Faceless Killers (Kurt Wallender Mystery)
by Henning Mankell
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 355)
Read in January, 2008
Not being a terribly big fan of 'procedurals,' I was skeptical about this book when I received it. (I was also pretty skeptical about Mankell, in that I had previously completely given up on his Sidetracked after slogging through 60-odd pages of epically boring stalemates and interviews, dead-end clues and a few of the unidentified killer's faux-Hannibal Lecter internal monologues. And this, Ladies and Gents, was a book which included a scalping and a young girl's self-immolation in a fie...more
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Read in June, 2004
FACELESS KILLERS (Swedish Police Procedural)- G+
Henning Mankell – 7th in series
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. English Translation, 2003 – Trade Paperback
Police Inspector Kurt Wallander is called to the scene of a particularly violent attack of an elderly couple on a small farm. The husband is dead but the wife, found with a noose around her neck, utters the work “foreign” before dying. Wallander becomes obsessed with solving the case before feelings against Sweden’s immigrants bec...more
Henning Mankell – 7th in series
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. English Translation, 2003 – Trade Paperback
Police Inspector Kurt Wallander is called to the scene of a particularly violent attack of an elderly couple on a small farm. The husband is dead but the wife, found with a noose around her neck, utters the work “foreign” before dying. Wallander becomes obsessed with solving the case before feelings against Sweden’s immigrants bec...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Jennifer by:
Sara, John, & the Biology crewrecommends it for: patient mystery readers who don't need a movie-like experience
The best way I can describe this Swedish mystery novel is with the word restrained. Though it starts with a brutally violent double murder, this is no flashy, made-to-be-filmed thriller. Instead, it is a thoughtful, detailed description of how Kurt Wallander, a 40-something police inspector in the south of Sweden, and his team slowly and painstakenly unravel the mystery of who killed an elderly couple and why.
Wallander's life is at a particularly bad place--his wife has recently left him, ...more
Wallander's life is at a particularly bad place--his wife has recently left him, ...more
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Read in February, 2006
Two elderly people living next door to friends they've had coffee with every day for the last 40 years wake up one night and hear a scream for help. The man goes over to their friends' home to find a veritable bloodbath and calls the police. Assigned to the the call is Kurt Wallender, and he discovers that the woman is still alive and before she dies, she says only one word: foreign. As Wallender gets more into the case, he realizes that he is going to have to play this very carefully amid risin...more
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Read in August, 2007
This is the first in the series of Kurt Wallander, a detective in a the small Swedish town of Ystad.
The fun part of reading detective novels set in a foreign land is that one gets to catch a glimpse of that distant land while chasing the plot, and won't have to worry too much about those cunning social commentaries and metaphors found in the more serious novels.
This series is quite a change from the poetry-spouting, overly intellectual detectives of the Inspector Morse type. Kurt Walla...more
The fun part of reading detective novels set in a foreign land is that one gets to catch a glimpse of that distant land while chasing the plot, and won't have to worry too much about those cunning social commentaries and metaphors found in the more serious novels.
This series is quite a change from the poetry-spouting, overly intellectual detectives of the Inspector Morse type. Kurt Walla...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Paul by:
A clerk in Barnes & Noble
This is police mystery set in Sweden. The exotic (at least unusual) locale added interest, and the strong secondary stories involving the personal life of the protagonist, Kurt Wallander, add some depth to the plot. Those secondary stories are largely unrelated to each other and involve Wallander's ex wife, his daughter, his senile father, and his growing affection for a married woman.
The atmosphere of the book is dignified and controlled, fitting the American stereotype of Scandinavians. O...more
The atmosphere of the book is dignified and controlled, fitting the American stereotype of Scandinavians. O...more
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Read in March, 2008
Halfway through this book, I realized I am not going to be a fan of the police procedural segment of the crime novel genre. By the end of the book, I was a whole lot more appreciative.
