Sidetracked [Import] [Unknown Binding]

Henning Mankell (Author)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 528 pages
• ISBN-10: 0753169762
• ISBN-13: 978-0753169766
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander mysteries are global bestsellers and have been adapted for television as a BAFTA Award-winning BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh. Mankell was awarded the Crime Writers' Association's Macallan Gold Dagger and the German Tolerance Prize, among many others. He divides his time between Sweden and Mozambique.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars horrendous, beautiful book, February 1, 2005

By 

Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (5) (Paperback)

Inspector Kurt Wallander of the Ystad police force in south Sweden has to solve his most challenging murder case yet: somebody is killing off elderly men using an axe to split their skulls and scalping them afterwards. It is clear that the killer is meticulously preparing his killings, staking out the victims and making sure nobody sees him. The team of policemen and -women seems to be always one step behind and even the profiler that has come to help them has problems coming up with a good profile of the killer.

What makes this book special is that the reader also gets the perspective of the killer: it soon becomes clear who he is and why he does what he is doing. This could be a major handicap as the book may loose most of its excitement of the "whodunnit", but here this is not the case. This is mainly due to the fact that Kurt Wallander is a full-fetched character with good and bad traits, doubts, hypochondric moments and moments of sudden,clear insight, making it a pleasure to follow how, in the end, he solves the case.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gem!, June 10, 2006

By 

Aleksandra Nita-Lazar (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (5) (Paperback)

In "Sidetracked" Mankell is at his very best as a crime writer. The story starts as two completely unrelated events: the girl setting herself on fire and the murder of the former Swedish minister of justice. The second one, which turns out to be the beginning of a series is, of course, the matter of utmost priority for the police, so Wallander has to work hard before his planned holidays. However, he cannot let the girl in flames get out of his memory...

The reader gets more clues than the police and therefore knows the identity of the killer faster, which allows for concentrating on the work of the team of detectives. Their reasoning can be followed easily, showing differences in approach based on personality and attitude. The psychological side is very important for Mankell, here he brings for the first time the psychologist who helps make the portrait of the killer.

The political background of Sweden plays, as usual, a significant role, and the downsides of the system are shown as well as its advantages.

Henning Mankell's detective stories get only better as he goes. This is a gem of the genre. Absolutely recommended for the fans of crime fiction.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't get sidetracked from this book!, August 28, 2001

By 

Britt Breu - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (Paperback)

After reading a German translation of the original Swedish version of "Sidetracked" by Henning Mankell, I was enthralled by the complexity of the plot and of the main character, Kurt Wallander. Reading this book(my first by Mankell), my apppetite to continue reading his books grew steadily. I had never been a fan of niether murder mysteries nor detective novels, but this book really changed my mind. I highly recommend this to any reader.