shifted to Linda Wallander, and we see her father through her eyes, rather than his own rather jaundiced view of the world, and his battles with booze. There seem to be too many boozy policeman novels nowadays.
The second half doesn't hang together too well, and there seems to be too much of the deus ex machina. Perhaps, however, that is more what real police work is like -- strokes of luck and chance happenings.
Despite these faults, however, it is still one of Mankell's better novels.
Until about halfway through, I thought that this was the best book Henning Mankell had written. The point of view has shifted to Linda Wallander, and we see her father through her eyes, rather than his own rather jaundiced view of the world, and his battles with booze. There seem to be too many boozy policeman novels nowadays.
The second half doesn't hang together too well, and there seems to be too much of the deus ex machina. Perhaps, however, that is more what real police work is like -- strokes of luck and chance happenings.
Despite these faults, however, it is still one of Mankell's better novels.
December 13, 2016
As it turns out, Linda is an insufferable idiot and Kurt a permanently angry man. I normally like Wallander books but this one was exasperating. Two stars.
October 4, 2008
I really recommend reading the Wallender books in order -- and this is the last. It's actually mostly from Linda, Wallender's daughter's, viewpoint and is very telling about the great man. This is my favorite of the books for that reason. What is so wonderful about this series is that, although you get a well crafted mystery, you also get deep insight about the character of Wallender. Compared to the Sue Grafton alphabet series, this is head and shoulders above. Kinsey is a fairly static character while Wallender is always changing and growing and gaining new insight while we gain new insight into his thinking and observations. And when is that poor man going to get that house and his dog...
May 27, 2017
Αυτα περι του Θεου ηταν μαλακίες κ πολυ βαρετά - για αυτο, 3 αστερια - κ το τελος ετσι κ ετσι...
3 stars coz those parts regarding God, to me, was boring AF and the end was underwhelming. An ok story nevertheless..
3 stars coz those parts regarding God, to me, was boring AF and the end was underwhelming. An ok story nevertheless..
December 14, 2020
Καταπληκτικός Mankell!!!
February 7, 2017
"As florestas de Ystad não escondem monstros. Muito menos trolls." Mas a verdade é que algo se esconde nos bosques que rodeiam Ystad e é da responsabilidade da dupla Wallander descobrir a verdade.
Um homem reaparece após 24 anos. No dia seguinte, uma mulher desaparece.
O prólogo de "Before The Frost" baseia-se em factos verídicos.Dia 18 de Novembro de 1978, Jim Jones,um fanático religioso que fundou uma cidade chamada Jonestown em Guiana, incentivou os seus seguidores ao suicídio colectivo. É neste contexto que conhecemos a primeira personagem deste enredo.
Estamos no ano de 2001. Linda Carolina Wallander muda-se para o número de 10 de Mariagatan, onde vai viver com o seu pai até começar a trabalhar. A poucos dias de vestir o uniforme e trabalhar na mesma esquadra que o seu progenitor, Linda vê-se envolvida numa investigação com dimensões religiosas.
Apesar de ser uma mera espectadora no caso liderado pelo pai, esta persistente mulher tenta desvendar a verdade por sua iniciativa própria. Motivada pelos laços de amizade que a une à desaparecida, toma decisões que nem sempre revelam ser as mais acertadas. Mas Kurt Wallander está sempre do seu lado, para a repreender ou felicitar, e Linda aprende com o melhor dos melhores.
Henning Mankell apresenta-nos devidamente e pela primeira vez, a filha do seu famoso e incomparável inspector Kurt Wallander. Esta obra é a primeira e única de uma trilogia cuja protagonista é tão teimosa e critica quanto o seu pai. Afinal, quem sai aos seus não degenera.
Tal como o seu pai também Kurt Wallander teve dificuldade em aceitar a decisão de Linda de ser policia. A relação de ambos sempre foi conflituosa e tumultuosa e neste livro as suas discussões vão ser acentuadas pelo facto de estarem na presença um do outro quase 24 horas por dia.
