Before the Frost: An Inspector Wallander Mystery

I have read all of Mankell's Kurt Wallander books so was particularly interested to read this one where his daighter Linda becomes the primary character in the book.Overall I enjoyed the book as it carries on the great Mankell novels of superb plot, dialogue, suspense and bringing to life teh characters and surroundings of Ystadd in Sweden.I found the start a litle slow as Mankell tries to bring you the background to Linda that the author never raised in his previous novels. It was also a little strange having crimes occur which Kurt investigated but within the first 100 pages of the novel are not the focus, as it is on his daughter whose friend has gone missing.However the final half of the book is typical Mankell with all the threads coming together and the pace and page turnability increasing.Linda Wallander does not have her fathers experience and many of his failings, but Mankell does bring his daughter very much to life as she begins her new role as police officer.The most interesting side story of the book is Linda's relationship now back living with her father. As they start to work closely together she finds out more about him and why he did nt spend more time with the family when she was younger. Discovering her father through out this investigation is a pleasure and a pain for Linda. I look forward to many more episodes.

This is clearly the run up to the Troubled Man which is said to be the last in the series. The introduction of his daughter as a leading character put Wallander in a supporting/paralell role. A good book albeit a bit different from the others in the series. It doesn't have the same level of Wallander angst as earlier books and has less repartition than the Pyramid which is a collection of early cases building to the Faceless Killers.I am determined to finish the series but am disappointed that the later books seem to be loosing their edge.Since writing this in late June 2013 I have finished the Troubled Man which is the last of the series as the review comments on the book say.I feel I need to retract my comments on the "loosing his edge" at least for the last book. The Troubled Man is an excellent read and I really do reccommend reading the series in order to what is a distrurbing and really good climax to the DCI Kurt Wallander stories.

In this classic Wallander tale the late great Henning Mankell pits his weary detective against sinister corporate powers. With all the charms and attractions of the series (e.g. local colour, little flashes from Wallander's life, his growing obsession with and bewilderment about Swedish countrylife detriorating etc.) this book kept my attention until the end and left me wanting more. Buy it!

Mankell has developed the Wallander character through a numbe of books to reach this stage. The personal angst of the character running parallel to the crime making Wallander all more human as a result. Its one that could be read as a stand alone and was intended as stepping off point for more stories involving Kurt's daughter Linda. The untimely death of the actress playing Linda in the Swedish films prevented Mankell from writing more of these stories as she embodied the character. A sad event and as sad loss of what might have been for the reader.

This book has given Wallender a new lease of life. His daughter has just qualified from police school & they both get caught up through different routes in a gruesome unpleasant murder. I personally find that the early Wallender books have become a little dated but this brings them up to date, there have been so many scientific developments since they were written that at times I started to find them dated, bringing his daughter in has revitalised an excellent series of stories & I shall be reading the rest. Highly recommended

I have read a number of the Wallander books recently and have become intrigues with his character as it develops.I found Before the Frost particularly interesting as it was mainly about his daughter, Linda, and the relationship between themwhich was often difficult and bumpy, although at heart they are fond of each other. Their characters are too alike to make foran easy father/daughter relationship. The plot is perhaps a little far-fetched but gripping enough as one reads it.I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it hard to put down. A must for a Wallender fan!

Mankell is trying to turn Linda Wallender into a police genius like Kurt, but I don't "buy it".All round. It was a lazy unbelievable story written without love. Miss it out if you can

Gripping story and more intrigue than usual like the involvement of salamanders daughter and the thoughts and actions of them both