The Man in Beijing by Henning Mankell

This novel begins with a grim discovery. All but 3 residents of a small hamlet in Northern Sweden are found brutally murdered. There is no obvious motive and no suspects.

Birgitta Roslin, a judge takes an interest in the case when she realizes that two of those killed were her mother's foster parents. The only clue found at the crime scene is a strip of red silk that Birgitta discovers has been cut from a lantern in a Chinese restaurant.

This is a complex but easy to read novel that moves from modern day Sweden to 1860's America (via the device of a set of diaries discovered in one of the murder victims home) to modern day China. Mankell has always been interested in politics and the section of this novel that deals with the complex politics of China, the emergence from communism into a sort of state controlled capitalism, is absolutely fascinating.

I always enjoy Mankell's novels and The Man from Beijing is a pleasurable read but is ultimately unsatisfying. For me there are a number of problems with this novel. The various strands in the story are interesting but they don't come together in a believable and satisfying way. The central character Birgitta is not in the story for a good third of the novel and while the central character is not in the story it lacks focus and drifts. Finally, it wasn't clear if this novel was driven by the characters or the storyline, in the end it fell between the two.

Worth reading for the quality of the writing but The Man from Beijing isn't vintage Mankell.