The White Lioness (Kurt Wallander Series #3)

by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson (Translator)

Overview

A small-town murder leads to international intrigue in this "first-class thriller" from the New York Times–bestselling master of Scandinavian crime (The New York Times Book Review).
 
Inspector Kurt Wallander returns in the second of Henning Mankell's award-winning, internationally-bestselling detective novels, this time to investigate the execution-style killing of a Swedish housewife. The local police focus on a determined stalker who's suddenly nowhere to be found, but when they finally catch up with their prime suspect his alibi turns out to be airtight.
 
Digging deeper, Wallander discovers that the woman's death is more complex and dangerous than a crime of passion. His search for the truth takes him far from home and into the murky world of apartheid-era South Africa, where he uncovers a sinister assassination plot. Soon the small-town detective finds himself in a high-stakes tangle with the South African secret service and a ruthless ex-KGB agent.
 
Combining heart-pounding suspense with probing social commentary, The White Lioness is an essential chapter in the addictive mystery series that inspired the hit TV show Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. "It is not hard to see why the Wallander books have made such an impact" (The Times Literary Supplement).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595586117
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Series:	Kurt Wallander Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	1 MB

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.

Hometown:

Mozambique, Africa

Date of Birth:

February 3, 1948

Place of Birth:

Stockholm, Sweden

Education:

Folkskolan Elementary Shool, Sveg; Högre Allmäna Läroverket, Borås

Editorial Reviews

The second in a series chronicling the adventures of Sweden's Chief Inspector Kurt Wallander (Faceless Killers, 1997), and a Viking-sized saga it has grown to be. An ordinary Swedish housewife suddenly disappears. Her neighbors, friends, husband, all are mystifiedþespecially since she led such an exemplary life. But sure enough, a few days later, she's found brutally murdered, her body stuffed into a well. There's no obvious suspect at first, but then Wallander learns of a stalkerþan excitable type whose interest in the attractive young woman was apparently not discouraged in the slightest by several firm admonitions to get lost. Now that she's dead, he can't be found in his usual haunts. The cops go after him, fully confident that it's a crime of passion they're dealing with, to be resolved only once the heavy-breather is taken into custody. Soon enough, they do catch himþcatch up with him, actually, since it turns out that he's only been away on holiday. He also has an alibi, one so iron-clad that Wallander has no choice but to write him off as a suspect. And so, what had seemed simple becomes complex and murky. Moreover, the international ramifications of the case just won't quit. Unexpectedly and uncomfortably, Wallander finds himself locked into an unsettling competition with the apartheid South Africa's secret policeþthe story is set in 1993þand also pitted against an ex-KGB agent. Wallander personifies the charmingly melancholy Scandinavian of lore and tradition. But 560 pages of this would hobble the pace, and dim the charisma, of just about any protagonist.

Kirkus Reviews

A first-class thriller.” —Margo Jefferson, The New York Times Book Review

“It is Wallander’s voice . . . that captures us.” —New York Times Book Review

“Mankell joins the worthy ranks of such past masters as Georges Simenon [and] Nicholas Freeling.” —The Wall Street Journal

“It is not hard to see why the Wallander books have made a particular impact.” —Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher