It is a worthy novel wrapped around a crime fiction. The well-differentiated supporting characters are not always easy to retain as one reads and the solution to the main case is a little disappointing, but this is nit-picking. His team follow many wrong leads as Mankell delivers a critique of endemic xenophobia at all levels within Swedish society - (a prejudice, clearly recognised by at least twenty nations where this book has gained deserved acclaim). With these rich personal seams, Mankell still manages to keep the complexities of the case in sharp focus. Added to these all-too-human family issues, Wallander's ageing father needs more of his son's attention than he is ever going to receive. There is a marriage in ruins, a clumsy inability to relate to other women, and a damaged relationship with a beloved grown-up daughter. Mankell's cast is headed by Inspector Wallander, a dedicated,but flawed policeman, whose personal life has suffered from his priority for his vocation. I found the book gripping with a satisfactory resolution at the end.Ī horrific murder at an isolated farm with seemingly no explanation for the arbitrary sadistic cruelty inflicted on the victims opens this tightly-wound detective story. It's par for the course that detectives in fiction have marital problems, but somehow, Wallander is portrayed as a more vulnerable man about whom one feels sympathy. The social problems in Sweden caused by a flood of immigrants and Wallander's emotional turmoil caused by the breakdown of his marriage are woven into the narrative. At first no motive can be found, but gradually facts emerge that lead the detectives in several directions, some of them blind alleys. Faceless killers is set in the early 1990s, and the main murder story involves an elderly couple brutally killed on their isolated farm. I started with Pyramid, which though written retrospectively, fleshed out the early years of detective Wallander's early years and is a good introduction to the series. I've read several of his books, mostly Wallander detective stories, and am impressed how good they are.
I've only recently discovered Henning Mankell books after enjoying the transmissions on BBC Four of the Swedish version of the Wallander stories. Rural Sweden is a bit out of the ordinary for a crime thriller, but it works because it's a whole new experience - I don't know what society is like in Sweden and this gives be a welcome insight.Ī very good crime thriller that is a bit out of the ordinary. Whilst the crime itself is something that could really be dealt with in any country, what maintained my interest, and has led me to ordering the second book in the series, is the setting. However, there is also the development of the Wallander character, who has a bit of a dysfunctional home life. The rest of the story follows that murder case as it develops, which is interesting in itself. However, this all changes when an elderly couple are brutally murdered on a remote farm. Wallander is a run-of-the-mill rural police detective who is used to dealing with run-of-the-mill issues. I was intrigued by the story and the setting, which is far different to the settings in British crime thrillers.
#FACELESS KILLERS A KURT WALLANDER MYSTERY SERIES#
I decided to order the first in the Wallander series after seeing the Wallander on the BBC. I will undoubtedly read more from this series of books simply because they are intelligently written and Wallander is so determined and patient in solving the various crimes he's enrolled with that I found myself fascinated by him from the very atmospheric beginning.
The writing manages to bring out heaps of atmosphere and enough detail to make the reader fully understand that although Wallander is a fictional character, there seems to be immense truth and realism shaping the story. Henning Mankell was obviously a talented writer and he brings out the various characters that Wallander works with well. I cannot stress too strongly how much I enjoyed reading this first-in-the-series novel. He's not a cliche but a very carefully etched human policemen based in Ystad in Sweden. Wallander has problems in his personal life but these events shape his character beautifully. This book is the first of the Wallander series, a brilliant introduction to Kurt Wallander who manages to inspire as well as any previous Investigator you may have come across previously. This is a writer who manages to convey massive talent and 'Faceless Killers' is an incredible debut novel from writer who sadly is no longer with us. He writes so assuredly and poetically that the result is sublime.
As an introduction to 'Nordic noir', you could miss out, by not reading Henning Mankell.
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