Pelos olhos de Linda, o leitor viaja pelos arredores de Ystad e visita locais já conhecidos. Apesar de ser a personagem principal, o papel de Kurt é fundamental para o enredo. Felizmente, o escritor sueco não optou por o colocar em segundo plano. Pai e filha trabalham juntos nesta investigação que à medida que avança adquire contornos cada vez mais assustadores.
Sendo a nossa protagonista uma bela mulher, "Before The Frost" oferece-nos uma ténue amostra do que pode ser um principio de um romance. Stefan Lindman é um novo reforço da esquadra que é apresentado a Linda, por Kurt, quando esta se encontra presa numa armadilha de raposas. Neste encontro peculiar, Linda simpatiza logo com o novo policia. Relativamente à vida amorosa, para os fãs de Kurt Wallander, devo avisar-vos que não se prevêem alterações. Solitário, como sempre, com Baiba Liepa ainda no pensamento, vive para o seu trabalho.
As personagens de Mankell são, como sempre e acima de tudo, humanas. Conhecemos uma mulher cuja profissão é traçar trilhos, uma economista empertigada, um jogador de xadrez que vive ao sabor do vento, um fanático que afirma representar Deus na terra, um norueguês mentalmente instável, uma prostituta ilegal russa e uma mãe que toca piano. Nenhuma personagem é secundárias e não existem pequenos papéis. Todas são importantes para a história. E é esta capacidade de Henning Mankell que me fascina e continuará a surpreender, por mais livros que leia escritos por ele.
Os acontecimentos do livro "Before The Frost" passam-se entre os livros "A Muralha Invisível" e "O Homem Inquieto"É de destacar as várias referências a investigações, personagens e acontecimentos de todos os livros anteriores da série do Kurt Wallander.
Na perspectiva de Linda, conhecemos outro lado de Kurt Wallander. Durante toda a narrativa Linda partilhas memórias da sua infância e adolescência, revivendo momentos bons e maus, em que os seus progenitores desempenham um papel importante.
Quanto ao desfecho não podia ser mais misterioso. Como seria de esperar de um livro que aborda uma temática religiosa, muitas perguntas são deixadas sem respostas. Para além de um thriller fascinante, somos levados a uma reflexão mais profunda sobre as crenças do ser humano.
Infelizmente sei que não vou ter a oportunidade de conhecer melhor esta jovem mulher que, apesar de não querer admitir, tem todos os traços característicos do seu pai. No final deste livro, Henning Mankell faz uma introdução à vida que espera a sua nova heroína, deixando o leitor em pulgas para o próximo caso. Tal como Kurt Wallander, também Linda não me desiludiu, muito pelo contrário, revelou-se uma surpresa muito agradável. Mas entendo e apoio a decisão do autor de não desenvolver esta personagem, após a morte da actriz que a representava na série televisiva. Afinal, um herói tão humano como Kurt Wallander só podia ser espelho do seu criador.
Um homem reaparece após 24 anos. No dia seguinte, uma mulher desaparece.
O prólogo de "Before The Frost" baseia-se em factos verídicos.Dia 18 de Novembro de 1978, Jim Jones,um fanático religioso que fundou uma cidade chamada Jonestown em Guiana, incentivou os seus seguidores ao suicídio colectivo. É neste contexto que conhecemos a primeira personagem deste enredo.
Estamos no ano de 2001. Linda Carolina Wallander muda-se para o número de 10 de Mariagatan, onde vai viver com o seu pai até começar a trabalhar. A poucos dias de vestir o uniforme e trabalhar na mesma esquadra que o seu progenitor, Linda vê-se envolvida numa investigação com dimensões religiosas.
Apesar de ser uma mera espectadora no caso liderado pelo pai, esta persistente mulher tenta desvendar a verdade por sua iniciativa própria. Motivada pelos laços de amizade que a une à desaparecida, toma decisões que nem sempre revelam ser as mais acertadas. Mas Kurt Wallander está sempre do seu lado, para a repreender ou felicitar, e Linda aprende com o melhor dos melhores.
