Book - The Man Who Smiled

Loved it! I was so frustrated and just knew that this guy was going to get away with it. I kept waiting anxiously as each layer of the onion was slowly peeled back, and it seemed like there'd be no end to it. The ending was somewhat contrived and improbable, but I can live with it.

Wallander's in fine form in this book, and I just love how he thinks. He's so contradictory and human: smart but does idiotic things, capable team leader yet runs off half-cocked by himself often, strong yet weak and doubtful of his personal strength.

There were the usual weaknesses as in previous Wallanders: I wish there had been better character development of the bad guy - I couldn't get a handle on him at all - did he become that cold over time, or was he always like that? I had a hard time believing that a low-ranked guy like Wallander was able to get access to such a prominent person.

After his last case, Wallander's been on leave for over a year, on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Out of the blue, an old lawyer friend desperately seeks him out at the edge of the world he's been hiding out in, and insists that his father's death was not an accident. Soon after, Wallander decides to quit the force, only to find out when he returns home that his friend's also been killed, which propels him back to work after all. His investigation leads to one of the richest, most powerful guys in Sweden whose ruthlessness has no bounds.