The Man Who Smiled

The Man Who Smiled
British first edition cover
Author(s)	Henning Mankell
Original title	Mannen som log
Translator	Laurie Thompson
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Series	Kurt Wallander #4
Genre(s)	Crime, Mystery novel
Publisher	Harvill Secker
Publication date	1994 (orig.)
Published in English	September 2005 (Eng. trans. )
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	336 pp (Eng. hardback trans.)
ISBN	ISBN 1843430983 (Eng. trans.)
OCLC Number	60513794
Preceded by	The White Lioness
Followed by	Sidetracked

The Man Who Smiled (original: Mannen som log) is a novel by Swedish crime-writer Henning Mankell, and is the fourth in the Inspector Wallander series, although the English translations have not been published in chronological order.

Synopsis

After killing a man in the line of duty (in The White Lioness), Inspector Kurt Wallander finds himself spiralling into an alcohol-fuelled depression. He has just decided to leave the police when an old friend, Sten Torstensson, approaches him to secretly investigate the recent death of his father in a car accident. At first Kurt dismisses his friend's suspicions as unlikely, when Sten is found dead, murdered with no doubt, in exactly the same manner as a Norwegian businessman shortly before. Against his previous judgement, Kurt returns to work to investigate what he is convinced is a case of double murder.

Adaptations

In 2003, The Man Who Smiled was adapted by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television into a two-hour television movie, starring Rolf Lassgård as Wallander. The Man Who Smiled has also been adapted into a 90-minute television episode for the BBC's Wallander series starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. It was first broadcast on 10 January 2010.