Faceless Killers
by Henning Mankell (Vintage)
Quite a year, 1991. Operation Desert Storm raged through Kuwait and Iraq; the Soviet Union collapsed and Kurt Wallander came into this world, in Henning Mankell's Faceless Killers, a mesmerising thriller set in Sweden's most southerly province, Sk?ne.
Stockholm-born Mankell was already a renowned Swedish dramatist, novelist and author of children's books, by the time - and at the age of 53 - he came up with the character with whom he is most identified: Inspector Wallander.
In Faceless Killers, Wallander is the same age as his creator - and ageing rapidly, worn down by the draining nature of police work, an annoying ex and a strained relationship with his daughter Linda. Shuttling between Ystad Police Station and his crummy little flat, Wallander is a paunchy, borderline diabetic, a little too fond of a drink and socially inept; he always seems half a bottle of aquavit away from a mid-life crisis. However, Sk?ne's most famous cop is redeemed by his good nature, shrewdness and sense of duty.
Wallander is a middle-aged 'everyman', hence his appeal - there's a bit of Wallander in dads, uncles and brothers of a certain age. the world over.
