However Mankell abandoned the series after just one novel when the actress playing Linda in the Swedish films, Johanna Sällström, committed suicide in 2007.

[1] Kurt Wallander and Stefan Lindman (the protagonist from The Return of the Dancing Master) also feature in the novel.

Her father is Inspector Kurt Wallander, a veteran of the Ystad police force, whom she will have to work alongside.

[2] A feature film adaptation directed by Kjell-Åke Andersson was made in 2004 and released in Swedish cinemas on 14 January 2005.

A stage adaptation authorized by Mankell was premiered at the Westphalia State Theatre in Paderborn, Germany, in 2006.