Tuesday Teaser - Henning Mankell's Man from Beijing

Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or always on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme.

The rules are simple:

--Grab your current read,
--open to a random page,
--share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on the page,
--be careful not to include a spoiler,
--share the title and author--and a very brief synopsis--so that other Tuesday Teaser participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teaser, and
--post your link in the comments on Miz B's webpage.


The Man from Beijing
by Henning Mankell

District Judge Birgitta Roslin: "Long afterward, when the memory of everything that had taken place began to grow dim, she sometimes wondered what would have happened if she had in fact gone on the holiday to Tenerife, then come home and gone back to work with her blood pressure lowered and her tiredness banished. But reality turned out differently ."
p. 57

Synopsis from book jacket: January 2006: In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjovallen, 19 people, mostly elderly, were massacred. The only clue was a red ribbon found at the crime scene. Judge Birgitta Roslin is shocked to learn that her grandparents, the Andrens, are among the victims. She also learns that an Andren family in Nevada has been murdered in a similar manner. In trying to find the link between these two murders she discovers the 19th century diary of an Andren ancestor who was a gang master responsible for the brutal treatment of Chinese slave workers forced to work on the American transcontinental railway.

Judge Roslin cannot persuade the local police to pursue the links among these three events. They insist that the Swedish massacre must be the work of a lunatic. So, she sets out to investigate on her own. This dangerous mission entangles her in power plays in modern day Beijing involving the Chinese government as it becomes a political and financial super power.

The Man from Beijing solidifies Henning Mankell's reputation as a
great Swedish crime writer that began earlier with his Kurt Wallander mystery series, following the driven career and tortured personal life of Inspector Kurt Wallander in the southern sea coast town of Ystad. Mankell's novels are so much more than standard police investigations because he deals with modern day issues like unchecked immigration, governmental inefficiency, financial and social collapse. This background makes for a very relevant read. Final note: if you enjoy the Mankell novels, you will more than likely want to check out Wallander on PBS' Masterpiece Mystery where Kenneth Branagh gives and award winning performance as Inspector Kurt Wallander.