The White Lioness

A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson - translator

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

The execution-style murder of a Swedish housewife looks like a simple case, except that there is no obvious suspect. Wallander follows a lead on a determined stalker. But when his alibi turns out to be airtight, Wallander begins to realize that what seemed a simple crime of passion is actually far more complex and dangerous. Eventually, his search uncovers an assassination plot, and Wallander soon finds himself in a tangle with the secret police and with a ruthless foreign agent.

A riveting tale of international intrigue with compelling insights into the sinister side of modern life, The White Lioness will keep you on the knife edge of suspense.

©1998 Laurie Thompson; 1993 Henning Mankell (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews

"A first-class thriller." (New York Times)
"[Wallander is] a solid character, whose strengths and weaknesses are utterly credible, and Mankell knows how to make the most of his virtues." (Publishers Weekly)
"The action is skillfully grounded in human rather than political concerns....[Mankell's] stature as a major voice in international crime fiction remains undisturbed." (Booklist)

Great boo.

What a great book. The story is well constructed and is arranged against a backdrop of the political landscape of South Africa in 1990's. What a fantastic detective story. Cannot wait to hear the next "Kurt Volander" story.

twists and turns

very entertaining with a lot of twists and turns. it never get boring

My second Wallander

I really enjoyed listening to this book, my first by Mankell was Dogs of Riga, which I also enjoyed. The White Lioness started off a little slow but picked up momentum and turned into a good thriller. I've never been to Sweden and probably never will so it's good to hear about normal life there and it's good to know the Swedish have hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. I've never read much about South Africa, period, so listening to what it was like in the last days of Apartheid was interesting. But, Detective Chief Inspector Kurt Wallander is the star. I like the way Mankell gets into his psyche and tells us what he's thinking both bad and good, he has many thoughts just like me. I'm sure I'll try a third Wallander mystery at some point. It appears Henning Mankell quit writing and moved to Mozambique or somewhere thereabouts. That's too bad, he spins a good yard.

Awesome!

Great listening full of twists and turns and Wallander is at his best!!

Wimpy men!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Mr.Hill Presents most of the Swedish men as stammering, frightened little boys. As a Swede, it drove me crazy!

Has The White Lioness turned you off from other books in this genre?

Only from this author.

Crying out to be abridged!

This book is, in a word, tedious from the very first minute. The author seems to think that the methodical, plodding investigatory methods of a good detective are exciting plot lines, and every unrelated interrogation is narrated in great detail. This is despite the fact that many go nowhere and the reader/listener is screaming for SOMETHING to HAPPEN! The "Swedish" accent of the narrator is grating at best, and extremely irritating as he portrays almost every character in what can only be described as a whiny voice. Cops don't talk that way, I'm sure, and neither do cold-blooded killers. It is almost four hours into it (yes, I stayed with it, in order that I might finally get to the "good parts"!) that there is a ten-minute interesting segment, and then we are back to listening to what is in everyone's thoughts, moralizing, and the worst plot device of the second-rate author, describing the "dreams" of the protagonist. Stay away.

This Story Completely Falls Apart

This is my third in the Mankell / Wallander series, and I took them in order.

This story starts out great. I was thinking that Mankell was only getting better and better. His first in the series, Faceless Killers, was decent but nothing spectacular. His second, The Dogs of Riga, was much better - still not great but good. This one really gets going in the first half, but then it drags on and on and on, and finally it completely unravels in every aspect from the story line to the main character.

In summary, I have found nothing special about Mankell. If anything, he breaks character in too many key areas and by the end, the main character is completely unlikeable. This is not a good thing for a hero, tragic or otherwise, in a continuing series. In this case, the hero is not tragic, he is simply not likable or interesting at all.

That's the last of Mankell for me, I cannot recommend this one.

Just Mediocre.....

I have read other Kurt Wallander stories and they were much better. This was just mediocre, at best. Not sure what happened with this one. I understand the author moved to Mozambique, which would explain the preachy quality to the racial mess in South Africa. Yes, apartheid is horrendous, however when used as a backdrop to a mystery/thriller it should have been less of the focal point. This book was less about the murder mystery and more about the politics of South Africa at that time period. As others have said, I did learn more about the injustices put upon blacks in South Africa, however I didn't buy this book to learn about that... I bought it to be entertained... as a small respite from my daily grind.... Didn't find it here.

I suffered through the whole thing

I kept waiting for the book to get better. In fact, in the hands of a better author, the overall story concept between Sweden and South Africa could be told differently and be a great book. As portrayed in the book, either the characters are unrealistic, or Swedish people are not very intelligent. Being of Swedish ancestry I would prefer to think the former, but as this is such a bad book and it seems to be popular in Sweden, I’m concerned it might be the latter. Maybe the characters are intended to be humorous, and that was lost in the translation. The reader’s sing-songy voice may have been appropriate for the Swedish characters voices, but it was grating when the awkward pronuncations and word cadence carried into the narrative. What I did come away with was a better understanding of South Africa and black culture during that period and little else.

perhaps not Mankell's best.

An ambitious and huge story covering multiple story lines. There were too many digressions due to many backstories. Saved by great reading.