The Man Who Smiled

I feel like I've just finished an Henning Mankell trilogy; Dogs of Riga, White Lioness, and now The Man Who Smiled. I must admit I enjoyed them all. I guess now I"ll have to go back to his first book and then hope that the later Wallander stories show up on Audible. In Man Who Smiled, the author again delves into the human side of Kurt Wallander and he has many of the same feelings we all do, at least I know I do. I always thought the weather in Sweden would suck and in reading these books that's affirmed unless you like living somewhere where it's foggy, rainy, cold a good portion of the time. The mystery flows pretty well, too, sometimes it seems the story moves slowly as the investigation plays out but Mankell does make the story interesting. Sometimes you think what is Kurt Wallander doing but it does make for an interesting tale.

Henning Mankell has systematically constructed a series centering on Kurt Wallender, a police detective who retires after many years, and then is drawn back into the world of law and order by a case that he can't resist. Mankell has so many skills in this genre that he puts many American writers who plumb this genre to shame. His plots are so full of twists and turns that you find yourself spinning, following red herrings, trying to pronounce the names of Swedish towns (just kidding,sorta) and people, trying to solve the many-faceted case along with Wallender. Like many of his fellows in this genre, he is single and somewhat depressed. He has a double-edged relationship with an aged father who manages to cause trouble for his son despite his advancing age. We are tantalized by continuing possibilities of relationships with women. Mankell occasionally slips us into the world of non-fiction, referring to the case of Robert Maxwell, a Brit who constructed a gigantic Ponzi scheme decades ago, and who eventually jumped off his yacht rather than face justice. His empire collapsed the moment he died, and he was thoroughly defamed and disgraced, many years before Bernie Madoff did the exact same thing, depriving millions of simple investors of their hard-earned pensions and small investments, as well as cheating his own family and some very large and powerful individuals. This story contains a rich guy very similar to Maxwell, a very private, shady man who lurks behind numerous screens, shadow companies, and who manages to steal four million kroner from a small town's government.
Dick Hill does his usual masterful job of narrating. How he manages to pronounce all those Swedish names and places I do not know. He also gives the proper nuance and moods for each character, and in each situation. He makes it sound easy, the mark of a true master. Any true fan of this genre should enjoy any one of these books. I recommend them to you without reservation.

. . . you won't be disappointed by this audio book. The narrator is excellent. I have 3 of the Mankells available here, and Dick Hill narrates all of them. He's very good at the Swedish stuff, and particularly good at varying his voice and intonation to indicate different characters. Even the women are quite believable and recognisable as women. This is done very subtly and unobtrusively, and results in a very enjoyable experience for the listener.

In general, I'd say this isn't one of Mankell's best Wallander books, but it's ok. The other two I've got are better novels. But the quality of the narration is excellent in them all, and so despite an initial skepticism regarding audio books, I'm now a committed listener. I drive a lot of long distance trips, and these things keep me awake and alert, and well-entertained.

Good performance, interesting plot, believable characters and good translation

Similar in feel to Nebo and Harry Hole but different enough to hold my interest.

Dick Hill as usual makes the story live a little and I liked that

No one should regret spending the money on this one

The story slogs on, the narrator is so annoying, which may have colored my experience of this writer. The narrator has a thoroughly irritating way to depict the female characters, halting and odd. I read a different book by this author, narrated by Grover Gardener-MUCH better. I'll try this writer one more time, without Dick Hill as the narrator.

I'm hooked on the Henning Mankell books about Kurt Wallander. The plot in this one is very complicated and touches on an evil practice that is probably more prevalent than most people realize. It's a good listen, even though the plot is a little too complicated for real life...or is it?

If you like scandinavian mystery, this is a good example. Lacks the tension of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and the villain is obvious to everyone except the police but is never boring.

One of Mankell's best! Interesting plot and story moved right along with less depressing moments from our great police officer (can't spell his name).

I would love to see how this book would read after a top-notch American book editor massaged it. I have thought that British mysteries, as a whole, contain TMI about the main characters but I think the Swedes now have the No. 1 position.

I lost count of how many times I said "TMI" [too much information] while listening to this book. "He cut his toe nails before going to bed"! Really? REALLY!

If you got all of the angst that the main character (the #1 Swedish detective) has because he shot & killed a bad guy last year out of the way then there is a pretty good mystery in "The Man Who Smiled" but it is more of a character study than a mystery.

The opening chapters set the stage...mood...mystery...

The first scene with the attorney driving down the dark road.....you think something is going to happen...but what will it be?

I'm addicted to this series....i love Dick 's narration. I've bought wallander the PBS series.

I recommend this series. I wish they were listed #1, 2 etc. I've read then out of order however that didn't detract from the joy of reading this thoughtful policeman.