Kurt Wallander is tired after more than 30 years as a police officer and is looking forward to a quiet day off. He's half asleep in his chair when he's interrupted by a phone call from fellow officer Martinson, who offers him a look at a house that may meet his long-cherished dream of a home in the country.

The house is the property of a cousin of Martinson's wife, who is now in a care home. The house has been neglected and may need work but the promise of an affordable price stimulates Wallander's interest. But, as he wanders around the yard he stumbles over something that dashes those dreams -- the tattered remains of a human hand sticking up out of the ground.

Forensic investigation reveals the hand is attached to the desiccated remains of a woman who was buried in the yard many years earlier. The woman's death is determined to have been by foul means, and a further search uncovers another body on the property, that of a man.

In his usual thorough manner, Wallander pursues an explanation, despite the reluctance of his police chief to waste resources on a decades-old crime. He traces back through the history of the house and its earlier owners, plodding through several possibilities before facing a killer in a confrontation that threatens his own life.

Mankell's character has long been my favorite of the many Nordic crime heroes.

Some may complain of the short length of this story, which is more of a novella than a novel. Still, it is Wallander and the story does not disappoint.

In an afterword, Mankell explains the story was originally written as a promotional item and was the inspiration for the BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh. He goes on to tell us how he wrote it, as well as the creation and development of the Wallander series. That, in itself, is worth the price of the book.