Henning Mankell apresenta-nos devidamente e pela primeira vez, a filha do seu famoso e incomparável inspector Kurt Wallander. Esta obra é a primeira e única de uma trilogia cuja protagonista é tão teimosa e critica quanto o seu pai. Afinal, quem sai aos seus não degenera.
Tal como o seu pai também Kurt Wallander teve dificuldade em aceitar a decisão de Linda de ser policia. A relação de ambos sempre foi conflituosa e tumultuosa e neste livro as suas discussões vão ser acentuadas pelo facto de estarem na presença um do outro quase 24 horas por dia.
Pelos olhos de Linda, o leitor viaja pelos arredores de Ystad e visita locais já conhecidos. Apesar de ser a personagem principal, o papel de Kurt é fundamental para o enredo. Felizmente, o escritor sueco não optou por o colocar em segundo plano. Pai e filha trabalham juntos nesta investigação que à medida que avança adquire contornos cada vez mais assustadores.
Sendo a nossa protagonista uma bela mulher, "Before The Frost" oferece-nos uma ténue amostra do que pode ser um principio de um romance. Stefan Lindman é um novo reforço da esquadra que é apresentado a Linda, por Kurt, quando esta se encontra presa numa armadilha de raposas. Neste encontro peculiar, Linda simpatiza logo com o novo policia. Relativamente à vida amorosa, para os fãs de Kurt Wallander, devo avisar-vos que não se prevêem alterações. Solitário, como sempre, com Baiba Liepa ainda no pensamento, vive para o seu trabalho.
As personagens de Mankell são, como sempre e acima de tudo, humanas. Conhecemos uma mulher cuja profissão é traçar trilhos, uma economista empertigada, um jogador de xadrez que vive ao sabor do vento, um fanático que afirma representar Deus na terra, um norueguês mentalmente instável, uma prostituta ilegal russa e uma mãe que toca piano. Nenhuma personagem é secundárias e não existem pequenos papéis. Todas são importantes para a história. E é esta capacidade de Henning Mankell que me fascina e continuará a surpreender, por mais livros que leia escritos por ele.
Os acontecimentos do livro "Before The Frost" passam-se entre os livros "A Muralha Invisível" e "O Homem Inquieto"É de destacar as várias referências a investigações, personagens e acontecimentos de todos os livros anteriores da série do Kurt Wallander.
Na perspectiva de Linda, conhecemos outro lado de Kurt Wallander. Durante toda a narrativa Linda partilhas memórias da sua infância e adolescência, revivendo momentos bons e maus, em que os seus progenitores desempenham um papel importante.
Quanto ao desfecho não podia ser mais misterioso. Como seria de esperar de um livro que aborda uma temática religiosa, muitas perguntas são deixadas sem respostas. Para além de um thriller fascinante, somos levados a uma reflexão mais profunda sobre as crenças do ser humano.
Infelizmente sei que não vou ter a oportunidade de conhecer melhor esta jovem mulher que, apesar de não querer admitir, tem todos os traços característicos do seu pai. No final deste livro, Henning Mankell faz uma introdução à vida que espera a sua nova heroína, deixando o leitor em pulgas para o próximo caso. Tal como Kurt Wallander, também Linda não me desiludiu, muito pelo contrário, revelou-se uma surpresa muito agradável. Mas entendo e apoio a decisão do autor de não desenvolver esta personagem, após a morte da actriz que a representava na série televisiva. Afinal, um herói tão humano como Kurt Wallander só podia ser espelho do seu criador.
September 23, 2015
I've been waiting a long time to read first Linda Wallander mystery. I've always liked her character, particularly in the BBC version of the Wallander mysteries, and I was worried Henning Mankell's elevating of Linda to a place of prominence would be diminishing for me. That seems paradoxical, I know, but there are some characters who just shouldn't be leads. My fears that Linda was such a character were misplaced.
In fact, having so much prior knowledge of Linda made for a much richer "first novel" for the main character. Mankell wasn't starting from scratch, and neither were we. Her back story was already established in depth, and that story was allowed to form and shape her actions in Before the Frost in ways that loyal readers could trace. That familiarity was actually comforting.
