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    Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery
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    Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery
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    Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery
    Ebook569 pages9 hours

    Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery

    By Henning Mankell

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Inspector Kurt Wallander's long-anticipated vacation plans are interrupted by two horrific deaths: the self-immolation of an unidentified young woman and the brutal murder of the former minister of justice. As the police struggle to piece together the few clues they have, the killer strikes again and again. What connection is there between a retired minister of justice, a successful art dealer, and a common petty thief? Why does the killer scalp his victims? And could there be some connection between the young woman's death and the murders?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe New Press
    Release dateJun 1, 1999
    ISBN9781595586162
    Unavailable
    Sidetracked: A Kurt Wallander Mystery

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    Reviews for Sidetracked

    4/5

    584 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another great Wallander story, although quite a dark one indeed and not for the squeamish. Definitely a page-turner, though, and very hard to put down.
    • 4/5
      Kurt Wallender is the Swedish detective created by Henning Mankell. All Mankell's books are absorbing.
    • 3/5
      I don't quite get the rave reviews Mankell has earned. Certainly this was a competent detective story, but I don't think it leapt to the front, or was better than, say, the Peter Robinson's books. Mankell is certainly cashing in on Stieg Larsson's posthumous fame. Altogether, quite a decent tale, but not extraordinary in any way.
    • 4/5
      This novel finds Inspector Wallander back to his Swedish homeland, caught in the middle of a typical case -- at least typical for Swdish crime fiction. The ghastly suicide of a young girl opens the way to a trail of murders in which the victims are scalped. Important men in high places are involved (negatively, of course) but is this a series of revenge killings, or a simple form of madness. The suspense keeps the pages turning, though the characterization is perhaps a little weaker than in some of the other novels.
    • 3/5
      Mankell's #5 Wallender is well written from a crime perspective. That makes it slightly difficult to follow as it sometimes gets "sidetracked" and wanders. The twisty part is what makes it fun. I'll look for another Wallender after awhile.
    • 4/5
      Wallander tracks down a serial killer. The same great characters, great plot, and brooding Scandinavian atmosphere--even though this takes place in the summertime! On to the next Wallander mystery . . .
    • 4/5
      Inspector Kurt Wallander investigates the deaths of 4 men in Ystad, Sweden, and it doesn't take long to figure out that there is a serial killer on the loose who thinks he is channeling Geronimo, complete with scalpings. Kurt Wallander is a great character, though not as deep nor as flawed as Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole. In this story, Wallander and his team make several false starts, getting sidetracked. It seems that he never realizes that he and his daughter have been slated as sacrifices by the killer. A good read, but I wasn't thrilled with Dick Hill as the narrator in this one.
    • 5/5
      A girl sets fire to herself in the middle of a field of rape. A series of quite horrific murders occur in which the victim is scalped. Inspector Wallender investigates both cases and finds himself at a loss to discover just who is the perpetrator of an increasingly vicious and bloodthirsty series of killings.
    • 3/5
      When I started this police procedural, it struck me as too gloomy to read just then, and I put it aside for a while. When I picked it up again, it felt just right.Someone with an ax is killing men in Wallender's precinct. The reader sees the murderer and the murders, and comes to know the reason for these horrific crimes, so the story is how Wallender and his team come to the same knowledge. Mankell sidetracks the reader, briefly, by letting us see another side to the crime, one that Wallender doesn't even think of until late in the book, even though he's seen the results of that crime. So Wallender is sidetracked within the story as well. Unlike my last read, where I was practically shouting at the protagonist to wake up to what was going on, this read showed just how hard it is to see the pieces of a pattern and then put them together. I pulled for Wallender and the team to put those pieces in the right order, and in time. When that happens, it is a most satisfying conclusion. Four stars for this one.
    • 4/5
      Although I find the Wallander books on the over-long side in general, this particular one kept the attention and had a strong plot and characterisation. The best of the series so far.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. Great mystery and suspense.
    • 4/5
      I first came across Inspector Wallander through the BBC TV series starring Kenneth Branagh as the Swedish Detective.The novel was an excellent read on a warm weekend and gives a person not familiar with Sweden an insight into the people and the country.I give this book a review of 4 stars.
    • 5/5
      A very enjoyable and surprising read.
    • 4/5
      Another great Kurt Wallander mystery. I read Sidetracked out of order but I don't think it made a difference. The grizzly story line about a 14 year old serial murderer who scalps his victims along with outlying prostitution rings holds the reader captive. With each book Mankell reveals more about the personal life of Detective Kurt Wallander. Wallander continues to pursue a relationship with Baiba, the widow of a Latvian police officer whom he befriended in Dogs of Riga; he starts to confide more in his female colleague at work, Ann-Britt Hoglund; and his daughter Linda is starting to spend more time with him. At the end of the book Wallander is heading to Rome to spend a week with his father who is close to 80.
    • 4/5
      #5 in the Kurt Wallander series, it is time for our favorite detective to take a much-needed vacation. However, summer fun has to be put on hold as Wallander is called out to a farm where a girl has been loitering in the fields. As he goes out to talk to her, she pours gasoline all over herself and lights a match. Not long afterwards, there's a murder in which the former Minister of Justice has his skull sliced in two by an axe. And if those were the only two crimes, maybe Wallander could go have some fun, but alas, it is not to be, as the body count goes higher. We know who the killer is not far into the story, but that's okay. The real story is about Wallander and his team trying to figure out the connections between all of the victims -- and how Wallander gets a bit "sidetracked" along the way for various reasons, not all having to do with the crime, preventing him at times from seeing obvious connections that may have helped him solve the crimes earlier, possibly saving lives. The story is more about the toll that the crimes take on Wallander and on the rest of the team. As always, Mankell writes superbly -- the characterizations are excellent, the inner turmoil of Wallander is so palpable you could reach out and touch it. I would definitely recommend this one. If you're following the series in order, you're going to want to continue; if you've perhaps seen the PBS production and are thinking of reading this one, do so, but do not make it the first Wallander you read. You will miss way too much in terms of Wallander's character development. I'd definitely recommend it for readers of Scandanavian mysteries and for those who perhaps want something a bit beyond what's new on the shelves today.
    • 4/5
      Excellent, complex, well-paced mystery with great characters and beautiful settings.Very readable!
    • 4/5
      In which there is an ax-murderer -- the stuff of horror stories. I thought this Wallander particularly good, as it showed aspects of investigation and the criminal mind that often are glossed over on those ever famous TV shows. Someone's committing horrific murders, but because Mankell takes the reader into the murderer's mind, we can see he actually is doing this out of love; he thinks he is doing something to help someone. The tedium of putting together the tiniest of clues and hunches is well portrayed (without actually being tedious to the reader.) And then there's the personal interactions: Wallander's growing relationship with his daughter, and with his sweetheart, Biba (once again, entirely by phone, since she lives elsewhere). But the one that clenched its fist around my heart is the relationship with Wallander and his father, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. At one point, in a discussion with a colleague, comes the comment that you never can escape your parents -- though at some point in time, the relationship switches, and you parent them. So very true. And I hope that when the time comes for me, I'm not a troublesome child to my own offspring.
    • 4/5
      Excellent mystery novel translated from Swedish.It was Svanberg who taught me to be a journalist. He used to say that there were two kinds of reporters. 'The first kind digs in the ground for the truth. He stands down in the hole shoveling out dirt. But up on top there's another man, shoveling the dirt back in. There's always a duel going on between these two. The fourth estate's eternal test of strength for dominance. Some journalists want to expose and reveal things, others run errands for those in power and help conceal what's really happening.' p. 94-5"
    • 3/5
      Henning Mankell writes entertaining and good mysteries. Kurt Wallander, the protagonist in these mystery series, is a 40 something cop in Southern Sweden. The books follow the same formula, which can get tiring if you read another Kurt Wallander mystery shortly after another one. But it's a good book to read if you're in the mood to be hooked and read without paying to much attention. Sidetrack keeps you curious and interested.
    • 4/5
      Sidetracked is a very good police procedural by a foreign author with a great reputation. I've only read a couple of Mankell's novels and have found them to be workmanlike but somewhat depressing. His main character, Wallander, tends to give off a rather downbeat vibe- at least to me. Sidetracked is early in the Wallander series and it wasn't quite as depressing, although the subject matter certainly was.

