So far I don't dislike The White Lioness. The writing and the individual scenes are entertaining but the book as a whole just doesn't do it for me. My biggest problem is that Mankell spoils his own book for you. Going in you know right away, from the book cover and the first chapters, that there is a plot to kill Nelson Mandela (this was written not long after he was released from prison) and that the final planning stages are taking place in Sweden. A real estate agent is killed because she took a wrong turn and ends up near the house the Russian and South African involved in the plot were hiding out. The murder is completely senseless because she hadn't actually seen anything but it serves to show what a ruthless idiot (more on that later) the Russian is and to get Wallander involved.
So, practically from the start we know who killed her and why. We know what the bad guys are up to and what their motivations are. We also know Nelson Mandela isn't going to get killed which lets the air out of the over-arcing plot. Mankell spoils things in the middle of the book too. He writes a scene where he lets you know the aftermath of a plot point and then goes back to tell you how it came about. I already know what the result is going to be so there's no real suspense.
The bad guys are basically pure evil. Racist bastards with no human feeling who kill in cold blood. There is no attempt at showing them as real people. I think Apartheid was terrible as well but the people involved were still human. I got tired of the one-note evil bad guy when I was 12. Unless you're going to go the whole hog and show him as a James Bond style villain with a fluffy cat and a laser gun, don't bother. The only one who's different is the South African hitman who became a murderous asshole because Aparthied made him do it. Sorry! Not a good enough excuse for becoming a contract killer. Most people who faced the same discrimination didn't, after all. But Victor is obviously someone we're supposed to somewhat sympathize with and I just have difficulty buying it.
The Russian ex-KGB agent (because there had to be one) is presented as cold and professional, murdering a woman for no reason other than she asked him for directions. This is what brings the police into the story. If he had pointed out the right road to her and sent her on her way everything would have been fine. Killing someone is a great way to bring attention in your direction. Blowing up your house leaving the police to find a Russian radio transmitter and a South African gun? An even better way of bringing attention to yourself. Committing a bank robbery and shooting a cop with the same gun you used to murder someone else? Congratulations! You've hit the trifecta of stupid! What will you do for an encore? Excellent choice, sir. Raid a bar patronized by Africans and then leave the tear gas canisters you used in the apartment the cops have traced you to. And for your prize, I predict you will be killed before the end of the book. How this man ever survived as a KGB agent is anyone's guess.
I'm only half-way through the book. The stupid hurts a bit but despite all these points (including the sentimental thread through the story about how Sweden is changing and crime is getting worse which is linked (possibly unintentionally) to an influx of foreigners) it isn't bad. It's a mess but taking it in small chunks and reading other things in between makes it all right. It just isn't much of a thriller or a police procedural.
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