The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell

Almost all the residents in the small Swedish town of Hesjovallen are brutally murdered. The police are at a loss to find out who would want them dead. Judge Birgitta Roslin becomes involved in the case when she discovers that two of the victims were the foster parents of her deceased mother. With a few weeks off of work due to high blood pressure, she travels to Hesjovallen. While there, Birgitta finds a connection with China, but the local cops aren't at all interested. The reader is transported back to the mid-1800's in America and then to contemporary China to find out the motive and identity of the killer. The Man from Beijing starts out with the same pacing as Mankell's Wallander mysteries, but then starts to plod along. It is most similar to his book White Lioness.