But really, what I loved most about my familiarity with Linda was what that allowed me (and us, I imagine) to see in Kurt Wallander, her father. It's one thing to have fan authors or future authors or even members of an author's family offer different perspectives on a beloved character, but it is something else entirely -- and something entirely superior -- when the original author of a beloved character offers a different perspective on their beloved character through the distinct perspective of another character who we would expect to know them best.
I feel like I know Kurt (and Linda too) better now than I ever have before. I saw more flaws, I saw more blemishes, I saw more reality, and all of these things made me love them more. Both father and daughter are genuine people in my brain now, and it makes me even sadder than I already was that Henning Mankell's struggle with cancer is going to cut short his gift of their lives to us.
I must mention one thing about the audio performance of Cassandra Campbell. As Linda Wallander she was everything I hoped she would be, but as Kurt Wallander she was thoroughly one note, and disappointingly so. Mankell's writing was strong enough to overcome this, but Campbell's unwavering crankiness as Kurt Wallander conjured more than a few sighs from my tired old lungs. Since I am basing my rating on this edition of the book, just know that the stars also reflect Campbell's performance, not just Mankell's writing.
In fact, having so much prior knowledge of Linda made for a much richer "first novel" for the main character. Mankell wasn't starting from scratch, and neither were we. Her back story was already established in depth, and that story was allowed to form and shape her actions in Before the Frost in ways that loyal readers could trace. That familiarity was actually comforting.
But really, what I loved most about my familiarity with Linda was what that allowed me (and us, I imagine) to see in Kurt Wallander, her father. It's one thing to have fan authors or future authors or even members of an author's family offer different perspectives on a beloved character, but it is something else entirely -- and something entirely superior -- when the original author of a beloved character offers a different perspective on their beloved character through the distinct perspective of another character who we would expect to know them best.
I feel like I know Kurt (and Linda too) better now than I ever have before. I saw more flaws, I saw more blemishes, I saw more reality, and all of these things made me love them more. Both father and daughter are genuine people in my brain now, and it makes me even sadder than I already was that Henning Mankell's struggle with cancer is going to cut short his gift of their lives to us.
I must mention one thing about the audio performance of Cassandra Campbell. As Linda Wallander she was everything I hoped she would be, but as Kurt Wallander she was thoroughly one note, and disappointingly so. Mankell's writing was strong enough to overcome this, but Campbell's unwavering crankiness as Kurt Wallander conjured more than a few sighs from my tired old lungs. Since I am basing my rating on this edition of the book, just know that the stars also reflect Campbell's performance, not just Mankell's writing.
October 29, 2012
I like Mankell, but this book seems to have fallen into the "Silence-of-the-Lambs-Syndrome" that seems to have become endemic. It's not enough to have someone get killed in the heat of passion or for greed. Now killers have to have killed hundreds, kill animals, butcher little children, bring about the end of the world, etc., etc. I hate to break it to these authors, but evil is much more prosaic and often very subtle. You don't have to create monsters to write intelligently. Adolf Eichmann was the guy next door who was just really good at paperwork. OK, enough ranting.
Just how much do we know about our close friends; even our family. That might be one theme of this Wallender novel.
Linda Wallender takes center stage. Two threads start the book: a man is setting swans alight and Anna, Linda’s friend has disappeared shortly after insisting she has just seen her father who hasn’t been heard from in 25 years. A third strand is added when a woman whose life's work has been to explore and catalog old pilgrim trails disappears, only to be found dismembered in a small cabin in the woods.
It's not too hard to predict that those threads will all wind together soon. Kurt and Linda are equally irascible but have worked out a precarious truce. Linda, recent graduate of the police academy, hasn't been yet assigned to begin work at a station so she spends her time trying to track down Anna. Wallender is a harsh father who has trouble relating to his daughter and she has little patience with her father although both try to find an accommodation as Linda, with the curiosity of a seasoned detective, inserts herself into her father's formal investigation, much to his dismay and irritation.
