The Return of the Dancing Master

This book started off so well with a secret flight to Berlin in 1945, and a horrific murder in the secluded Scandinavian forest; however, the absolute inane and repetitive banter between the police detectives takes the plot NOWHERE, and is boring. I became so irritated with the main character and his self-pity and flighty behavior that I decided to skip to the end to get the skinny.I gave this a 2 because it could have been so good, but the author drops the ball, and fills the pages with drivel.

and draws the reader smoothly into the possibility of that " loyal fanatics" who are Natzies are thriving in groups all over the World. The characters all play their parts well and blend in well to create a believable mystery. Much of the storey is based on events are historically accurate. Dispite the gruesome murders, I found comfort in the fact that all of the investigaters as well as forensic crime scene doctors all played their roles well in a highly professional mannere . This is a masterful book of intrigue and possibilities that I am sorry to have finished.Mankell's descriptive narrative allows the reader to be in a time and place that few of us have ever experienced and this is enlightening. It's a keeper and remains in my thoughts. This is a good thing

Henning Mankell has become one of my favorite mystery authors and I've discovered him late in the game. I've been reading his Kurt Wallander series but The Return of the Dancing Master is a stand alone book. It is a many-tiered mystery that reads along at a steady pace and like Wallander's other books, has a cold and dark atmosphere that reflects the Swedish forest where a lot of the story takes place.Herbert Molin lived the life of a hermit in his home hidden back in the forest in Sveg, which is farther north from Wallander's Ystad in Sweden. He had a neighbor with whom he spoke once in a blue moon, but mainly Molin stayed to himself. Before he retired from the police force in Boras, Sweden, Molin worked with a younger officer named Stefan Lindman. Lindman now discovered he has mouth cancer and while waiting weeks off duty to begin his treatments and to ease his terrible fear and anxiety, discovers that Molin has been brutally murdered. He goes to Sveg out of curiosity for why someone would kill Herbert Molin. No one knows why or even a hint at the identity of the killer.Detective Inspector Guiseppe Larsson is in charge of the case and allows Lindman to tag along with him on the investigation. Giuseppe Larsson takes a lot of teasing from co-workers and others over his first name since it is hardly a Swedish name. He is so likeable that besides the dreary Lindman, he became my favorite character. The characters are very well developed and have distinct personalities that I found unforgettable. As I read, the title finally made sense.Mankell's stand alone books seem to be as good as the series, and I look forward to reading the next in the Kurt Wallander series of mysteries. One thing that I appreciate very much is a map of the areas covered in the stories. I go back to this map in the front of the book to locate where characters are and to track their movements throughout the books. It makes the story more real.

I’ve always enjoyed Mankell’s Swedish mysteries. also, I’ve loved reading about WWII stories. This book has both. The rise of Fascism in Hitlers’ Germany and his party’s Nazi followers, one of whom was Swedish (Molin) and the murderous trail of the Nazi machine that tortured and murdered 6 million Jews in death camps and so many more groups of helpless people, it’s a good mystery taking place in modern times and of two policemen who figure out what happened to Molin. Loved the detailed writing. I always learn something new when reading about my mom’s birthplace in Sweden.

I have read all of Mankell's Kurt Wallander series and loved them all. As a child of the holocaust (half my family perished) I was especially moved at an emotional level at how Mankell weaved this remarkable tale of revenge and redemption. I suspect he knows more than he is telling about present day Nazi sympathizers in Sweden. As a cancer specialist I was moved as well by the protagonist's struggle with his cancer diagnosis. Mankell gets it on every level. This is way more than a crime novel.

Henning Mankell close to his crime writing best with this one. Lovely serpentine plot and great characters. The brutal murder of an ex-cop in the wilds of rural Sweden kicks off the story. The whys and hows are gradually teased out through a procedural conducted, in part, by one of the victim's former colleagues. The killer, brought into the ongoing plot early on, halts his/her successful escape when after learning a second murder has been committed and he/she is presumed to have committed it. Indignation and a return to the scene of the crime ensues. From that point, there are plots twists on nearly every page and a nasty side of Swedish politics is made visible.This is seriously good writing. Intelligent and entertaining all the way.

