| The Fifth Woman | |
| Title Orig: | Den femte kvinnan |
| Translator: | Steven T. Murray |
| Author: | Henning Mankell |
| Country: | Sweden |
| Language: | Swedish |
| Series: | Kurt Wallander #6 |
| Genre: | Crime novel |
| Publisher: | Ordfront |
| Pub Date: | 1996 |
| English Pub Date: | 2000 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages: | 428 pp (Eng. hardback trans.) |
| Isbn: | 1-86046-854-3 |
| Isbn Note: | (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.
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.