The Fifth Woman cover art

The Fifth Woman

An Inspector Wallander Mystery

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The Fifth Woman

By: Henning Mankell
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

Four nuns and a fifth woman, a visitor to Africa, are killed in a savage nighttime attack. Months later in Sweden, the news of the unexplained tragedy sets off a cruel vengeance for these killings.

Inspector Kurt Wallander is home from an idyllic holiday in Rome, full of energy and plans for the future. Autumn settles in, and Wallander prays the winter will be peaceful. But when he investigates the disappearance of an elderly birdwatcher, he discovers a gruesome and meticulously planned murder - a body impaled in a trap of sharpened bamboo poles.

Then another man is reported missing. And once again Wallander's life is on hold as he and his team work tirelessly to find a link between the series of vicious murders. Making progress through dogged police work and forever battling to make sense of the violence of modern Sweden, Wallander leads a massive investigation to find a killer whose crimes are the product of new realities that make him despair.

©2001 Henning Mankell (P)2009 Random House Audio Crime Fiction Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting Scary

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All stars
Most relevant  
The characters that Mankell creates are whole beings, not just cut-outs as part of some intertwining stage set.

Sean, the narrator, gives them further life … and even death.

The story goes its merry and macabre way, with exciting drama and periods of reflection. Many occasions the author drops in reminders of ‘the story so far’ to help us get our bearings.

But this, and the other Wallander stories, are far more than murder mysteries. They are reflections on our society which spread over decades.

There are tales of morality, justice, love, loss, grief, revenge, madness, and joy all written in the signposts of the human condition.

Best of all, there is no condescending judgment on these matters. Just the signposts, which we are free to follow or not.

You could even read the stories over and over again and get different insights, regardless of already knowing the ‘end’.

Great writing, great narrating.

So much depth.

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I am a fan of the television adaptations of these books, so wasn’t sure if the books and the narrator would be as good.

Definitely as good, probably better. The longer timeline gives a more nuanced story and better character development than there is time for in a tv serial.

A real positive is the relatively straightforward personality of Wallender, without the irritating quirks TV producers seem to be obsessed with.

Deep and Dark

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The storyline was gripping from start to finish whilst the epilogue explained the missing pieces.

Tantalising

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The whole series is great.
Another simple but gripping and sometimes surprising narrative. Would recommend

Another treat one

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And only a little dated. Wallander not going through too much personal strife, fortunately (I have little patience for that in crime thrillers) and while the motivation for the crimes is ever so slightly sketchy, the scope and measured development of the investigation is satisfying and absorbing. High quality stuff.

Gripping police procedural

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the whole book was intriguing. I loved it . narrator was fantastic. could not fault it .

loved it

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What more can I say than this is another Henning Mankell / Sean Barrett classic. Excellent story that had me listening for long periods of time. Just another great story.

brilliant

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love these books. as I have said before some books are better in book / audible format than re-im!gined on tv

among the best of the entire series

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Great pace and twists, all read brilliantly by Sean Barrett who adds to the emotional impact

Unusual story

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As usual, this is well plotted and a good listen made even better by the high standard of narration.

Sean Barrett’s narration is excellent

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