One Step Behind

A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

On Midsummer's Eve, three role-playing teens dressed in 18th-century garb are shot in a secluded Swedish meadow. When one of Inspector Kurt Wallander's most trusted colleagues, someone whose help he hoped to rely on to solve the crime, also turns up dead, Wallander knows the murders are related. But with his only clue a picture of a woman no one in Sweden seems to know, he can't begin to imagine how.

Reeling from his father's death and facing his own deteriorating health, Wallander tracks the lethal progress of the killer. Locked in a desperate effort to catch him before he strikes again, Wallander always seems to be just one step behind.

Translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg.

More mayhem? Listen to all of our Kurt Wallander mysteries.

©1997 by Henning Mankell; 2002 by The New Press (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Satisfying in a way that has less to do with the wonders of forensic science than with the pure pleasure of rational thought." ( New York Times)
"Mankell remains central to the flowering of a new, distinctly darker strain of the European hard-boiled crime novel." ( Booklist)"Sure to please those who like weighty police procedurals....Mankell's writing is deadpan and stark, the plotting meticulous and exacting." ( Publishers Weekly)

You can never go wrong with Wallander

I love all of the Wallander books. Fantastic story lines with wonderful character development. Performance is always great by Dick Hill

Great story and narration.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me on The edge of my seat at times. Loved the relationship the police men and women had for each other. The narrator was excellent.

Dick Hill Reads "Rambo"

The book gets a 4 even though Wallander is written to make mistakes which no "old salt" cop would make. But Wallander is not Rambo and should not be read that way. Please, someone, rerecord this series using Scott Brick or one of the two Simons (Vance or Prebel)!!!!!

The series deserves a 5. At least read those not read by Dick "Rambo" Hill.

Inept detective - good plot

Mankell puts together a good plot and an interesting locale. What annoys me and makes me unwilling to read more is the protagonist's (Kurt W's) ineptness: never remembers his cell phone; never has something to write on; never seems to ask relevant follow up questions. While characters have to have character, I don't like the choices here. Moving the plot forward with these made my teeth chench.

I enjoy books with an unfamiliar setting, and the Swedish scenes do provide this for me.

Another fine tale by Mankell

An amazing twists and turns thru European crime thru the eyes of the incomparable Wallander. Doesn't get much better.

If you love the Wallender books....

I love all the Wallender books, and this is another good one. Good mystery, good details about Wallender himself....hard to guess what will happen next...a great story...

Great story that kept me guessing

The narrator Dick Hill is the best. (RIP Mr. Hill) This is the 5th book I’ve listened to authored by Mankell, every one of them has been outstanding. Well worth the time. Enjoy!

One Step Behind

As a translated book this was quite good. The pronounciation of the character and place names could have been better researched, but that might only have bothered me, who's mother tongue is Swedish.
The plot got somewhat hung up on the detectives personal agonies without giving him depth and I don't think that the reason for the villain's madness got adequately explained. But all in all, not a bad "read".

A very human detective

This was the first Kurt Wallander story I'd listened to and I like this character. He has so many bad habits and flaws ... he's just a regular guy. He's got great intuition but sometimes it takes him awhile to pull the intuitive thought from his subconcious. I like the way the author describes this process. The storyline was captivating. The translation was pretty good, but I wasn't all that thrilled with the narrator's over-annunciated style. I'll probably listen to another one of these.

He plods but he gets there

The central character (I think "hero" would be a definite misnomer) of this book is not going to win any awards for sparkling intuition or deduction or even common sense. He is set about with human weakness and distraction and his progress on the case in hand often seems to come in spite of rather than because of his efforts. This is not to say he is not interesting. He is, in a plodding, sympathetic sort of way. But this is one of those books where you spend a lot of time thinking, "Wait a minute. Have you forgotten..." Or, "You really ought to rethink your decision to go there without back up or a ready weapon."
Mankell also tells us several times too often that his character is bothered by some detail in a situation but cannot put his finger on it.
Still, our struggling detective (and he struggles in every possible way: physically, socially and professionally) is warm and appealing enough to keep us engaged. At least he did me. This is the first book I have read from this series, and it was good enough to warrant another sampling. Perhaps I just like the poor guy because I relate to all those weaknesses which assail him.