A Swedish crime novel, it's nearly a year of the police's search for the perpetrators of a very vicious murder that may or may not have been a robbery. With the backdrop of immigration issues, racist hatred and crimes, and the police's sense that the world is changing in a way they are not fully prepared (and l...more
A Swedish crime novel, it's nearly a year of the police's search for the perpetrators of a very vicious murder that may or may not have been a robbery. With the backdrop of immigration issues, racist hatred and crimes, and the police's sense that the world is changing in a way they are not fully prepared (and l...more
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Read in September, 2007
This was my introduction to Mankell. Reading Faceless Killers is an excellent way to dispell any myths about Sweden as a peaceful country where nothing bad happens. Not only is Mankell one of the greatest contemporary mystery/crime novel writers, he presents the dark side of modern Sweden that you wouldn't otherwise think about if you've never been. He's not afraid to describe murder scenes in the most detailed and bloody way possible, but read a couple of his novels and you may be desensitized....more
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So to prep for our upcoming Adult Reading Program at work, I've been trying to beef up my mystery intake and coworker Lori recommended I get my feet wet with the Swedish mysteries.... and Manning's book delivers, if only in a quiet and subdued way. The gist:a farmer and his wife are brutally murdered in their bedroom in Swedish country-- his nose virtually cut off and her neck in a noose. Her last word is "foreign" and the killers go as far as to feed their horse. Leave it up to closet...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone fascinated by brutal murder
I love reading mystery novels, but I invariably HATE their endings. I've come to realize, though, that that's no fault of the writers', but simply inherent in the genre. Which is to say that I agree with many readers that the deus ex machina ending of Faceless Killers is weak, but the rest of the book is so engaging and thought-provoking that I'm giving it four stars anyway. The plot is basically a Swedish In Cold Blood, with all the bleak darkness that implies. Inspector Kurt Wallander, though ...more
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The problem when you're a compulsive mystery reader is that it doesn't take too long before you run through all the first-rate mysteries and your stuck with the second tier writers. So it's great that publishers have started translating foreign writers. I love Henning Mankell, his books are intelligent and entertaining. His Sweden is the real country, and not the Sweden American's idealize. In this book I'm finding Kurt Wallander's personal life stuck in a rut, and I feel like giving him a kick....more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to elissa by:
Penny
Not a typical read for me, but a friend gave me a copy over the weekend. I started it, was pulled in by the first chapter, and found it to be compelling all the way through. I finished it last night, and liked it much better than I was expecting to. 3 1/2 stars, but I'm rounding up until we get halves. I'd definitely read another book about Kurt Wallander (or his daughter--I see that Mankell has written a couple with Linda Wallander as the police officer protagonist), although I'm not often ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Mystery lovers, fans of Ian Rankin
The beginning of the Wallander series. Ryberg is a great mentor to Wallandera nd this is the only book that only book where we are not relying solely on Wallander's memories of him. I have heard that before Menkell writes a book he (like Ian Rankin) has a larger question he wants to explore. I am not sure what his question was for this book but he does explore some interesting questions...how well do we really know someone? and the effect of small random acts on our lives.
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A really good mystery/cop story. What makes this series fun is how human the lead character, Kurt Wallander is. He's messy, drinks too much and acts silly, has car troubles, makes passes at women and gets shot down, has awkward relationships with his ex-wife and daughter. He's a very real character other than the typical ability to guess right on his hunches.
The book also wrestles with the issue of immigration and refugees in Sweden which gives it added realism.
The book also wrestles with the issue of immigration and refugees in Sweden which gives it added realism.
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Read in December, 2007
Excellent police mystery set in southern Sweden. I hadn't read any Kurt Wallender books before; now I'd like to try a few more. Middle-aged police inspector battling his own loneliness and family problems while investigating a horrible senseless murder of two old people. Besides touching on family issues it deals with prejudice and dilemmas of a growing immigrant/refugee population. Also will make you feel the miserable cold and wet of the setting!
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Swedophiles, Mankell collectors
I did like the unexpected pacing quite a bit. And the exposure of Wallinger's problematic adult life. But the way the author approaches immigration issues is pretty fucked up. The same way the character criticizes the Swedish people for their bureaucratism masking their lack of empathy for other humans, so does his (and Mankell's?) mask a similar lack of vision beyond his own history and national borders.
For the die-hards.
For the die-hards.
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Read in January, 2005
I've read all of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander mystery series. I am disappointed to learn that he is not planning to write any more. The suspense level is very high in these novels. I also own movie versions of The White Lioness and One Step Behind which I've enjoyed watching.
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Read in January, 2008
Multiple plots woven together. When I read Maigret books in the 1970's, i'd drink whatever Maigret was drinking at the brassierie with the copper top bar. Henning Makell always has his characters with a cold, the flue, cancer, something. Fortunately, I've not carried over the Mairgret practice of too much identification. This one is a "page turner" and I heartily recommend it.
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Brings out the dark side or modern Sweden. Sjowal & Wahloo (Beck series) touched on the racism in Sweden of a decade earlier to a lesser extent & in a less bloody fashion, differant styles I guess, but it was definately there back then. I read the English language Swedish paper The Local, some of the characters & situations in Mankell's books are front page news.
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Read in November, 2007
Very good mystery novel, though a bit graphic. This was Mankell's debut and worth the read, if you like mysteries. His Skåne is interesting too if you've spent any time in the southern-most province of Sweden.
Mankell does a lot of Africa aid work too. You can find little hints at this--the great need for Africa aid--appearing in his books.
Mankell does a lot of Africa aid work too. You can find little hints at this--the great need for Africa aid--appearing in his books.
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