One Step Behind cover art

One Step Behind

Kurt Wallander

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

One Step Behind

By: Henning Mankell, Ebba Segerberg - translator
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

It is Midsummer's Eve. Three young friends meet in a wood to act out an elaborate masque. But, unknown to them, they are being watched. Each is killed by a single bullet.

Soon afterwards, one of Inspector Wallander's colleagues is found murdered. Is it the same killer, and what could the connection be? In this investigation Wallander is always, tantalisingly, one step behind.

© Henning Mankell 2002 (P) Penguin Audio 2010

Crime Fiction Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Exciting Scary

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Crossing cover art
Treasure and Dirt cover art
The Night Caller cover art
Stalkers cover art
Crime and Punishment cover art
The Cold, Cold Ground cover art
The Black Echo: Special Edition cover art
The Blood Strand cover art
The Alienist cover art
The Girl in the Ice cover art
Meet Me in Malmo cover art
The Last Policeman cover art

Critic reviews

One of the most ingenious crime writers around. Highly recommended
Mankell is in the first division of crime writing
Not only an intriguing puzzle, but a moving description of a man trying to keep faith with a dead friend... This is the best aspect of crime fiction: a gripping plot plus the exploration of character and relationships that reverberate around murder
So compelling that, at the end of the sleepless night it took to read, I blearily reached for a keyboard to search for Mankell's other titles (Mark Lawson)
All stars
Most relevant
This is by far the best novel I've come across for a long time. The story-line is tightly-written and fast-paced; a real rollercoaster of a listen. Kurt Wallander's meticulous approach to the murders is painstaking and meticulous but very far from boring. His character is sympathetically drawn by Mankell, complete with his weakness and foibles, and includes a rather shockingly amusing habit he has (made me snigger, anyway!). Sean Barrett's voice is hypnotic, and conveys the ambience of both the country and the characters to perfection. I enjoyed 'Faceless Killers', but Mankell has outdone himself with 'One Step Behind', which borders at times on literary genius. I enjoyed it so much that when it finished I immediately started listening to it again.
I really hope Audible have plans to bring us more Wallender investigations in the very near future.
Highly recommended!**********

Should be TEN stars!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Henning Mankell is one of my favourite authors and the combination of his writing and Sean Barrett's narration makes for an excellent audiobook. This is one of the best of the Wallander stories in my view and I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.

Excellent story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great story, great detective and creepy believable psychopath. Brilliant narration, as usual, from an accomplished reader. Couldn't stop listening. Top marks.

Excellent triller.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was quite gripped by this story and wanted to know what happened, but it somehow didn't seem a logical or reasonable story.
Difficult to put my finger on the reason, but I felt dissatisfied when I finished the book.

Not the best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A well written plot, good character development and some exciting elements of suspense. Strongly recommended, the reader really brought it to life, like a radio play.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews