Review: The Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell

Henning Mankell was a brilliant crime writer. I absolutely love the Wallander books (and Swedish series!) so I was pleased to receive The Return of the Dancing Master as a gift. The main character, Stefan Lindman, also appears in the Wallander series. I have not figured out whether it is the same constabulary officeholder though. What is it about Scandinavian writers that they are great in writing crime novels?

Find out beneath if I enjoyed this book as much as the Wallander ones!

Book Cover

Molin, a retired police officer, is living solitary in a remote cottage in the vast forests of northern Sweden. He has two obsessions:  the tango and the confidence that he is existence hunted. He has no close friends, no shut neighbours. Past the time his body is somewhen plant, Molin is nigh unrecognisable. Lindman, a constabulary officeholder on extended sick exit, hears of the decease of his sometime colleague and, to have his mind off his own problems, decides to involve himself in the case. What he discovers, to his horror and disbelief, is a network of evil well-nigh unimaginable in this remote district, and one which seems impossible to link to Molin's death.

Start Impression

The Return of the Dancing Master starts off with a prologue in which Nazi war criminals are hanged. Information technology gives quite a hint on where the book will head subsequently on. The first chapter starts gruesome equally well, as Molin is found brutally murdered. I was definitely curious to notice out who had murdered him and why. Still, I did not immediately similar the main character, Stefan Lindman. He was on sick get out, due to cancer of the tongue and also a former colleague of Molin. He decided to become to the town where Molin was murdered in gild to acquire more than near his onetime colleague and to investigate the instance.

The Story

The secluded, Molin, was murdered in a gruesome mode in his house. The bloody steps showed that the murderer had danced the tango with him, a strange detail. The only prove the police had been footsteps in the dirt and tire marks, apart from that the murder was committed meticulously.

The police officeholder Giuseppe Larson investigated the murder and was helped by Stefan Lindman. The story revolved around both the murder and the plot, just also for a large role on Lindman — the police officeholder on sick get out. As he was suffering from tongue cancer, he was quite depressed and anxious. To me, the part of him being sick seems unnecessary considering it did not add anything in particular other than that information technology allowed him to help investigate while on ill leave.

Every bit they gather clues and evidence, it became articulate that the murder had something to do with National Socialistic ideals and networks. One character in the volume puts it brilliantly:

Some people collect stamps. Others collect matchbox labels. I regard it as non impossible that there are some people who collect obsolete political ethics. (p. 301-302)

When another person gets murdered, the investigators seemed to be in the dark most whether there was a connection or not. The more Lindman and Larssen discover, the more twists and turns the book has. Information technology will keep yous on the edge of your seat! In a higher place all, it is clear that Molin is not the man Lindman thought he was.

My Opinion

I loved the eventual plot of the book. Everything came together and I had non predicted it, although I was not fully surprised. The perfect balance of not feeling as if the plot came out of nowhere, but still surprising enough. However, the book felt somewhat long, information technology could take done with less than 520 pages. Maybe some of Lindman's personal tribulations could have been shorter.

I felt that the weather was some sort of side graphic symbol in the book, which was pretty cool. It was often described that there was mist, it was snowing and and then on. I felt like the common cold, Swedish weather condition was a great backdrop to the story where everything was grim.

New clues, evidence and theories are revealed throughout the book, which keeps surprising you. The build-up of the book is expert and it has more depth than most criminal offence books.

Conclusion

The Return of the Dancing Master did not surpass Henning Mankell's Wallander serial, but it certain is a corking read. Although I didn't call up Stefan Lindman was extremely likeable, yous exercise want to go on this journey with him and investigate the case. If you are into crime stories, I would definitely recommend reading this one.

Verdict

Beoordeling vier koppen koffie Dan Brown Oorsprong

Written by Roos Bergers