This is five short stories that flesh out the biography of fictional Swedish small town detective Kurt Wallander. Wallander’s First Case introduces us to his first boss, Hemberg, his first brush with death, and his first wife, Mona. The Man with the Mask introduces Mankell’s interest in immigration and integration (or lack of it) in Sweden, The Man on the Beach shows us Wallander’s ability to pull together strands of people’s lives going back in time to solve a contemporary murder, The Death of the Photographer shows that even the victims are not so innocent and The Pyramid which feels like it could have been a novel, but for the slightly unsatisfying ending. But all are worth reading especially as Rydberg, Wallander’s often-referred-to-mentor, is still alive in these tales. Includes an interesting foreword by Mankell in which he explains much of his interest in the series was in showing the decline of the welfare state and subsequent rise of anti-social forces in Sweden.

No. 6 of 12 books I intend to read and review in 2025.

I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, and write essays and Our Man in Abiko, a monthly  newsletter   highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.