This purchase is a gift for a friend as the book I read was from another friend's bookshelf. It's not part of the Mankell series of Kurt Wallander, but you get to enjoy the riveting writing style of Mankell initially giving clues of the crime but leaving out the details that unravel when reading. Got addicted to the author's style and have read 7 of his Wallander mysteries during this Covid pandemic lockdown. Recommend.

A young police inspector on medical leave travels North to investigate the death of a friend. Seeking peace and quiet he is instead sucked into a bazaar killing that involves Nazies

I have read most of Henning Mankell's novels, including all of the excellent Wallander series and have come to appreciate what a very good writer he is. This book is a detective story, but not one involving Wallander. It is is much more than just a satisfying detective novel, for, although the core of the book is the investigation of an initially inexplicable murder the book develops into a complex unravelling of the motives behind the murder of a former policeman.Mankell is a master of creating atmosphere without lots of superfluous description. Throughout this book there's a sense of menace from the unknown murderer and anxiety exudes from the character, Lindman, a policeman who knew the victim, and who, while on sick leave awaiting cancer-treatment, gets heavily involved with the investigation of the murder. An unhappy, lonely man as a central character has been a theme in other Mankell books, for example,  Depths  and  Italian Shoes , even Wallander can be gloomy.The book is long and doesn't gather pace until near the end, but it never flags and I felt sucked into the investigation and followed its ups and downs as if it was happening in real-time. As in the more recent Wallander books, issues that are affecting Sweden's social fabric and national identity are woven into the story. DepthsItalian Shoes

I had previously read two Wallander novels by Henning Mankell, and enjoyed all of the various Wallander TV series. I wanted to read something by Mankell that was not about Wallander, but that would have the same dark, cold, northern atmosphere, and this was it. The book did not disappoint. The plot was a real page turner and the characters were thoroughly human and believable, as one would expect from Mankell. Less believable was the series of coincidences that help the detective Stefan Lindman in the unravelling of the crimes, whereas Wallander invariably succeeds through thorough, painstaking work, which I find more satisfying and credible. The atmosphere of the northern forests was evoked wonderfully, but in connection with that I have one little gripe; I would have liked a map or two. I read this book in the Kindle edition, in which there are no maps, whilst on holiday. On my return I looked up Sveg and the various other locations on a map of Sweden and found that they do exist, but not in the areas where I had imagined them to be. Perhaps there are maps in the paper edition, as there are in some of the Wallander books. A word about Stefan Lindman. Yes, he is preoccupied about his diagnosis of cancer (who wouldn't be?), but no, this is not overplayed; it just serves to make him more human and interesting. Detectives who think about nothing but solving mysteries and who have no life outside of their work are so wooden. Is this the same Stefan Lindman who appears in one of the Wallander TV series? No, I certainly didn't recognise him anyway. So to sum up, a compelling, atmospheric book, but not quite up to the high standard of Wallander; hence only four stars.

A non-Wallender book that contains enough twists and turns to keep you involved to the end. The detective with an Italian first name deftly developed by Hakan Nesser into a detective with an Italian surname. A travelogue of Sveg and Ostersund, wild Sweden at its best

i have just reread this book after a few years and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. the story is quite a departure from the wallender series and the suspense is strong. mankell waits quite a long time before explanations are offered and the story is stronger for the delay.mild spoiler***********it won't harm your enjoyment of the bookI do not think that anyone who has been to Scandinavia would doubt the existence of neo facism and this is tackled very well in the story. I do not know if it was my bad fortune to meet a skinhead in stockholm or if this is exceptional.enjoy.

One of the few Mankell crime stores that is not about Wallander. I did need a good map to follow the movements of the main character. Did not appreciate the size of Sweden. Highly recomended.