[SPOILER: well,hardly a spoiler since it's revealed way early, and if you read the book's description there are spoilers out the wazoo, but...] The best parts of the book are investigative; the worst the insertion of Jim Jones and his relationship to one of the characters. That was unnecessary and dumb. Not worthy of Mankell. It almost seemed as if Mankell had to say something about Jones and this was his vehicle.
Just how much do we know about our close friends; even our family. That might be one theme of this Wallender novel.
Linda Wallender takes center stage. Two threads start the book: a man is setting swans alight and Anna, Linda’s friend has disappeared shortly after insisting she has just seen her father who hasn’t been heard from in 25 years. A third strand is added when a woman whose life's work has been to explore and catalog old pilgrim trails disappears, only to be found dismembered in a small cabin in the woods.
It's not too hard to predict that those threads will all wind together soon. Kurt and Linda are equally irascible but have worked out a precarious truce. Linda, recent graduate of the police academy, hasn't been yet assigned to begin work at a station so she spends her time trying to track down Anna. Wallender is a harsh father who has trouble relating to his daughter and she has little patience with her father although both try to find an accommodation as Linda, with the curiosity of a seasoned detective, inserts herself into her father's formal investigation, much to his dismay and irritation.
[SPOILER: well,hardly a spoiler since it's revealed way early, and if you read the book's description there are spoilers out the wazoo, but...] The best parts of the book are investigative; the worst the insertion of Jim Jones and his relationship to one of the characters. That was unnecessary and dumb. Not worthy of Mankell. It almost seemed as if Mankell had to say something about Jones and this was his vehicle.
October 22, 2011
This is my first novel by Henning Mankell, and it is the tenth in the Kurt Wallander Crime Series. This book introduces Kurt's daughter, Linda, who has recently finished police training, and is ready to begin her career in law enforcement. The prologue to BEFORE THE FROST is set on the Jonestown compound in Guyana in 1978 right after the massacre. A crazed and demented member of The People's Temple escapes the killings, and travels to the US, and on to Sweden to form his own murderous Christian sect. Although Linda is not yet on the force, one of her close friends is missing, and might be linked to the bizarre incidents occurring in the community which might be the work of a cult. The novel spotlights the clash of wills between the father and daughter, and both have strong, analytical minds, yet excel in different areas. Linda seems more adept at creative reasoning, while her father is a master of motivation and organization. The detective work is well-written, and the plot is fantastic, yet very believable. I plan to read many more by this Swedish crime writer.
November 26, 2020
This book reminds me yet again of how much I miss Mankell. He's one of my all time favorite authors and the void he leaves is large and deep. This novel is at times more violent-filled than his previous Wallander books, but never gratuitous. I think the most vulnerable moment is when Linda recalls her father hitting her mother. It's tough to visualize Wallander doing this. But also it makes real the cost of his chosen profession. It's an unexpected gift in the Wallander series.
August 13, 2017
A very good crime novel, imbued with Swedish popular culture and habits yet enjoyable by international readers. The events surrounding Kurt Wallander and his daughter unfold at a thrilling pace. No character, not even cops, can feel safe. And there is some kind of magic in the way Mankell makes you subtly feel that the Scandinavian winter is approaching. Just Before The Frost.
August 27, 2019
Me encanta Mankell y este es uno de los libros suyos que me quedaban por leer. Linda es digna hija de Kurt y se nota. Una historia muy bien llevada aunque he echado de menos más protagonismo por parte del gran Wallander.
May 18, 2018
I am pretty sure I read this a few years back and I may not have added it for some reason. I seem to know the cover well and the name jumped out of me in memory. I wish the summary went a little further which would help for sure if I read it or not. Hard to figure out which star to put on it. I know I liked it , but did I like it enough for the fourth star? 3.5
March 15, 2015
Henning Mankell is, for me, a hit-and-miss writer. While I’ve enjoyed the Wallander series (about a detective in Ystad), I haven’t particularly liked his other novels. Mankell tends to focus on the darkest aspects of the human psyche, and without the narrative device of the investigator (Kurt or, in this case, Linda Wallander), I can’t find much positive to hold on to, which is why I avoid the non-Wallander books these days. I would definitely recommend reading the other books in Wallander series before this one, as this appears to be a changing of the guard more than the start of a new series.
