The Dogs of Riga: Kurt Wallander

This is an excellent and worthwhile read, involving the famous Kurt Wallander detective. It is the second book in the series by Henning Mankell, one of Sweden's best writers. The book hints occasionally at the first novel of 'Faceless Killers' but is mostly an entirely separate case.This adventure involves Wallander heading to Latvia and the town of Riga in particular. The story involves more of a thriller basis, but from the very beginning this is a Nordic Noir novel with all the hallmarks of a great detective caper as Wallander realises gradually the dilemma of working away from Sweden.Without giving too much away, this is writing with very little to fault. Mankell does manage to combine realism with tension throughout the story. In particular he excels at dialogue and revealing how Wallander's mind works in stressful situations as well as the politics of Riga/Latvia.I really enjoyed everything this book offers and it's level of impressive descriptions of characters and how involved Wallander becomes in solving the case is extremely well written throughout.This is a terrific thriller and speedier in it's pacing than 'Faceless Killers'. On the whole it reminded me how good a writer Mankell was and yet through his work managed to convey a character who became more well known across the globe as well as in Sweden. Highly recommended.

This is the second of Henning Mankell's novels featuring Swedish Detective Kurt Wallander. Two mysterious bodies are washed up on a deserted Swedish beach. The trail leads to pre Soviet collapse Latvia, and a deep conspiracy in the paranoid world of a police state of which Wallander has no comprehension. Taking his investigation to Riga, he is like a fish out of water, trying to find the truth in a world of lies. On his own in a strange world, I was reminded of the atmosphere of a Le Carre novel, such as `The Spy Who Came In From The Cold'. There is a sense of paranoia running through the book, with Wallander unable to trust anyone while completely in the dark about what it is that he is actually involved in.Mankell is a fine writer on many counts. He manages to construct clever plots and believable mysteries, showing the police procedural side with fascinating detail. Kurt Wallander is a well written protagonist, with many personal flaws and a difficult private life. In the hands of other writers these might seem like annoying characteristics brought in solely to make the character interesting, but as written by Mankell they seem just right. Finally, Mankell writes with a great feeling for atmosphere. He contrasts the free and open Sweden with the dark and paranoid Riga with consummate ease. There is a sense of moodiness in the books, a dark, heavy feeling which pervades every page, you feel as though you are suffocating under it, then every now and then there is a breath of fresh air, you take a gulp then dive back into the dark and murky world.I loved this book, a great read that really made me think, educated me and, most of all, entertained me with a gripping tale. Highly recommended!

Chronologically this is the second thriller by Henning Mankell about the detective Kurt Wallander, although it was the fifth one published in its English translation. In my view it is far below the later books in the series. In those, the character of Wallander as a detective solving the crimes of a town in rural southern Sweden, while coping with a rather messy personal life, is fully developed and totally believable. In The Dogs of Riga, the author does not seem to have decided what sort of character Wallander is going to be.The story starts in the familiar setting of Ystad, Wallander's home town, where two murdered men are found in a rubber lifeboat washed up on a nearby beach, and has much of the atmosphere that we now know from the later novels. But quickly the action moves to Latvia, where Wallander is invited to collaborate in solving the mystery of the murder of the Latvian policeman who had come to Sweden to help the Swedish police after it was established that the victims were from Latvia. The atmosphere in Latvia at a time of great change and uncertainty is well described, but the original murders now take back stage and the tone of the novel changes to more of a cold war spy thriller after the policeman's widow secretly contacts Wallander with a story of corruption at the highest levels of state as the reason why her husband was murdered. Wallander quickly falls in love with the widow after only a very short acquaintance and from then on the novel goes down hill.In the last part of the book, Wallander secretly returns to Latvia via an involved route to help the widow find documentation that she is convinced her husband has hidden and that will expose the web of corruption. (Why didn't he just tell her where he had hidden it?) The action is now pure Le Carré (but not as good) with secret meetings, escapes from pursuers etc, and some `James Bond action' when a meeting of Wallander's helpers is attacked by a group of corrupt policeman who kill everyone, except of course Wallander himself. The final action involves a totally unbelievable break-in to an archive at a police station to retrieve the documents and culminates in a rooftop scene that is pure Whitehall farce. Wallander's candidate as the main villain from two possible senior policemen traps Wallander and the widow with an armed band of police, and fools him into believing he is really a good guy so that Wallander hands over the documents, only to be exposed by the other senior policeman who comes through a door at the last minute with his own armed men, just as Wallander is to be shot. I half expected a third senior policeman to emerge from another door, denounce both the others and declare himself the hero.

It's always best to read or listen to the Wallander stories in chronological order. However, that's not entirely necessary, which is just as well when one doesn't know the sequence.This Wallander tale, from Henning Mankell, is very entertaining. I like the absence of glitz, the thoughtful pacing, and the natural, realistic flaws of the characters. What I didn't appreciate on the CD audiobook was the carelessly sloppy Americanized pronunciation of Swedish names, which took away a lot of the enjoyment of the story.If you know nothing about Swedish pronunciation, the Dick van Dyke mangling of names won't irritate you, and you will surely enjoy the audiobook to the full. Otherwise, be prepared for frequent teeth-gritting moments... or buy the book, instead.

I'd read a couple of Wallander books and quite liked them (Faceless Killers and The man Who Smiled) but didn't much care for this one. Too dark and depressing, a bit too much cold-blooded killing, rather a pedestrian plot and no really memorable characters. I found the other books quite dour, but they were livelier and had more interesting people in them - for me, they seem to work best when the plot is centred round Wallander's colleagues in the station, a quirky and interesting bunch. This novel was just him and an assortment of villains and victims, and I didn't really take to it. All a matter of taste I suppose.