The Troubled Man, by Henning Mankel

Troubled, and troubling. This is apparently the last Kurt Wallander novel. No, he doesn't get killed.

Wallander's daughter decides to have a child with a man named Hans. Wallander meets Hans's parents, and observes that his father is worried about something.

Soon, the father disappears, and the mystery begins.

This is not only a tale of police work in Sweden, but  one of international intrigue, and a query into what any of us can really know about any other, even those very close to us.

Sweet Tooth, by Ian McEwan

Dedicated to Christopher Hitchens.

An e-book, from the PC Library.

copyright 2012

"My name is Serena Frome (rhymes with plume) and almost forty years ago I was sent on a secret mission for the British Security Service. Within eighteen months of joining I was sacked, having disgraced myself and ruined my lover, though he certainly had a hand in his own undoing."

These are the first two sentences of the novel.

This took me less than two days to read. It was entertaining, and quite clever. My only criticism is that it might just be a bit too clever: I'm not sure that the "trick" of this work doesn't overshadow the rest of it.

But I don't regret reading it, and may try McEwan again, just to see what else he does, if he does indeed do anything else?

A Most Wanted Man, by John le Carré

I "read" this as an audio book.

In the ongoing mess of world affairs one suspects a high degree of incompetence, subterfuge, and mindlessly selfish power-grabbing. Le Carré does nothing to allay this suspicion.

This book is set in Hamburg, Germany. It deals with a young refugee from Chechnya, amazingly naive in spite of the brutal treatment he has endured on his flight from torture and imprisonment. The story is, of course, detailed and complex. Some people in Germany try to help him, and a very many do not.

If one is disposed to be paranoid or depressed about current events it might be best to skip this one.

Another excellent novel in concept and execution.