Every morning H kan von Enke takes a walk in the forest near his home in Stockholm. However, one winter's day he fails to return. It seems that the retired naval officer has disappeared without trace. Detective Kurt Wallander is not officially involved in the investigation but the case draws him in as H kan's son is his daughter Linda's fiance. Wallander also knows that at H kan's recent 75th birthday party the old man appeared anxious that a dangerous secret from his past was threatening to come to light.When H kan's wife Louise also vanishes, Wallander becomes determined to uncover the truth. His search leads him down dark and unexpected avenues involving espionage, right-wing extremist groups, hired killers from the old Eastern Europe and an incident during the Cold War that threatens to cause an a political scandal on a scale unprecedented in Swedish history. And then an even darker cloud appears on the horizon... The return of Kurt Wallander, for his final case, has already caused a sensation around the globe. The Troubled Man confirms Henning Mankell's position as the king of crime writing.