Henning Mankell - Before the Frost (2005)
Reviewed by Fiona Walker
At last it’s arrived: the first novel in Mankell’s new three-part series in which Linda Wallander takes the limelight from her father Kurt, soon to retire. (Let’s forget, for the moment, that the fourth Wallander mystery still hasn’t been translated.) All people want to know is this: is it as good? The answer, one entry in, is both yes and no.
Before the Frost is just as gripping, just as eccentrically well-written, and just as remarkably socially-conscious as Mankell’s other novels; no worries there. However, it was always going to be true that Linda is not as compelling and brilliant a character as her father. Almost no protagonist could be, though, so I wasn’t expecting it. She’s still capable of leading this series; she’s just not quite as fascinating as her father. Though, as she assumes his mantle it becomes clear that they share many qualities: the temper, the doggedness, the strength and the child-like vulnerability which belies it.
There’s only one other area where this novel is not quite as good as the previous ones, and that is the fact that we don’t get such a detailed picture of the police investigation, given that Linda is not yet on the inside. We don’t get the unique, glorious sense of teamwork which I’ve never found in any other series before; we don’t get to see the tense way the investigation develops incrementally, detail by small detail. In fact, through this novel she has just left training college and is waiting to join the force. Mere weeks before she is due to put on the uniform, an old friend goes missing. Linda, worried, begins to investigate.
Meanwhile, the Ystad police are baffled by a series of horrific arsons on live animals. Swans, a calf. Then an elderly woman, whose hobby is mapping the region’s lost rural pathways, is found murdered. Her head and hands have been severed, and a Bible full of handwritten “corrections” lies by the remains. Soon it becomes apparent that Linda’s missing friend knew the woman, and that the other investigation, which increasingly seems to hint at a network of Christian fanaticism, must somehow be connected.
The best crime fiction is coming from Europe. No question. You only have to read it to know that very little from Britain or America is currently as refreshing and original. People have tasted European crime-writing, and they are crying out for more. Henning Mankell is certainly one of the most guaranteed to sate that thirst. There are few writers as inventive; few writers who are so talented at scrutinising the current zeitgeists through their plots.
Here, Mankell manages to say a lot about religion and religious extremism without directly saying much at all. (Briefly, I must say how refreshing it is to see a portrait of extremism that isn’t Islam, in a world that’s media is so preoccupied with peddling short-sighted nonsense about how the whole of the west is imminently at risk from Muslim fundamentalists, and I get the distinct sense that Mankell knows exactly how daring he’s being.) In a rather thought-provoking turn of events, at the close of the book Linda’s first day as a police officer is the 11th of September:
“Martinsson turned on the television.
'Something’s happened in the States,’ he said.
‘What sort of thing?’ Linda asked.
‘We’ll have to wait and see.’
There was an image of a clock, counting down the seconds to a special news report. More and more people filtered into the canteen. By the time the news report came on, the room was almost full.”
Another area where Mankell usually succeeds notably is in stitching the events of dreamy Ystad onto a far wider canvas; linking them to a world-wide perspective. He has always excelled in doing this, since The White Lioness dealt with apartheid, and then right through to Firewall, which dealt with aspects of digital terrorism. The result is that his provincial Swedish mysteries can extend a range of meaning far beyond windswept southern Skane (“Skorner”), and is probably one of the many contributing factors to why Mankell is so hugely popular. The undeniable fact, though, is that this device is slightly less sucessful here.
Very minor hiccups won’t spoil this at all for Mankell fans, though. Linda is not the most compelling of the Wallander family (although she does provide a very interesting new viewpoint on her father, and we get other insights into the Wallander clan - particularly ex-wife Mona - that Kurt’s perspective simply couldn’t provide), but as soon as she’s settled into her role, this new series could easily become just as special as when her father was at the helm.
Posted by Fiona Walker in Book Reviews | Permalink
