Book #28 An Event In Autumn

An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In May 2014 I finished reading The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell, the last in the wonderful Wallander series that had gripped me since the 90s. Mankell said in October 2012: “There are no more stories about Kurt Wallander”. And I reluctantly had to believe him, made all the more sad by Mankell’s early demise in 2015 from cancer.

It was by pure happenstance then that I came across this novella entitled An Event In Autumn. The story was written many years ago for a reading campaign in the Netherlands. Everybody who bought a crime novel in a certain month would receive a free book. This was one of them. Years later the BBC discovered the story (I thought it rang a bell) and made it the basis of a manuscript of a TV episode in which Kenneth Branagh played the part of Wallander. Subsequently the book was translated into English and published in 2015 by Vintage.

Chronologically it dates to the period just before The Troubled Man and once again I have had the absolute pleasure of following Kurt in a short thriller, beautifully crafted. Wallander wants to move to the country from the apartment in Ystad that he shares with his daughter Linda. His police colleague, Martinson, tells him of a property owned by his wife’s cousin, that is for sale. It appears to be just what Wallander is looking for; the location is perfect. What he finds buried in the garden though, isn’t. A human hand poking through the soil leads to the discovery of a skeleton of a middle-aged woman, buried long ago. What follows is a perfect, frustrating investigation. A perfect ‘Wallander’. Something for any fan of Wallander to luxuriate in - for one last time.

Don’t miss it.

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