The Site for English-Speaking Fans of Henning Mankell's Detective Series
Featuring Kurt Wallander of Ystad, Sweden,
A small town outside of Malmö in the southern province of Skåne.
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Before the Frost
Originally published in Swedish as Innan frosten
in 2002 and later translated into German as Vor dem Frost.
| Jump to: | Synopsis | Reviews | Links | Book Info | Film Info | Product List |
Synopsis
"Before the Frost" is the first of a planned series of three books which
feature Linda Wallander as the main character. Linda is a new policewoman
and working on her first case with the help of her father, Kurt Wallander.
From Random House UK:
In woodland outside Ystad, the police make a horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, the pages marked with scribbled corrections. A string of macabre incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, have been taking place, and Inspector Wallander fears that these disturbances could be the prelude to attacks on humans on an even more alarming scale. Linda Wallander, in preparation to join the police force, arrives at Ystad. Exhibiting some of the hallmarks of her father - the maverick approach, the flaring temper - she becomes entangled in a case involving a group of religious extremists who are bent on punishing the world's sinners. Following on from the enormous success of the Kurt Wallander mysteries, Henning Mankell has begun an outstanding new chapter in crime writing.From Amazon.com:
The leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. One man escapes. In the wood in the country land outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page. A string of incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, has been taking place and Inspector Wallander fears that these events could be the prelude to attacks on humans on a much greater scale. Linda Wallander, preparing to join the Ystad police force, arrives at the station. Showing all the hallmarks of her father - the maverick approach, the flaring temper - she becomes involved in the case and in the process has to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world's sinners. Before the Frost is a totally compelling and atmospheric crime story.
© The Harvill Press/VintageFrom the New Press:
Linda Wallander is bored. Just graduated from the police academy, she is waiting to start work at the Ystad police station and move into her own apartment. Meantime, she is living with her father and, like fathers and daughters everywhere, they are driving each other crazy. Nor will they be able to escape each other when she moves out. Her father is Inspector Kurt Wallander, a veteran of the Ystad police force, whom she will have to work alongside. Linda's boredom doesn't last long. Soon she is embroiled in the case of her childhood friend Anna, who has inexplicably disappeared. As the investigation proceeds, she makes a few rookie mistakes. They are understandable, but they are also life-threatening. And as the case her father is working on dovetails with her own, something far more calculated and dangerous than either could have imagined begins to emerge. Already an international bestseller, Before the Frost inaugurates Henning Mankell's new mystery series about Linda Wallander, and also features Stefan Lindman of The Return of the Dancing Master.
- Daughter earns right to carry her father's torch by Timothy Peters for the San Francisco Chronicle, 2005-Mar-13
- Moody Swedish crime series breaks the ice here by Michael Helfand for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2005-Apr-17
- Two Wallanders on the case by Jack Batten for the Toronto Star, 2005-July-24
- Father-Daughter Act by Richard Lipez for The Washington Post, 2005-Feb-27
- Cult Status by Marilyn Stasio for The New York Times, 2005-Jan-23
- Innan frosten (Before the Frost) by Laurie Thompson for the Swedish Book Review, 2003:1
- The Swedish Morse by Joanna Kavenna for the New Statesman, 2004-Sept-06
- Swede dreams by Joan Smith for The Guardian, 2004-Sept-04
- Before the Frost by Michael Shmith for The Age, 2004-Aug-28
- Crime round-up by Marcel Berlins for The Times, 2004-Aug-21
- Official Before the Frost film web site (with trailer video)
- IMDB entry
| Language | Title | Publication Date | Translator |
|---|---|---|---|
Swedish |
Innan frosten | 2002 | N/A |
English |
Before the Frost | 2004 | Ebba Segerberg |
German |
Vor dem Frost | 2003 | Wolfgang Butt |
Dutch |
Koudefront | 2006 | |
French |
Avant le gel | 2005 | Anna Gibson |
Italian |
Prima del gelo | 2003 | Carmen Giorgetti Cima |
Spanish |
Antes de que hiele | 2006 | Carmen Montes Cano |
|
Catalan |
Abans de la gelada | 2006 | Ivette Miravitllas Pous |
|
Basque |
?? | ||
Norwegian |
Før frosten | 2002 | Kari Bolstad |
Finnish |
Ennen routaa | ||
Danish |
Inden frosten | ||
Icelandic |
?? | ||
Portuguese |
?? | ||
Greek |
?? | ||
Polish |
?? | ||
Slovenian |
?? | ||
Turkish |
?? | ||
Japanese |
?? | ||
Korean |
?? | ||
Vietnamese |
?? |
Film Information
Filmed by Yellow Bird Studios and released to theaters in Sweden on 14 January,
2005. See our Yellow Bird Film
series page for more information. Variety's
review of the film can be seen here.
) |
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| Linda Wallander | Kurt Wallander | Stefan Lindman |
) |
) |
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| Anne-Brit Höglund | Martinsson | Linda |
) |
) |
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| Linda & Kurt | Ystad police station | the team meets |
) |
) |
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| Anna Westin | Erik Westin | Ebba |
) |
) |
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| infant in lake | Linda & friends' picnic | missing Vespa |
| Product List | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Books | |||
| Image | Title | Notes | Vendor |
) |
Before the Frost | Publisher: Vintage Press Format: Paperback Pages: 384 ISBN: 1565848357 Released: 2006-Feb-14 Status: Not Released Markets: 
 |
Amazon.com Amazon.ca |
) |
Before the Frost | Publisher: Vintage Format: Paperback Pages: 384 ISBN: 0099459043 Released: 2005-Apr-7 Status: In Print Markets: |
Amazon.co.uk |
) |
Before the Frost | Publisher: The New Press Format: Hardcover Pages: 384 ISBN: 1565848357 Released: 2005-Feb-2 Status: In Print Markets:
|
Amazon.com Amazon.ca |
) |
Before the Frost | Publisher: The Harvill Press Format: Hardcover Pages: 384 ISBN: 1843431130 Released: 2004-Sept-2 Status: In Print Markets: |
Amazon.co.uk |
) |
Before the Frost | Publisher: The Harvill Press Format: Paperback Pages: 384 ISBN: 1843431149 Released: 2004-Sept-15 Status: In Print Markets: International |
Amazon.co.uk |
) |
Vor dem Frost
|
Publisher: Zsolnay Format: Hardcover Pages: 544 ISBN: 3552052194 Released: 2003-July-17 Status: In Print Markets: |
Amazon.de |
) |
Avant le gel
|
Publisher: Seuil Format: Paperback Pages: 440 ISBN: 2020588358 Released: 2005-Sept-16 Status: In Print Markets:
|
Amazon.fr Amazon.ca |
) |
Los Perros de
Riga
|
Publisher: Tusquets Editores,
S.A. Format: Paperback Pages: 480 ISBN: 8483103303 Released: 2006-Mar-1 Status: In Print Markets:
 |
Tusquets-Editores.es |
) |
Abans de la gelada (Catalan) | Publisher: Tusquets Editores,
S.A. Format: Paperback Pages: 464 ISBN: 8483104814 Released: 2006-Apr-1 Status: In Print Markets: |
Tusquets-Editores.es |
| DVD & Video | |||
| Image | Title | Notes | Vendor |
) |
Wallander 1 -
Innan frosten
 |
Publisher: Yellow Bird Films Format: DVD, Region 2, PAL, Color Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Language: Swedish with English, Swedish, Norwegian subtitles Rating: Released: 2005-June-15 Status: Available |
DVD.se DiscShop.se |