SWEDISH detective Kurt Wallander is hardly a dandy like Poirot and he s rather fond of his booze. He lets life get on top of him, is constantly searching for that special love, and doesn t always hit it off with his colleagues – or his daughter come to th

SWEDISH detective Kurt Wallander is hardly a dandy like Poirot and he's rather fond of his booze. He lets life get on top of him, is constantly searching for that special love, and doesn't always hit it off with his colleagues - or his daughter come to that. But his heart is definitely in the right place.

In The Man Who Smiled, Kurt is so depressed he's been off work for months and is on the point of resigning when the unexpected death of a friend changes his mind. The victim, Torstensson, had just been to see him, worried that his father has been bumped off, and now he's died mysteriously too. Kurt just can't let that go.

The ensuing investigation proves as grim, as involved and as riveting as Wallander's other cases - and his love life could be on the up as well....

Thanks to Ottakar's of Stevenage 4/5