SWEDISH fiction is on a high at the moment, and this slim yet engrossing volume proves there’s plenty of quality literature still to come.

True, a lot of that output is detective fiction, so it’s a nice change to see long-time mystery writer Kerstin Ekman turn her hand to something different.

Ekman’s tale has a fable-like structure, following a lost puppy as it struggles for survival, battling other animals and forgetting his domestic origins.

Eventually he encounters a hunter, who begins to gain the feral dog’s trust, and the ancient bond between man and dog is reawakened.

It’s effortlessly intelligent, simple and poignant and quite splendid.