Detective Ulf Varg, of the Swedish Police in Malmo, works in the Department of Sensitive Crimes. Unulual and uncommon crimes are what the department handles.

In this, the third book of the series, Ulf’s knowledge of the local art scene is called on to find out who and why someone is trying to sully the reputation of art historian Anders Kindgren. A painting Kindgren appraised earlier is being called a forgery.

Ulf is also dealing with the medical problems of Martin, his lip-reading dog, who is recovering from necessary surgery and may need plastic surgery, after having been attached by a squirrel. There is also the matter of the blood found on the backseat of Ulf’s car. A matter that raises concern with the police department.

Ulf is a different style of detective who seems to over think things at times, but still manages to remain pretty logical. As life moves on, there are little glitches, but Ulf soldiers through. ( )

3rd in Varg series - one of his most inviting characters ( )

The Department of Sensitive Crimes in Malmö, Sweden, handles non-typical cases (robbery, violence, homicide, etc.). In fact, many people insist on calling it Department of Sensational Crimes.

One Saturday morning, Detective Uif Var, head of the unit, was out with his deaf dog, Martin, when the dog was attacked by a squirrel who did a lot of damage to Martin’s face. As Uif rushed Martin to the vets, there was a major traffic jam. With the dog bleeding heavily in the back seat, Uif decided to put an emergency light on the top of the car to get to the hospital quickly. Afterwards, he took the car in to be cleaned. The result of that activity was Uif being arrested.

Soon afterwards, Uif called upon to investigate a forgery. Varg is very interested in fine art so this case is of particular interest to him. It seems that Anders Kindgren, a famous art historian and appraiser claimed a particular painting was genuine before it was hung in a gallery. Afterwards, it was declared fake. Not only was his reputation at stake, but fish were left in the vents of his car.

The plot of THE MAN WITH THE SILVER SAAB is slim Uif and his assistant Blomquist try to figure out both the underlying motive as well as find the perp. However, Uif talks a lot about people, personal relationships, life, love, cucumbers, and shoes throughout the book. One example is how his relationship with his brother is typical of many long-time relationships where life is like a script and we keep repeating the same lines.

Tidbits:
“Is original sin a sin that nobody’s thought of committing before?”
“Falling in love with someone requires preparation.”

THE MAN WITH THE SILVER SAAB is easy-going and light offering both humor and introspection. ( )

The appeal of unobtrusive, diligent, fair-minded and vulnerable detective Ulf Varg (the protagonist of the series) grows with every instalment. One can't help but be sympathetic to his sheer humanity. I liked the way he talks himself out of complaining (as he is facing unrequited love): "Don't be self-pitying", he says to himself, "You can't have everything you want in your life. Everybody had to compromise, everybody had to make do with the hand they've been dealt with. Self-pity was a railing against fate, really, and this was completely pointless, and, for others who witnessed it, merely tedious". A lesson to all of us... Not without the special brand of McCall Smith's humor, this book is a wonderful read. ( )