Ever since he killed a man (albeit in self-defense), Kurt Wallander suffers from guilt and depression. The past year he had been on sick leave from his duty as police officer and he spent much of the time drunk and on edge. Eventually, he makes a decision: he won't be able to return to the force. Things turn out differently when an old friend is found murdered in his office. A week earlier Wallander turned him down when the to-be-victim sought him out to investigate the death of his father. Now he can no longer disregard the possibility that it wasn't the accident he thought it was.

The Man Who Smiled follows a surprisingly straightforward detective plot. The story opens with numerous crimes and Wallander quickly identifies his prime suspect. From then on he's determined to deliver him to justice. Unlike the complex narrative structure of The White Lioness, for almost the entire novel we follow Wallander and the progress and setbacks in his investigations. There are no political or historical undertones; it's all about the hints and evidence.

Personally, I very much welcomed the return to the roots. His discoveries are not exactly mind-blowing, but there are frequent turns of events and there are a few well-placed action moments that keep you on your toes. It won't come as a big surprise that the seemingly philanthropic billionaire is behind it all, but it sure offers a very difficult challenge to bust his criminal operations.

To be honest, I wasn't very impressed by how the mystery is eventually resolved. After the entire plot makes clear how difficult it was to get a hold of Alfred Harderberg, it's a bit underwhelming that Wallander (and Henning Mankell) cannot think of something more original than to infiltrate his manor head-on. Frankly, I was also quite annoyed by how his new female coworker is handled. Her personality and dialogs remain very shallow throughout and by the end it's clear that she's only in the novel to provide someone to "speak" to while Wallander is doing all the action. Well, I guess at least she wasn't some stupid love interest.

While the predecessor in the series had been a bit too ambitious, The Man Who Smiled is refreshingly down-to-earth and undemanding. It's a great choice if you are in the mood for some murder mystery, but you cannot be bothered to constantly keep (mental) notes to figure out what was going on. The book equivalent to the lazy Sunday crime feature on public-service TV.

Rating: 3/5