The Man from Beijing Henning Mankell ; translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson

A brutal revenge story that is both a gripping police procedural and a chilling political thriller.One cold January day the police are called to a sleepy little hamlet in the north of Sweden where they discover a savagely murdered man lying in the snow. As they begin their investigation they notice that the village seems eerily quiet and deserted. Going from house to house, looking for witnesses, they uncover a crime unprecedented in Swedish history. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. A nineteenth-century diary and a red silk ribbon found in the forest nearby are the only clues. What Birgitta eventually uncovers leads her into an international web of corruption and a story of vengeance that stretches back over a hundred years, linking China and the USA of the 1860s with modern-day Beijing, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and coming to a shocking climax in London's Chinatown.The Man from Beijing is both a gripping and perceptive political thriller and a compelling detective story. It shows Henning Mankell at the height of his powers, handling a broad historical canvas and pressing international issues with his exceptional gifts for insight and chilling suspense. The acclaimed author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries, writing at the height of his powers, now gives us an electrifying stand-alone global thriller.January 2006. In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjovallen, nineteen people have been massacred. The only clue is a red ribbon found at the scene. Judge Birgitta Roslin has particular reason to be shocked: Her grandparents, the Andrens, are among the victims, and Birgitta soon learns that an Andren family in Nevada has also been murdered. She then discovers the nineteenth-century diary of an Andren ancestor--a gang master on the American transcontinental railway--that describes brutal treatment of Chinese slave workers. The police insist that only a lunatic could have committed the Hesjovallen murders, but Birgitta is determined to uncover what she now suspects is a more complicated truth.The investigation leads to the highest echelons of power in present-day Beijing, and to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. But the narrative also takes us back 150 years into the depths of the slave trade between China and the United States--a history that will ensnare Birgitta as she draws ever closer to solving the Hesjovallen murders.From the Hardcover edition. ADVENTURE / THRILLER. One cold January day the police are called to a sleepy little hamlet in the north of Sweden where they discover a savagely murdered man lying in the snow. As they begin their investigation they notice that the village seems eerily quiet and deserted. Going from house to house, looking for witnesses, they uncover a crime unprecedented in Swedish history. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. A nineteenth-century diary and a red silk ribbon found in the forest nearby are the only clues. What Birgitta eventually uncovers leads her into an international web of corruption and a story of vengeance that stretches back over a hundred years, linking China and the USA of the 1860s with modern-day Beijing, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and coming to a shocking climax in London's Chinatown FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE WALLANDER MYSTERIES REVENGE CAN TAKE MORE THAN A LIFETIME In a sleepy hamlet in north Sweden, the local police make a chilling discovery; nineteen people have been brutally slaughtered. It is a crime unprecedented in Sweden's history and the police are under incredible pressure to solve the killings. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. When the police make a hasty arrest it is left to her to investigate the source of a nineteenth century diary and red silk ribbon found near the crime scene. What she will uncover leads her into an international web of corruption and a story of vengeance that stretches back over a hundred years. The Man from Beijing is a gripping political thriller and a compelling detective story from a writer at the height of his powers. En janvier 2006, 19 membres d'une même famille (les Andrén) sont massacrés à l'arme blanche dans un village isolé du nord de la Suède. La policière Vivi Sundberg penche pour l'acte d'un déséquilibré. Birgitta Roslin, juge à Helsingborg, s'intéresse à l'affaire car les parents adoptifs de sa mère sont parmi les victimes. Elle mène une enquête parallèle. Un ruban rouge retrouvé sur les lieux du crime la met sur la piste d'un mystérieux Chinois qui aurait séjourné la nuit du massacre dans un hôtel voisin, où il a été filmé par une caméra de vidéo-surveillance. Munie de son portrait,Birgitta Roslin le cherche en vain à Pékin. Mais son enquête maladroite dans une Chine en plein bouleversement dérange les projets (spéculation immobilière à l'approche des J.O., expansion coloniale en Afrique) du puissant homme d'affaires Ya Ru Året er 2006, og en kald januardag i Hudiksvall oppdager politiet at atten personer er slaktet på den mest bestialske måten. Bare et fullstendig vanvittig menneske kan ha utført en slik ugjerning. I Helsingborg leser dommer Birgitta Roslin om det som har skjedd, og hun slås av en fryktelig innsikt: Hun har slektskap til nesten samtlige av de drepte. Politiet har problemer med å gripe saken an, men Birgitta bestemmer seg for å finne ut av saken. Hun legger ut på en reise over flere kontinenter, og leseren tas med tilbake i tid. Henning Mankell debuterte i 1973, og har mottatt en rekke priser for sine bøker "In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjövallen, nineteen people have been found dead. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. A nineteenth-century diary and a red silk ribbon found in the forest nearby are her only clues"--Cover. "In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjövallen, nineteen people have been found dead. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. A nineteenth-century diary and a red silk ribbon found in the forest nearby are her only clues" Cover.