Easy read. Straightforward narration. Big font. No big words. All loose ends tied up tight in the end. Everything plausible. Human characters. No caricaturists. Not pretentious at all. Not trying hard to impress. Just plain wonderful storytelling. The Priest ( Prästen) A priest is shot after leaving the arms of a local businessman’s wife. When the priest dies, the murder weapon is found in the businessman’s house, and he is charged for the crime. As Kurt investigates the spouses of both parties, he becomes convinced the man has been framed.

Fans are in for a treat with this collection of five short stories featuring Wallander. The stories span his career from his earliest days as a beat cop in Malmö, his very first case, meeting his future wife, and a recent encounter with his father. This prequel collection, which technically should go first in the series timeline, fills in essential details about Wallander’s character which are interwoven into five fascinating murder cases. While Kurt Wallander is the focal point, throughout the series there’s a developing relationship between his daughter Linda and young detective Stefan Lindman, but later we meet young cops Isabelle and Pontus who are equally young and inexperienced. Wallander’s colleagues such as sturdy Svartman, on-edge Jan Martinsson and the forensics expert Nyberg give the cast depth, familiarity and continuity as the programmes progress. Series 1 (2005-2006) As the police look more deeply into the Lövgren case they find that there was more to Johannes Lövgren than it appeared and there are facts about him that even his wife didn't know. Whilst the murder of the refugee has political ramifications of its own. Meanwhile Wallander is having problems of his own. Polito, Robert (April 2005). "Murder, My Swede: Henning Mankell's Scandinavian Noir". Artforum International. archived at AccessMyLibrary. Mankell's friend and writer Jan Guillou used Kurt Wallander in the 10th book of his Carl Hamilton-series En medborgare höjd över varje misstanke[ A Citizen Above Suspicion] . Guillou and Mankell also co-wrote the Swedish crime-drama mini series Talismanen and here we also encounter Kurt Wallander as a supporting character, this time portrayed by actor Lennart Jähkel. [12] Young Wallander [ edit ]

Henning Mankell

Writer Henning Mankell first published Faceless Killers in 1991 and an English edition, translated by Steven T. Murray, was published in 1997. Besides being a good book, this is notable as Mankell’s introduction of his famous detective Kurt Wallander. The Secret ( Hemligheten) A young boy’s murder on an abandoned farm opens up the world of child pornography and pedophilia and strikes a personal chord with Stefan, whose personal struggles force him to relinquish the case to Kurt and Linda. In what ways is Faceless Killers surprising? What is unusual about its crimes and the manner in which they are solved? Why would Henning Mankell choose to make the novel about two apparently disconnected crimes, one motivated by greed and another by racial hatred? How do you think the refugees are portrayed? And why? In Wallander, Mankell has crafted a complicated and darkly charismatic protagonist. With his drinking, poor eating habits, surly manner and clumsy way with close relationships he is almost an anti-hero.

Inspector-Wallander.org. "Timeline of the Kurt Wallander Stories". Archived from the original on 2010-03-08 . Retrieved 2010-03-20. Driven by a desire to change the world and to fight against racism and nationalism, Mankell devoted much of his time to working with charities in Africa, including SOS Children’s Villages and PLAN International, where he was also director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. In 2008, the University of St Andrews conferred Henning Mankell with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of his major contribution to literature and to the practical exercise of conscience. Rydberg describes the crime scene as being so grisly it was “like an American movie” [p. 21]. What does this comment suggest about the relationship between representations of violence for purposes of entertainment and real violence? What does it suggest about the differences between Sweden and America? The style of the Wallander series is that of a police procedural. This book is the first in the series of eleven. I thought it was a very good mystery and better than the other one I read and reviewed, The Man Who Smiled. There’s a bit of local color of Sweden and I liked the map that allows you to follow the action around the southern section of the country, especially around Ystad, a real city where the detective is based.

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The Courier ( Kuriren) A murdered drug courier leads to a local biker gang who threaten Isabelle and Svartman. A young recruit in the gang is their chance to infiltrate and break up the vicious drug ring. There’s some light relief thrown in when Wallander meets the deputy public prosecutor, a married woman called Anette Brolin. His instincts tell him that he should not get involved with her and yet... Overnight a storm moved in across Skåne. Kurt Wallander was sitting in his untidy flat as the winter wind tore at the roof tiles, drinking whisky and listening to a German recording of Aïda, when everything went dark and silent. He went over to the window and looked out into the darkness. The wind was howling, and somewhere an advertising sign was banging against a wall.” I do like a good police procedural, and enjoy many series which are, on the surface, similar to this one, such as Ian Rankin's Rebus books, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, and also another Scandinavian police procedural - Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series. This is the first in the Kurt Wallander series. I don't really like series too much as they tend, well in my opinion anyway, to become like a template. But yes I will read number 2!