Written by Books

The White Lioness

I read this whilst studiously avoiding The Guardian’s review last Saturday, when I saw “Reviewers of thrillers usually remain tactfully reticent about plot details” in the first line.
To be fair, when I came back to the review after reading the book, it wasn’t as bad as I thought in terms of giving away the plot. But I don’t like reviews that spoil any plot. I guess that if I know that I’m going to read a book come what may, I’m not likely to read the review at all. Reviews are really to point me towards books I’d otherwise have ignored.
So what of The White Lioness itself? Well despite being published completely out of order (it’s the third), it sits well withing the Wallander universe. His father’s still alive, and he’s missing Baiba.
The big difference with this book is that a considerable amount is set in South Africa and involves real people. I don’t suppose that the plot is that far-fetched, but somehow when you read a novel that tells you what real people are thinking in a fictional set-up, it seems wrong.
Roll on the next one in September!