SIDETRACKED

Told from the perspectives of both cop and criminal, Mankell's third KurtWallander mystery revolves around the veteran Swedish inspector's searchfor a savage serial killer who scalps his victims after delivering a fatalhatchet blow. The novel opens as Wallander is called to a farmer's field,where he helplessly witnesses a teenage girl's self-immolation. Thesuicide unsettles the inspector, who can't understand why someone so youngwould kill herself. As the police try to identify the young woman, theserial killer's first victim, a former justice minister, is discovered ona beach in a wealthy neighborhood. Three more people are found murderedand scalped, and other signs of violence suggest that the perpetrator isbecoming increasingly agitated. Following standard procedure, Wallanderand his crew try to link the four victims, all male, a difficult taskbecause their lives never seem to have intersected. Using Americanprofiling methods as well as his own intuition, Wallander struggles tomake headway in the case. What he doesn't consider, and what readers know,is that the murderer isn't a man but a boy, who hopes to revive hiscatatonic sister by the ritual presentation of the scalps. Mankell'smeticulously detailed descriptions of the inspector's investigationAandhis often lyrical portrayal of Wallander's struggle to rearrange histhought processes in order to catch the criminalAare masterful. Theauthor's treatment of modern themes such as juvenile killers and brokenfamilies adds richness to what is essentially a straightforward policeprocedural. But above all, the novel stands out for its nuanced evocationof even the peripheral characters. Winner of Sweden's 1997 Best CrimeNovel of the Year, this is another terrific offering from the talentedMankell.