The White Lioness

Despite the title of my review, Kurt Wallander doesn't actually interact with Nelson Mandela, but they are both integral to the plot of this very well written book. Once again we watch as Wallander attempts to solve the mystery of the brutal death of a woman, which appears to be a random, senseless murder. There are very deep currents to this killing unknown to the Swedish police, which involve a plot to turn South Africe into a battlefield. Wallander shows that he has a very human side, when he does some very stupid things, makes big mistakes, and almost costs his daughter her life. In the end, however, he does pull himself together, but I don't think that he will ever be the same. The plot alternates between Sweden and South Africe, and Mr. Mankell has a deft touch with the characters in South Africa. Perhaps he is tuned into the African mindset because he spends several months every year there and this helps him to write with knowledge. There is real sympathy for the plight of the blacks in South Africa (this book was written before Mandela became president) and it shows in the writing. This does not appear to be the normal Wallander book, but it does show us that even "heroes" in books have a very human side, and we can identify with that. The series goes on and I will be reading the next book, hopefully soon.

I read a great deal of fiction, usually interspersing novels that may arguably be literature with escape fiction, mostly mysteries. I chose The White Lioness to read as a mystery, but I quickly found it compelling as literature. The writing, and/or its translation, is crystal clear. The reader comes to know the characters, of which there are necessarily a lot, given the dual-country plot, and the main ones are truly multi-dimensional. Scheepers in South Africa and Wallander in Sweden, along with their colleagues of lesser importance to the plot, each have exhibit a touching vulnerability. Many mystery authors strive to create non-caricature "good guy" characters, but do not quite achieve such interesting results. Supplemental characters play important roles, also, both in driving the plot and in adding depth. Often, when a story requires so many people and names, it is difficult to keep them sorted. That is not so in this case. Mankell's writing is that lucid. In many ways, the mystery driving the story is the lesser element of the plot, and that may dissatisfy some readers. To me, it is a brilliant depiction of a detective who becomes drawn into a larger story, a much larger story. I was equally drawn in.

A new acquaintance was kind enough to mail me a copy of Faceless Killers, Mankell's first Kurt Wallander novel and I have been addicted ever since. The White Lioness is the most compelling of them all. Mankell's Detective Kurt Wallander is excellent company. The plots are interesting but the settings and characters are what haunt my nights and keep me reading long after a more temperate person would have turned off the light. Wallander's interior life is laid bare as he struggles with senseless murders, the frustrations of puzzling through complex homicide investigations, and his own shrinking personal life. The Swedish countryside and an isolated village in Africa become vivid background for a plot that twists and turns through the end. One caveat: this novel is dangerous to personal productivity.

Henning Mankell writes excellent mysteries, and this is no exception. The main character Kurt Wallender comes across as an authentic, flawed character who is all-too-human. Unlike the lone wolf Philip Marlowe in Chandler's books, Wallender is a detective who is also a divorced father, a son, and a man with middle-age challenges. Mankell does an excellent job of balancing the rational pursuit of evidence found in polic procedurals with Wallender's intuition. Moreover, while many of the events themselves are violent, Mankell avoids over-the-top graphic descriptions of violence, unlike some contemporary works (Lehane's Darkness, Take My Hand or Ellroy's Black Dahlia come to mind). This, along with other Mankell books like One Step Behind and Firewall, are excellent and entertaining reads.

Mankell can certainly give Patterson, Sanford, and Connelly a run for their money. His writing is tight, controlled, and swift. His characters are so real that by the time you finish the book, you can describe them as if you had dinner with them last night. Several parallel storylines converge together seamlessly, giving the reader the impression that Mankell simply penned the entire book in one sitting! This guy can write!!!!!