A SAD AND LONELY POLICE DETECTIVE SAYS GOODBYE - "THE TROUBLED MAN" BY HENNING MANKELL

“The Troubled Man” is Henning Mankell’s 10^th and last Kurt Wallander mystery.  Wallander is said to be the most popular fictional detective in Europe, perhaps even in the world.  His dour personality is a perfect complement to the landscape of Skane, the Swedish province where Kurt lives and works.  The unhappy inspector drinks too much, eats too much, doesn’t exercise and is always unlucky in love – whether the woman is his ex-wife Mona, or the love of Wallander’s life, the Latvian professor Baiba Liepa.

In “The Troubled Man” Wallander is 60 years old, and after suffering several memory lapses, is afraid he may be succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease.  His daughter Linda gives him his first granddaughter, a beautiful little girl named Klara.  Linda’s partner (and Klara’s father) is Hans von Enke, a financier.  Hans’ father is the retired naval commander Hakan von Enke.

One day Hakan goes on his usual morning walk and never returns.  Not long after Hakan’s disappearance his wife, Louise, who is originally from East Germany, also vanishes.  Louise’s dead body is discovered a month later.  Even though Haken’s disappearance and his wife’s death happen out of Wallander’s jurisdiction, Kurt, of course, jumps in to solve these crimes.  Soon Wallander uncovers connections to the cold war and even the 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.

The mystery of what really happened to the von Enkes is well plotted, but “A Troubled Man” is really about Kurt Wallander’s struggle with his own mortality.  Wallander’s life is lonelier than the topography of his native Skane.

This is a man who desperately needs a soul mate, but he’s never been able to hold on to a lover.  His wife Mona divorced Kurt years before.  While solving the murder of Latvian police officer Major Liepa, Wallander falls passionately in love with his widow Baiba.  Baiba returns Kurt’s love, but does not want to marry another policeman.  In “A Troubled Man” the Latvian professor visits Wallander and tells him she is dying of cancer.

The only lights in Wallander’s life are his daughter Linda and granddaughter Klara.  As the novels ends Kurt has difficulty recognizing the little girl.  Henning Mankell makes it very clear that “A Troubled Man” is the very last Kurt Wallander mystery.

Henning Mankell’s Wallander is a wonderfully rich character, one I will truly miss.  Kurt’s depressed personality is sometimes seen as a metaphor for Sweden in the early 21^st century.  Sweden is suffering from many of the same problems faced by other industrialized countries.  The economic uncertainty, political corruption, teen suicides and public lack of faith in the system – all these are problems familiar to Americans.  Inspector Kurt Wallander will be sorely missed, but perhaps it is time for him to take his leave from the fictional dectective stage.  The series ends on a very sad note, but Mankell remains true to his gloomy policeman.  “The Troubled Man” is a book to be savored, not only by fans of Kurt Wallander, but anyone who enjoys a beautifully written police procedural.