Over the past 12 months I've been refamiliarizing myself with Swedish mystery fiction.
Since the early 1970s, I'd been a big fan of the husband-wife team of Maj Sjowall and Per Walloo, whose "The Laughing Policeman" won an Edgar Award for best mystery in 1971.
In "The Man from Beijing," Henning Mankell contrasts the liberal socialism of Sweden with the legalistic variety in China. The narrative swings from the obsession of a Chinese man for vengeance against the 19th- century tormenter of his ancestor to competition for the Third World's resources.