Henning Mankell’s The Dogs of Riga is not a book about dogs but rather one that refers to another meaning of the word. That is, “
to follow someone or their movements closely and persistently.” To dog them. I believe that it is the perfect title for this book given the Cold War setting and the actual trailing that takes place in the story.
It is a crime detective novel, the second that we are reading for Carleton University’s
Learning in Retirement program class called Classics of Detective Fiction: From the 1960s to Today.
The book was translated into English in 2001 and is set in Sweden and the troubled Baltic state Latvia. In our class notes, the instructor says that the book falls in the genre of “
Scandinavian noir” and that it offers “
criticism of the social welfare ideal.” The later being something that the author was well known for.
Though my book came with the tagline about Mankell being, "
Sweden's greatest living mystery writer," we did lose him in 2015 to cancer.
THE STORY
Detective Kurt Wallander is the somewhat rumpled, seemingly depressed lead character. He is newly single, a bit burnt out with police work and given to periods of self-doubt. His personal life is not so great.
In his professional life, Wallander is a Swedish homicide detective and in this novel, he is assigned a case that starts with the washing ashore of two well-dressed dead men. The case turns out to be much more complex than it first appears and eventually sees Wallander in over his head in Latvia.
REVIEWS
This book is “
a near-flawless performance in a distinguished series” says
Kirkus Reviews.
Publisher’s Weekly says this book is “
a unique combination of police procedural and spy thriller that also happens to be a devastating critique of Soviet-style Communism.” Agreed.
The Crime Review says, “
Mankell’s gritty, ultra-realist noir writing style keeps a somewhat tired plot line fresh and interesting, and makes this a piece not to be missed in the ongoing development of Wallander’s character.” I am so glad to have met Wallander!
Finally, The Crime Review also says that Mankell is masterful at “
capturing sentiment about complex social and political issues in a very real, day-to-day way.” I agree, it seemed like a a very good representation of the place and the times.
Readers on Goodreads rate this book a 3.72 out of 5 and Amazon readers give it an average score of 4 out of five stars.
MY REVIEW
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mankell’s Wallander and as I said above, I am glad to have met him and I do look forward to more of his adventures. The Dogs of Riga was a captivating book; a page turner at 326 pages. It definitely had my attention and made me want to know what would happen next. It is therefore HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me if you enjoy well-crafted, somewhat gritty crime detective fiction and novels set in the Cold War.
As in my review of
Ian Rankin’s Black and Blue, I have to tell you that this is not the first book in the Detective Kurt Wallander series. Since it is part of the course I am taking and therefore assigned reading, I started with it. I will definitely have to go back to the start of the series, which is where, I imagine, you will start if you also want to meet Kurt Wallander.
WHICH DETECTIVE KURT WALLANDER BOOK IS FIRST?
Since I want to back track and read the books that came before The Dogs of Riga, I searched for a complete list of the Kurt Wallander books in the order that they should be read. I struggled at least in part because apparently the books were not translated to English in chronological order. I eventually found this
Detective Kurt Wallander website and timeline, which should be helpful if you want to start at the beginning, too.
The Pyramid (1999) - This is a prequel, an anthology.
Faceless Killers (1991)
The Dogs of Riga (1992)
The White Lioness (1993)
The Man Who Smiled (1994)
Sidetracked (1995)
The Fifth Woman (1996)
One Step Behind (1997)
Firewall (1998)
The Return of the Dancing Master (2000) – Written by Stefan Lindman
Before the Frost (2002) – Written by Linda Wallander
The Grave (2004)
The Troubled Man (2009)
IN CLOSING
More than 40 million copies of the Detective Kurt Wallander books were sold worldwide so I am not the only one who enjoys them. However, the author also wrote many plays, children’s books and screenplays.
I think The Dogs of Riga would be a brilliant movie and apparently my idea is not a bad one because the BBC made Henning Mankell’s novels into a Swedish crime TV series that now comprises 26 episodes.
You can check out all of Henning Mankell’s Wallander books on Amazon
by clicking here and you can learn more about or order your copy of The Dogs of Riga
here.
If you do read the book, please come back and let us know if you enjoyed it and, if you have seen the movies, we would love to hear about them, too.
See you
At the bookstore!
Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
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