Product Description

A few days later what they have been warned of comes to pass: a life raft is washed up on a beach. In it are two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead.The dead men were Eastern European criminals, victims of what seems to have been a gangland hit. But what appears in Sweden to be an open-and-shut case soon takes on a far more sinister aspect. Wallander travels across the Baltic Sea to Riga in Latvia, a nation experiencing the massive social and political upheaval that will lead to its independence from the Soviet Union. There Wallander is plunged into a frozen, alien world of police surveillance, scarcely veiled threats, and lies. Doomed always to be one step behind the shadowy figures he pursues , he comes to understand what it is to live in a nation in which democracy is still only a dream. Only his dogged, almost subconscious desire to se that justice is done brings the truth to light.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40073 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
"Kurt Wallander has touches of Dexter's Inspector Morse about him, while remaining an original and highly likeable creation" Marcel Berlins, The Times; "It is not hard to see why the Wallander books have made a particular impact. They are tightly plotted, but even more importantly, as in most good crime fiction, the character of the detective and the atmosphere surrounding the action are what give that extra edge to the performance" Hugh Macpherson, TLS

About the Author
HENNING MANKELL was born in Stockholm in 1948. He is the prize-winning author of the eight novels in the Inspector Wallander Series which has been translated into many languages and consistently tops the best-seller lists throughout Europe. His novel Sidetracked won the CWA Gold dagger in 2001. Mankell has worked as an actor, theatre director and manager in Sweden and in Mozambique, where he is head of Teatro Avenida in Maputo.

Customer Reviews

An Atmospheric Journey
Of the two 'Kurt Wallander' novels I have read, 'The Dogs of Riga' is the weaker: 'Faceless Killers' has a more compelling plot, and a more interesting narrative. However, 'The Dogs of Riga' is still a very good book. The ending is slightly cluttered, with Mankell pushing credibility a little, but the novel as a whole is an excellent portrait of a determined Swedish Police detective who happens to be a little unlucky and a little unhealthy.

'The Dogs of Riga' is basically a Police Procedural detective novel and a no-details-ignored, everything-included study of a middle-aged man going through a variety of problems, whether they be medical, personal, or career-related. We may not aspire to be like Wallander in all respects, but the character earns the respect, admiration, and - at times - symphathy of the reader. Mankell weaves the most mundane details of Wallander's life and police investigations into a narrative which is always compelling. And he is astute not only with regard to character: there is a superb sense of geographical place, time, and politics in these novels. And this sense is nuanced, and not in any way simplistic. If anything, Mankell paints the world in too realistic a way: it is so plausible and real that reading about certain aspects of it can be depressing.

Recommended, although 'Faceless Killers' is the first novel, in terms of Wallander's chronology. After reading 'Faceless Killers' and 'The Dogs of Riga', read 'Sidetracked' and 'The Fifth Woman', in that order.

Growing Quality
I was surprised by a previous reviewer's comment that they found Dogs of Riga unengaging - I found it totally compelling. I do think that there are production glitches - sloppy editorial work on Vintage's part which seriously interfere with the readability of the book - but that aside Wallender is a very engaging, somewhat Rebus-esque hero. In this volume he finds himself sucked almost powerlessly into the decaying world of the collapsing Communist regime of Latvia. I enjoyed Faceless Killers, the previous volume, but I think Dogs of Riga is a dramatic step up in terms of sophistication. You can feel the author inhabiting Wallender's skin more fully with every page. Excellent stuff, I say!

Mankell is a modern master
The crime novels of Henning Mankell might be new to you (as they were to me before this year), but after you've read your first you might wonder: Where has he been all my life? These books by an internationally bestselling Swedish writer (who, unusually, lives in Mozambique, I think) are modern masterpieces of the genre.

The writing is addictive and throught-stirring, the main character, Inspector Wallander, is the flawed-heroic everyman that I think American Noir writers of the Thirties had well in mind. In this novel, THE DOGS OF RIGA, Wallander faces the increasingly growing problem of crime that crosses national boundaries. Some pretty horried corpses are washed up on his turf and the solution to the killings lies in the law-free-zone that is the post-communist East Europe. In this sense, Wallander is like a lone lawman in the old West, fighting for justice in a lawless society. This book is an epic, stunning achievement.

I would also recommend that readers new to Mankell and Insp. Wallander read SIDETRACKED, the author's novel which won the Best Crime Novel in his native country in 1997.

And while I'm on a roll(!), I'd also like to mention a couple of other fantastic reads - both by new authors to me - which I've enjoyed recently. The first is POWER OF ATTORNEY, by British barrister, Dexter Dias. This is quite simply the best legal thriller I've read in years. (His earlier novel FALSE WITNESS, which I've just finished, is also a must-read).

The other book I'd recommend (which combines both a legal and a snowy theme!) is THE ICE HARVEST by Scott Phillips. I think it's his first book, and is very impressive.

I hope you enjoy my suggestions as much as I did ...