The Pyramid

Mankell's The Pyramid was a great read. It helped fill in some "before-hand" gaps to other novels as well as to help better understand Wallander and his work. I thoroughly enjoyed this book....which along with Shadows in the Twilight and Eye of the Leopard complete my collection of all the translated books by Mankell. He has been perhaps the "best" of the mystery writers! I hope there will be more translated books in the near future.

Every Henning Mankell fan missed his wonderful Kurt Wallender series after reading his grim and grimly political more recent work. This work is an added and unexpected bonus as Mankell goes back and reconstructs Wallender's life leading up to the more familiar series. It is a series of stories leading up to the beginning of the books. As always, beautifully written and worth more as literature than mystery, although the mysteries are gems. The early stories about Wallender's early life are sketchy and a bit lifeless. As time passes, stories get better leading up to "The Pyramid" which is a Mankell masterpiece. A must read for anyone who sees that mysteries have become the mainstream of contemporary fiction - or for anyone who just loves a great, atmospheric mystery.

Kurt Wallander, the intuitive inspector, first came upon the scene as a 42-year-old detective with many years of experience in the first novel in the series. After four more novels, Henning Mankell realized that what was missing was Wallander's background. So he started to write several short stories to fill in the blanks. Three more novels in the series appeared before the five short stories in this volume were completed. In the first short story, we find Wallander in Malmo as a uniformed patrolman who bumbles his way into the investigation into the murder of his next door neighbor, the beginning of his career as a homicide detective. It is during this period that he meets and weds Mona. The next story takes the couple to Ystad and the birth of Linda, their daughter. It is, of course, where he spends the rest of his career. The stories trace the development of Wallander's instincts as well as his divorce, relationship with his father and growing daughter. All the characteristics of the novels in the series are present in these short stories. It is essential history and embellishes Wallander's personality. Also, the common thread in all the novels, the deterioration of society, runs through the stories. This book is Mankell in top form. For Mankell/Wallander fans, a must read, and highly recommended.

The Pyramid is an excellent group of stories. The first three let you get to know Kurt Wallender as a young man and the last two portray him as a more seasoned police investigator much like the one we know from the full length novels. One can easily see why his social relationships are doomed to failure. He seems to have no gift for relating to a love partner. But as a detective he has no peer. As police procedurals, the stories give alot of insight into the nature of criminal investigation and, more broadly, into changes imposed by modernity on Swedish life. These changes have also occurred in other countries and are often publically discussed in the case of the U.S.

The Pyramid introduces reader to character they came to know in later Mankell mysteries. We learn much about why Wallender is depressed and how he views his role as a police officer. His relationship with his father, who succumbs to Alzheimer's, is introduced in the first story in the collection. The writing is as accomplished as in the later Wallander mysteries.