Depths
Lars Tobiassson-Svartman is obsessed with measurement and precision, traits reflected in his impersonal relationship with his hidebound wife. During the voyage, Lars rows out to a barren reef, which is presumed to be uninhabited. There he discovers a young woman living wild, surviving on fish. Despite her feral appearance – or because of it – the cold engineer is moved. Although his mission is a success and he returns with his ship to Gothenburg, he is haunted by his strange encounter and returns.
So far so good, but as a fan of Mankell’s lugubrious Nordic detective, Kurt Wallander, I was disappointed to learn that Depths does not feature him. Instead, this tale is set in the Stockholm archipelago at the outbreak of World War I. The usual violence is here; Lars, surprisingly, is a compulsive liar and a serial murderer.
