Communist ideologies clash in Henning Mankell’s thrilling crime-noir, The Man from Beijing

It’s not often that I actually find anything to pique my interest in the Little Free Libraries scattered around Seattle. Only on one other occasion did I take and finish a book from one. The book was Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick (which offered a fascinating and soul-crushing look inside the lives of people from the hermit kingdom). Apparently, I’m only drawn to books in these little libraries if they are from a specific geographic region.

 The Man from Beijing likely stuck out to me because I had visited the titular city four years ago. An international bestseller, the back was covered in praise quotes from publications around the world. Perfect! It was vetted and the back was lacking a description so I’d be able to go in relatively blind, something I don’t get to do with books very often.

 The Man from Beijing is a crime-noir set in several different countries. The story opens in Sweden, in the small town of Hesjövalle. Everyone in Hesjövallen, a retirement community of 2 dozen elderly people, has all been brutally tortured and murdered. It is one of the largest mass murders in Swedish history and there are no suspects or ideas towards possible motives. We are introduced to our main character Brigitta Roslin, a big-city judge, who is shocked by the news and driven to investigate the murders herself.

 Taking place in equal parts China and Sweden with stints in the U.S., England and Africa, the book develops quickly into a thrilling whodunit with ties to Chinese politics and conflicting communist ideologies. Mankell writes Roslin as a fair and firm judge who is currently struggling to find intimacy in her marriage of over 10 years. She’s intelligent and cunning, carrying out her own investigation of the murders while the bumbling police department struggles to find clues. The Swedish press harshly criticizes Roslin's every move as she wades further into the ethical murkiness of vigilantism.

 The book puts the reader through a process of discovery, weaving stories from different locations and different eras. I was initially shocked when the setting was suddenly transported to 1867 China. The globetrotting adventure that followed during this timeline became a highlight of the book. Mankell’s ability to tie everything together without revealing too much too early makes for several gratifying reveals throughout.

 He’s crafted a thrilling adventure that is damn near impossible to put down. (I wonder how many times I’m going to use the phrases “page-turner” or “impossible to put down” in these writings. I’m making a note here to remind myself to limit them.) When it came to the last few pages I was surprisingly doleful about having it all end. Not because it had been poorly written in the final chapters, simply that it was over. I was worried the next book I picked up wouldn’t be as entertaining.

 This was the feeling which led me to want to write and capture my thoughts and experience with books. Fortunately for me, Henning Mankell is an established crime novelist with a huge body of work. He is best known for his mystery novels starring Inspector Kurt Wallander. This being noted, I am not quite ready to commit myself to an entire series of mystery novels, nor am I even interested in continuing the genre of crime fiction for now. With so much of this book rooted in Chinese government, I am curious to learn more from here, be it fiction or non-fiction. What route I take into this subject is currently unbeknownst to me, but I am enthusiastic to write about whatever may come next.