The Fifth Woman

First edition (Swedish)
Author	Henning Mankell
Original title	Den femte kvinnan
Translator	Steven T. Murray
Language	Swedish
Series	Kurt Wallander #6
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Ordfront
Publication date	1996
Publication place	Sweden
Published in English	2000
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	428 pp (Eng. hardback trans.)
ISBN	1-86046-854-3 (Eng. trans.)
OCLC	59544856
Preceded by	Sidetracked
Followed by	One Step Behind

The Fifth Woman (original: Den femte kvinnan; 1996) is a crime novel by Swedish author Henning Mankell, the sixth in his acclaimed Inspector Wallander series.^[1][2][3]

A sadistic serial killer has been preying on men, beginning with a retired car salesman whose interests appear to be limited to bird watching and poetry and whose body was discovered in a punji stick pit; and continuing with a flower shop manager, found starved and garrotted in the woods. Wallander soon realises both men have a past record of violence towards women, and after another man is drowned in a lake, he goes on the hunt for an avenging angel...

In 2002, The Fifth Woman was adapted by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television into a four-part television miniseries, starring Rolf Lassgård as Wallander. British broadcaster BBC commissioned a 90-minute adaptation for its Wallander television series starring Kenneth Branagh. The episode was broadcast in January 2010.^{[citation needed]}