`A novel of astounding intelligence with a poetic style, highly colourful characters and a narrative in the form of a Provencal diable au corps blended with classical tragedy' Jean-Remy Barland, Lire

The murder of a Resistance hero leads a young boy to discover a meaning to life - and love.

June 1945. The war is over. Early one morning in the hills of Provence, Pierrot, a fifteen-year-old boy out gathering snails, stumbles across the body of Capitaine Patrocle, a celebrated hero of the Resistance. He has been murdered. In the dead man's wallet Pierrot finds a letter, whose contents provide the key to the dramatic events that lie at the heart of this haunting and unforgettable story of illicit passions and lead, subsequently, to the boy's association with the tragic and beautiful Madame Henry and to his introduction to the mysteries of love.

"Unsettling and full of unexpected surprises, a very enjoyable novel" Jerome Begle, Fugato

It is February, 1991. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team receive a call to the Ystad police station. A dinghy has been washed ashore, carrying a hideous cargo: two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead.
The dead men were Latvian criminals, and this time Wallander will unwittingly become involved in the affairs of the state close to Sweden, yet still emerging from behind the Iron Curtain. When another murder is committed, Wallander agrees to travel to Riga to help solve the crimes. He finds himself plunged into a nightmare world of police surveillance, veiled threats, and lies. Alone, determined to uncover the truth, all the time pursued by the shadowy figures of the secret police, Wallander's bravery will be tested to the limits - and he will also find love.

"Inspector Wallander has touches of Dexter's Inspector Morse about him, while remaining an original and highly likeable creation" Marcel Berlins, The Times
"It is not hard to see why the Wallander books have made a particular impact. They are tightly plotted, but even more importantly, as in most good crime fiction, the character of the detective and the atmosphere surrounding the action are what give that extra edge to the performance . . . One is gripped by the oscillating mood swings of investigation, private life and the winter weather of southern Sweden" Hugh Macpherson, Times Literary Supplement