This book is told mostly from the perspective of Wallander’s adult daughter Linda, who has just finished her police training and is weeks away from becoming an official member of the police force. But her best friend’s disappearance is followed quickly by the murder of an elderly woman and a series of seemingly unrelated, bizarre events, and she’s soon convinced that the events are all linked—and despite her father’s admonishments, she decides to investigate. Being a rookie, she makes all manner of mistakes, but she’s got the support of her father, who is willing to listen to her conclusions and, once presented with the evidence, starts an official police inquiry.
The portrayal of the relationship between Kurt and Linda is uneven. Having read so much from Kurt’s point of view as he worked through his relationships with his ex-wife and with his own father, I enjoyed having another perspective. But some of Linda’s reflections on her father seemed less the thoughts of a daughter about a parent and more the thoughts of a parent about a misunderstood child, as though Mankell wanted to correct readers’ misperceptions of Kurt Wallander.
My reaction to this book is in some part an emotional response to the bookend device Mankell chose for its structure. The two events referenced are mass murders done for religious reasons: in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978, and the events of September 11, 2001. Religious fundamentalism is a global issue, but to me it was a bit jarring to have these two events—the victims of both of which were overwhelmingly American—used as the link for a story about a very small cult in Sweden. This is not to say that it was inappropriate; it wasn’t, and it was well done, but for me it just didn’t work.
This book is told mostly from the perspective of Wallander’s adult daughter Linda, who has just finished her police training and is weeks away from becoming an official member of the police force. But her best friend’s disappearance is followed quickly by the murder of an elderly woman and a series of seemingly unrelated, bizarre events, and she’s soon convinced that the events are all linked—and despite her father’s admonishments, she decides to investigate. Being a rookie, she makes all manner of mistakes, but she’s got the support of her father, who is willing to listen to her conclusions and, once presented with the evidence, starts an official police inquiry.
The portrayal of the relationship between Kurt and Linda is uneven. Having read so much from Kurt’s point of view as he worked through his relationships with his ex-wife and with his own father, I enjoyed having another perspective. But some of Linda’s reflections on her father seemed less the thoughts of a daughter about a parent and more the thoughts of a parent about a misunderstood child, as though Mankell wanted to correct readers’ misperceptions of Kurt Wallander.
My reaction to this book is in some part an emotional response to the bookend device Mankell chose for its structure. The two events referenced are mass murders done for religious reasons: in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978, and the events of September 11, 2001. Religious fundamentalism is a global issue, but to me it was a bit jarring to have these two events—the victims of both of which were overwhelmingly American—used as the link for a story about a very small cult in Sweden. This is not to say that it was inappropriate; it wasn’t, and it was well done, but for me it just didn’t work.
November 14, 2019
Due sono le cose belle nei libri di Mankell in cui è protagonista Wallander. La prima è l'ambientazione: non si può leggere senza farsi venire voglia di andare a Ystad. La seconda è Wallander stesso: un personaggio davvero ben riuscito.
Ecco, in questo libro c'è l'ambientazione ed è ottima come sempre. E c'è anche Wallander: Linda però, la figlia, non Kurt. E speriamo che il buon Mankell non si faccia venire idea di incentrare una serie con lei protagonista. Insomma, per i fan di Wallander un altro episodio da non perdere. Mica si può dormire sonni tranquilli sapendo che c'è un'altra avventura in cui compare il nostro commissario. Per chi invece cerca una lettura divertente e si vuole avvicinare a Mankell, meglio non partire da qua.
Ecco, in questo libro c'è l'ambientazione ed è ottima come sempre. E c'è anche Wallander: Linda però, la figlia, non Kurt. E speriamo che il buon Mankell non si faccia venire idea di incentrare una serie con lei protagonista. Insomma, per i fan di Wallander un altro episodio da non perdere. Mica si può dormire sonni tranquilli sapendo che c'è un'altra avventura in cui compare il nostro commissario. Per chi invece cerca una lettura divertente e si vuole avvicinare a Mankell, meglio non partire da qua.
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