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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Murders and international thriller violence; the apartheid-era South African sections are disturbing
Language
Barely any
Mild language in Mankell's measured Scandinavian register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Minimal sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Some drinking in the Scandinavian setting
Emotional Intensity
Some
The political complexity of apartheid-era violence and Wallander's encounter with something far beyond his small-town experience creates the novel's distinctive tension
What this book is about
The third Kurt Wallander novel begins with a routine investigation in Ystad — a woman's disappearance — and expands into an international thriller involving apartheid-era South African operatives planning to assassinate Nelson Mandela. Mankell writes Scandinavian crime fiction with political consciousness; the South African chapters are dark and the apartheid-era violence is depicted with historical honesty. For adult readers of Scandinavian crime fiction.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
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