It’s true, there is a flower shop on the corner of Pottmaka-regränd and Västra Vallgatan, just as it says in one of Henning Mankell’s books. Indeed, everyone who has read about Kurt Wallander in The Fifth Woman knows this!

Wallander lives on Mariagatan; he is divorced and has a daughter Linda who is in her mid 20s. He has a melancholic disposition and his social relationships are rather lacking in substance – a fact that leads him to spend a lot of time lost in his work.

His romances are almost non-exis-tent. For some time after his divorce he desperately wanted his wife back and at one stage he makes a clumsy attempt to start a relationship with Anette Brolin, the public prosecutor, a move she sharply rebuffs.

Sport and any sort of physical training do not exist in Kurt’s world – in fact he goes out of his way to avoid any type of exercise – facts that have lead to a degree of obesity and diabetes.

Kurt sometimes wonders if he has chosen the right career and occasionally considers looking for a new job. He frequently breaks the rules of his trade to solve a case but, at the end of the day, he knows he doesn’t want to do anything else and is a good detective.

The Wallander stories: Films