      Initially, Wallander is asked to visit a farmer in a nearby village who had spotted a young lady acting strangely in one of his fields. The detective happens to be present as she immolates herself. Although it's an obvious suicide, nothing is known of the young lady, so Wallander begins the process of trying to identify her. In the meantime, there's a serial killer on the loose with a strange fetish or two. Eventually, the cases are solved. Did they converge? You need to read the book to find out....

      The writing in Sidetracked is solid, but definitely uninspired. I'm sure the translation has quite a bit to do with that. The plot was organized very well and the ending was believable. The investigative work seemed competent, but I find myself questioning some of the decisions and pace. I've probably read too many American mysteries and watched too much TV. I didn't think the characters were particularly well-developed; I may have missed it, but I can't recall a physical description being given of any of the police officers working on the case. I like to re-create the action from the book in my mind and that's tough to do when you have no idea what the investigators are supposed to look like.

      One persistent issue I had with the procedural part of the novel was that Wallander kept noticing details related to the case and coming 'this close' to making a significant discovery, but not making it. It had to have happened at least a half-dozen times. Of course, when he finally does put two and two together, he identifies a key that unlocks the case. I know that missing out on identifying relationships between details probably happens a lot in real life, but the way it was mentioned in the story made it appear that Wallander was a little scatterbrained.

      I'm a sucker for procedurals and Sidetracked is a good one. Wallander may not be Reacher and Mankell isn't Lee Child by any means, but the book is well done and it's worth the effort to see how a complex case is handled by the Swedes.
    • 4/5
      Kurt Wallander is a dedicated, over-worked, sleep deprived police officer confronted with a horrific series of crimes. Someone is brutally killing people with an ax and then taking scalps. Wallander is outraged that this type of crime is happening in Sweden (in the States, yes, but not his country) and he and his colleagues bemoan the fate of their country, fearing it is slipping into savagery.

