It was a senselessly violent crime. On a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse, an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police inspector, Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have. It also could be the match that inflames Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

In this case, unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecutor who has piqued his interest, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but he soon comes to realize that it will require all of his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.

Henning Mankell, born in a village in northern Sweden in 1948, divides his time between Sweden and Maputo, Mozambique, where he works as the director of Teatro Avenida.