A Troubled Man: Henning Mankell

The solution to the mystery is presented to Wallander quite early on, but he doesn't pick up on it because of his political conditioning. As a detective novel The Troubled Man is really rather unsatisfactory, but Mankell means it to be; the loose ends are there to make a point. On the face of it Wallander is investigating a double disappearance, but really he's investigating his own past- with its small triumphs, its missed opportunities and failed connections. He has turned sixty, his diabetes is out of control, he is beginning to suffer from unpredictable memory black-outs. He has lived the greater part of his life and it's too late for him to rectify his ignorance or change what he has made of himself.