Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 280

Publisher - Vintage

Blurb from Goodreads

First in the Kurt Wallander series. Winner of the inaugural Glass Key Award.

It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecutor who has piqued his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.


My Review

The tale opens with an older gentleman being disturbed during the night, upon exploring what woke him up he finds his elderly neighbour slain. The police investigate and we are introduced to Inspector Kurt Wallander, as the tale goes on we learn more about him and his dysfunctional relationship with his daughter. As the investigation goes on, tempers flare, racism rises its ugly head and lives hang in the balance as the police try to uncover the murderer.

I personally think so much of this book has been lost in translation, it seemed disjointed, lots of things left unanswered and in some points more question raised. I was bored reading it, some parts worked well but so much of it just seemed irrelevant or nothing to do with the plot.

I wouldn't read another in this series unless I could do so in the language it was published in as I think there was so much promise however for me, it fell flat, 2/5 this time for me. Lots of people seemed to like it though so give it a bash and I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

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