• The Return of the Dancing Master

  • By: Henning Mankell
  • Narrated by: Grover Gardner
  • Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,200 ratings)

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The Return of the Dancing Master  By  cover art

The Return of the Dancing Master

By: Henning Mankell
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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Publisher's summary

When retired policeman Herbert Molin is found brutally slaughtered on his remote farm in the northern forests of Sweden, police find strange tracks in the snow, as if someone had been practicing the tango. Stefan Lindman, a young police officer recently diagnosed with mouth cancer, decides to investigate the murder of his former colleague, but is soon enmeshed in a mystifying case with no witnesses and no apparent motives. Terrified of the disease that could take his life, Lindman becomes more and more reckless as he unearths the chilling links between Molin's death and an underground neo-Nazi network that runs further and deeper than he could ever have imagined.
©2003 Laurie Thompson (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Return of the Dancing Master

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Deep story

Liked the plot. Love the detail and characters and love the narrator . Really like Henning's books.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A complete story!

Great Detail and a story woven over 60 plus years, shrouding the conclusion has HM does!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Bad job of translation!

The person who translated this Mankell novel did him no favors. Poor word choices and an obsessive dedication to word-for-word translation rendered the dialogue wooden and the narrative ponderous. Certainly a good translator will capture the culture differences reflected in the original language and recreate the Swedish forthrightness, introspection, and coolness, but this translation left the reader nothing to work with and flattened an otherwise entertaining read.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story

This was an excellent story from start to finish. It was not just a mystery but it was a thought-provoking reflection of humanity.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engrossing mystery with lots of twists and turns.

Atmospheric Swedish mystery. Great plot and characters. Keeps you guessing. Didn't want it to end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Different to my usual choice but worth it

A great story. Will definitely look out for this author in future. Not my usual choice but, as it was included in my membership, I thought to give it a try. Well worth it. A new favourite author. Narrator excellent.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A story and a warning

Mankell creates characters that are humans, warts and all. And this is a very prescient story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Nothing about Argentina, not even the tango.

Why do europeans keep saying Argentina helped the nazis?
But, I love Mankell. I didn't know I will like another policeman after Wallander.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Awkward

Gave this one a shot, more than halfway through. But I thought the dialogue between characters was awkward. And the police just seemed clueless and main character was awkward. I don’t know if it’s a translation thing but I had to eventually stop listening. Narrator was great with what he has to work with!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I love Henning Mankell’s books but this one was disappointing. I felt it was overwritten, repetitive to a fault and meandering toward the middle. More disappointing than that though, was the reader, Grover Gardener, whose voice I found monotonous and flat. The narration was also peppered with irritating mispronunciations-“kilometer” for instance. Maybe it was a bad translation, I don’t know, but the story was not up to the author’s usual high standards, I my opinion.

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