The year is 1992;
the Soviet Empire has been consigned to history. Latvia is now a
sovereign state. But, behind the official autonomy, powerful forces
are at work with close links to the Russian Mafia.
A rubber dinghy with the bodies of two dead men onboard washes up on
the coast of southern Sweden. The police in Ystad, led by Detective
superintendent Kurt Wallander, are soon able to establish that the
two men were murdered and that the dinghy originated in Latvia.
The Latvian police send a Major Liepa across to Ystad to assist with
the investigation. The case of the two dead men is soon seen to be
the product of an internal Mafia dispute, and Liepa returns home.
Shortly afterwards a message comes from Riga that Liepa has been
murdered immediately upon his arrival back home.
Together with Blomman, a young Ystad cop of Latvian extraction,
Wallander sets off for Riga. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues
in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. |
Per Berglund
