The Fifth Woman

A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell, Steven T. Murray - translator

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In an African convent, four nuns and an unidentified fifth woman are brutally murdered, and the death of the unknown woman is covered up by the local police. A year later in Sweden, Inspector Kurt Wallander is baffled and appalled by two strange murders. Holger Eriksson, a retired car dealer and bird watcher, is impaled on sharpened bamboo poles in a ditch behind his secluded home, while the body of a missing florist is discovered strangled and tied to a tree. The only clues Wallander has to go on are a skull, a diary, and a photo of three men.

What ensues is a case that will test Wallander's strength and patience, for in order to solve these murders he will need to uncover their elusive connection to the earlier unsolved murder in Africa of the fifth woman.

©1996 Henning Mankell (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The darkest of Swedish noir." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Intricate plotting, chilling psychological divination, and thrilling police procedural." ( Library Journal)

Engaging and thought-provoking

A great read, multi-layered, characters very real. Love their inner monologues and meditations on the meaning of life and death. The only minor annoyance is a narrator. He is trying too much spelling the words like death, depth, thinking (sounds like tynking) and it’s a bit destructing. Otherwise a pleasure to get engaged in this horrifying story.

Tit for Tat

This book recalls the Old Testament dictum of "An eye for an eye". Or the concept of Karma, where what you give out is what you get back.

Its different. In the end we almost feel sympathy for the murderer, and antipathy towards the victims.

I enjoyed this different-ness. The reason I didn't give it four stars is simply because this is not my favourite genre.

So, a cop from Brooklyn goes to Sweden...

I saw the Wallander adaptations on PBS and I liked them. This is a good story but Kurt Wallander is now from Brooklyn, not Sweden. In fact, ALL the characters are from Brooklyn. All the place names are Swedish, but the cops? No.

The story lost much of its Swedish charm from this. They really could have done better. What were they thinking?

Ruined it for me....

I think I would have liked this book better if I had actually read it instead of listened to it. It has all the elements of a mystery that I like, relatable characters, twists and turns. But, I just can't get over Dick Hill's voice. It's a generally agreeable voice but his portrayal of female characters is absolutely grating to me. He uses a very nasal, slightly higher than his own voice, squeal and it sounds almost like he's doing an offensive mock of some female he doesn't like.

I've listened to other books he's narrated and felt the same way. Had I paid attention to who the narrator was when I was just checking it out, I wouldn't have bought it.

Great ambience

A wonderful mystery with a dark and complex plot in the middle of Sweden’s countryside. The quite ambience and its slow story tempo were a 180 degree turn from my usual fair of vampires and mayhem. In spite of or maybe because of that I found myself getting sucked into Wallander’s careful examinations and contemplation of the mystery and his life. I don’t think I will be devouring this series like I usually do with a new found series. Instead I’ll save them and read only when the mood strikes.
I heard there is a TV series based on this. I’d love to see it.

Good story - didn't like narrator

Really got into the story, but didn't like the narrator - lots of odd pauses and just a hard voice for me to listen to so ended up in this place where I just wanted to hurry up and get to the end not only so I could figure out the mystery, but so I wouldn't have to listen to that voice anymore.

Captured

The geography of Sweden was hard to follow. The story holds your interest, and the narration was top notch by Mr. Hill.

Henning Mankell's The Fifth Woman a new story for fans of the Swede TVSeries

I'm a great fan of international TV series, and the Kurt Wollander Mysteries, based on Henning Mankell's stories are a must for those enjoying this read (and vice versa!) this story line was new to me, though it captured different moments in Wollander's life as I knew it. Nice to meet an old friend, see him in a new light (and the supporting characters, too). Great fun!

One of Kurt Wallander's greatest cases

Where does The Fifth Woman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

near the top

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Fifth Woman?

each new murder was memorable

What three words best describe Dick Hill’s voice?

doesn't fit the character

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

too many

Any additional comments?

this is one of Mankel's greatest books. He displays great pacing and powerful character development with a few side trips that are memorable for their unique insights into Swedish life.

Excellent story.

The narrator was a bit robotic but the overall performance was good and the story was very engaging.