      Mankell is expert at creating a highly believable setting and cast of characters. He captures the mood of exhausted, over-worked police officers struggling with a mass of information in which a few clues are buried. He has honed "angst" to a fine art, almost to fine as there are times when the misery and exhaustion of his characters almost makes you want to put the book down for fear of drowning in depression.

      What I liked best about Sidetracked is that it has a very strong logic. The clues take a while to be discovered, but they do build a logical picture. The villain is what he is because of what has happened to him and he does what he does within a logical set of behaviors that fit his twisted and insane mental framework.

      I'm reading my second Mankell/Wallander book and liking it as well. For those who like police procedurals.
    • 3/5
      Dick Hill did a good job with the narration but I didn't like this translation as much as the one in the Kindle edition. Since the two weren't the same as I had expected, I ended up opting to read the Kindle book for most of the time.I did like the Prologue, which was not included in the Kindle edition for some reason.
    • 5/5
      READ IN DUTCH

      Sidetracked was one of my favorite Wallander books, most of all because I found it was very compelling. It has all the things we have come to expect from Scandinavian literature, gloomy flawed police officers and social criticism. Mixed with this is a murder investigation that kept the pace flowing. I liked the Wallander series in general, but this one is a personal favorite.
    • 4/5
      The only thing outgrageous was the killer and they usually are. Otherwise it was driven by the dogged approach of Wallendar w not too much personal stuff getting in the way. Very well written. If the kid and the girl would hsve goten away at the end it would have made a great Swedish ending. Forget Wallendar ad get Logar. Happened too quick after the drawn out book. He must have been ready to end it.
    • 4/5
      Only took me three months to read this. It's a great book, but I have only narrow periods of personal reading time.
    • 4/5
      It is summer and the thoughts of the police in Ystad are turning to their holidays when Kurt Wallander is called to an ostensibly harmless trespass by a young girl in a rapeseed field (important as it symbolises Skåne for the time of year). Before his shocked eyes she suicides horrifically and as he deals with this particularly distressful event it is overtaken by an even more disturbing murder of a former high level politician. When there is a second similar murder a few days later it is feared a serial killer is at work and Wallander and his team begin a dour struggle to apprehend him before he murders again.Sidetracked is the name of this book, and throughout the investigation, sidetracked is what Kurt Wallander feels as the body count rises and the answers remain elusive. Amongst all this mounting suspense the author adds his usual social commentary, this time on family, power, corruption and the exploitation of innocents; using these almost as an explanation for the genesis of a psychotic mind.Amidst this rapid–paced, high-octane plot the humanity and the reality of the characters are abundant, emphasised by the extremes of everyday incidents of social interactions with unexpected personal tragedies. While seemingly helpless to avert another horrendous murder, short-staffed and overworked, Kurt Wallander deftly guides his team, and this story, to a satisfying conclusion – and in doing so enhances his already growing reputation.In my mind he deserves it. This book is sharp, shrewd and socially savvy and so is Inspector Wallander – I hope he enjoys his holiday as much as I enjoyed this book!
    • 5/5
      Midsummer approaches and Kurt Wallander clears his desk and prepares to set off on holiday with the new woman in his life, hoping that his wayward daughter and his ageing father will cope without him. But Wallander's plans are ruined when a girl douses herself in petrol and sets herself alight as he looks on, powerless to stop her. One, and then another, and then another, vicious murder - none with any apparent motive - shatter the tranquillity of the Swedish province of Skåne. As the temperature rises and the tension mounts, Wallander's search for the identity of the girl and the serial killer will throw him and the people he loves most into mortal danger.
    • 4/5
      Sidetracked by Henning Mankell; (4*)Kurt Wallander, the melancholy detective in Henning Mankell's Swedish police procedurals, takes it personally when a crime is committed on his turf. In Sidetracked the work of a serial killer who takes the lives of his victims with an ax and takes their scalps as trophies throws him into another depression. He feels great sorrow as he realizes that a foreign kind of violence has now struck in Ystad, his turf & hometown.The author observes local police routines in detail, while taking a parallel path to follow the insane logic and precise methods of the killer. But it is Wallander's anguished voice that really sucks us in. While all of Sweden is following World Cup soccer and everyone is preparing for their summer holiday, this cop can't get over the girl who torched herself in a farmer's field. Brooding on the alienation of the young, the breaking down of the family unit and the loneliness that attends this breakdown of modern society, our philosophical hero vows to make it up to the coming generation while he still can.I continue to enjoy this series.
    • 5/5
      Superb, at every level. This is a tense book where we have met the killer in the first pages, and we know one of the victims, and soon after the first ritual murder is done, we have some idea what its all about. But hero Kurt Wallander doesn't, and we watch as he leads an investigation that leaves few clues as each gory killing is called into the police station. We know before he knows, and its like the movie where you yell at the hero, "Look behind the door, look!!!!!!!" Rich detail, incredibly good pacing, with only one inauthentic moment, very late in the book. Really sucked me in...and I could not put it down.


      One ed error, where "man" and "woman" are reversed as Wallander goes into a man's apartment expecting to see a woman lover, and finds a man lover instead. Or am i reading it wrongly?