Sidetracked (novel)

Sidetracked (first published as Villospår in 1995) is a crime novel by Swedish author Henning Mankell, the fifth in his Kurt Wallander series.

In the sweltering Swedish summer of 1994, a sadistic serial killer begins preying on elderly, successful men, violently slaughtering them with an axe before collecting their scalps as trophies.

Meanwhile, Wallander witnesses a young woman from the Dominican Republic set herself on fire, and must also cope with his increasingly despondent father, who's determined to make one final trip to Italy.

As he investigates the two cases, the Ystad detective uncovers a sinister link to prostitution rackets and the white slavery trade.

In 2001, Sidetracked was adapted by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television into a two and a half hour television movie, starring Rolf Lassgård as Wallander.