"Dark and moody, this is crime fiction of the highest order."--Publishers Weekly

"Mankell is a master of the traditional arts of the crime novel, narrative pacing, and suspense."
--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Few of this genre's writers--few of any genre's writers--have bgen able to balance the ordinary
and the grotesque with such literary dash and page-turning brio."--Boston Herald

In this adventure from the pen of Sweden's master of crime and mystery, a disillusioned Inspector
Kurt Wallander is thrown back into the fray when he becomes both hunter and hunted. Crestfallen,
dejected, and spiraling into an alcohol-fuelled depression after killing a man in the line of duty,
Inspector Wallander has made up his mind to quit the police force for good. When an old
acquaintance, a solicitor, seeks Wallander's help and later turns up dead, Wallander realizes that
he was wrong not to listen.

Warily, he returns to work to head what may now have become a double murder case. A rookie female
detective has joined the force in his absence, and he adopts the role of mentor to her as they fight to
unravel the mystery.