Before the Frost

Inspector Kurt Wallander's daughter, Linda, has finished police college and is about to begin her career with the Ystad police. When her friend, Anna, disappears, Linda becomes entangled in the investigation, unofficially working alongside her brilliant, irascible father. Cassandra Campbell's performance is an excellent fit for Swedish mystery master Henning Mankell's brooding, complex characters. Through subtle vocal shifts, Campbell captures the love and antagonism between father and daughter, the confusion of affections and jealousies between friends, the grim Swedish landscape, and the depressive personalities inhabiting Mankell's world. The translation is occasionally awkward, yet Campbell's skill keeps the mystery moving as gruesome animal killings, murder, and religious fanaticism take center stage. Mankell fans won't be disappointed in this first of a promised three-part Linda Wallander series. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine