Incorrect trajectory

Author: Henning Mankell
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The summer of 1994 was one of the hottest summers in Sweden in recent years. As the entire nation feverishly watched the quadrennial U.S. World Cup football tournament, Chief Inspector Wallander of Ystad was assigned to investigate a report from a farmer. When he tried to approach the odd-behaving girl in the rapeseed field, a tragedy occurred—the girl poured a large amount of gasoline over herself and set herself, along with a vast patch of rapeseed, ablaze, reducing everything to ashes. Strongly shaken, Wallander began his investigation into the girl's suicide, only to be confronted with another murder case in the local area, one as rare in the region as it was in the entire country. The killer was extremely cruel yet skillful, leaving no trace behind and showing no signs of stopping. One, two, three, four—more victims kept appearing. Case after case, tangled with each other, the clues were complex and the tracks blurred and chaotic. Who was the killer? When the killer's face finally began to take shape, it cast an unbearable weight upon everyone, making it impossible to face the content of this book: In the gray morning light, he began his disguise. He had carefully planned everything, leaving no room for error. He would need the entire day, so he didn't want to feel rushed. He picked up a brush—just like that. From the tape recorder on the ground, he heard a pre-recorded reel of drumming. He looked at his face in the mirror and then applied a black line above his forehead. He felt his hands were calm. Yes, he wasn't nervous, even though this was the first time he had seriously applied this wartime makeup. Before now, up until this moment, it had only been a way to escape, a means to protect himself from the relentless pain he endured. But now, he was truly going to disguise himself.