Wallander

Entering an isolated farmhouse on what he believes is a routine call, Inspector Wallander discovers a bloodbath. An old man has been tortured and beaten to death and his wife is barely alive. As her life slowly slips away, she whispers to Wallander a word that sounds like "foreigners". When her dying word is leaked to the press by the police, there is an outbreak of racist reprisals in Ystad. Meanwhile, Wallander's personal life is a shambles. On top of that, the fallout from the case causes him to doubt everything, even his abilities as a police officer.

After killing a man in the line of duty, Wallander finds himself spiraling into depression. He has just decided to leave the police when an old friend, Sten Torstensson, a solicitor, approaches him to investigate the recent death of his father in a car accident. A report explains that the keys had fallen from the ignition, something that could never have happened if his father had smashed the car while driving. Wallander later learns that his solicitor friend has been found dead -- a possible suicide -- and realizes that he was wrong not to listen. Against his better judgment, a troubled Wallander returns to work to head what may now have become a double murder case.

When Wallander investigates the disappearance of an elderly bird-watcher, he discovers a gruesome and meticulously planned murder: a body impaled in a trap of sharpened bamboo poles. When another man is reported missing, once again Wallander's life is on hold as he works tirelessly to find a link between the series of vicious murders. Gradually, he comes to realize that he is on the trail of a serial killer bent on revenge. Meanwhile, he becomes close to one of the key suspects.