The Dogs of Riga

Henning Mankell is the author of a number of police procedurals set in Sweden with a hero called Inspector Kurt Wallender. Most of the books are slow moving with most of the interest arising from the sub plots related to Wallenders life. Generally unexciting stuff, his conflicts with his irritating father, and the general problems and anxieties of a middle aged man. The strength of the books is the sense of their Swedishness and the realism of police matters.

This book is odd in that instead of the usual rather dull plot the hero heads of to Latvia, enters the country illegally on a false passport, steals car, assaults the local Lativian police, falls for a local damsel in distress and we have the plot elements which would normally be associated with an American film starring Tom Cruise. In the rest of the books the most action one would expect is for Wallender to be slightly overcharged for some herrings.

The feeling after reading the book is rather like buying the New York Review of Books and finding that it has suddenly got pictures of page three girls from one of Rupert Murchoch's publications through it. Quite disconcerting.

Never the less like any mystery thriller, one is looking at entertainment rather than emerging with a new vision of the world so that such things matter not. Still probably not as good as his other books which one reads with a sort of solid comfort.

"The Dogs of Riga" is one of the earlier books in Henning Mankell's series about his somber fictional Swedish police Inspector Kurt Wallendar and the plot is darker and jerkier than in later stories. I first read the book when it was published in German in 1993 and it's the only one of the series that I regularly enjoy re-reading. There's nothing slick about the story telling: it has a very raw edge to it.

The story follows the traditional Wallendar plotline: an exotic foreigner arrives in the peaceful coastal town of Ystad, accompanied by a slew of violent acts and connections to powerful people that shock the overworked local police force. In this case, the foreign dogs who wash up on Sweden's shore are two very dead businessmen with drugs in their systems.

Wallendar follows the trail back across the Baltic Sea to Riga, the capital of newly independent Latvia. There he involves himself more in local "affairs" than is politic or safe. Mankell kicked up some dust with this book. The Latvia described is a chaotic mix of gangland crime and corrupt officialdom. Some Latvians took exception to that bleak picture. (Latvia became independent in 1991 and "Hundarna i Riga" was published the following year.)

Kommissar Wallendar is often compared to Georges Simenon's Inspecteur Maigret or Colin Dexter's Chief Inspector Morse. In this book, he also shows traces of John Le Carré's Smiley. Mankell has been extremely popular in Europe for a long time. Maybe his books are better read in a cold, damp climate like that of Sweden, but I can't see anything that makes them "difficult for some American readers" as Publishers Weekly advises.

The second book in the Kurt Wallander series, as happened with the first installment "Faceless Killers", falls clearly short of the mark. I have a Swedish friend who encouraged me to read the first book, and after finishing it and telling him it was not very good, he said I should give it another try. This second book did not change my opinion whatsoever, but since I heard that this was the weakest book in the series I am willing to give Henning Mankell one more chance.

It is February 1991 and after two bodies wash ashore the Swedish coast in a raft, the Ystad police, with Wallander leading the investigation, determine that the murdered men are from one of the countries in the Eastern block. The Swedish police receive the visit of Major Liepa, from the Latvian police, who comes to help with the crime. Following the discovery of certain facts, Anette Brolin, the district attorney object of Wallander's infatuation in the previous book, closes the case and transfers it to Riga. An unexpected turn of events will require the presence of the Swedish inspector in Riga to help with the case and a new murder. Upon his arrival, Wallander realizes that Latvia presents a high level of political unrest after the fall of the Berlin wall, with the group seeking independence is confronting the Russians.

Clearly the best aspect of the book is the main character, which has a complex personality and whose emotions, thoughts and inner demons are explored in depth, making these the main focus of the stories. In this case, Wallander is dealing with the loss of his partner, Rydberg, who was one of the most experienced policemen in the department. We find that Kurt is constantly second guessing himself and thinking what Rydberg would have done in his situation. Other factors like Wallander's relationship with his father and daughter are also cause of concern for the detective, and we find him having health problems and thinking of choosing and alternate career because of this.

Where the novel really lacks in quality is in what has to do with the mystery per se. Mankell never really grasps the reader attention in this aspect and, even though this book is a little bit more fast-paced than the one before, the action seems drawn out. If the author could improve in this point, his books would be great, because they already have an awesome main character. I really hope that my next, and maybe final, try with this series results in a more fulfilling experience.

I love the other books of the series but this one is not as good. I noticed a couple of mistakes in the plot like when Wallendar cut his knee in one of the last chapters and then there was no mention to that again in the rest of the book, or when he was paying a hotel and noticed he had enough money to spent more days but a few minutes later he had no money to pay for gasoline and then at the end he changed money..I was just confused specially because the other books are flawless...

One of the previous reviewers mentioned that "Dogs of Riga" might be difficult for Americans because of its pervasive 'Scandinavian gloom'. True, I think, but what makes this novel even more unsettling is the thick, murky atmostphere of mistrust and suspicion depicted in the countries of Eastern
Europe in the early 1990's. It is difficult for Americans to empathize with the fear and suspicion of those times, which is the setting of this novel. The repressive and grim background is indeed the leading force in the novel: it is a force which still impacts life in much of the Eastern Bloc today, accompanied by suspicion and corruption.

Against that setting, then, the characters assume heroic proportions. The desire of Wallander to do his job well and bring closure to the deaths, the courage of Major Liepa to confront corruption, and the passion of Baiba Liepa to revenge the murder of her husband--all assume epic dimensions when viewed against the social backdrop. The plot is thickened by the lies, fear, and deceit by which even the ordinary citizen must survive. The labyrinth is constructed with masterful prose and an observant eye, hallmarks of Mankell's craft as a writer.

"Dogs of Riga" is a classic of the genre. More complex and better crafted than the typical police procedural, it is a 'must read' for the epicurean mystery reader.