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Title: Faceless Killers
Score:
Author: Henning Mankell
Rating: Not available
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Review of Faceless Killers

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Comments for Faceless Killers

• Posted on 2009-08-14
  Really Good!
  
  Faceless Killers is the first book in the Inspector Wallander series by Henning Mankell. It is like no other crime novel that I have read. It is set in Sweden and this is integral to the book; Mankell is describing the deterioration of the Swedish culture throughout his story. Wallander is shocked at the violent murders that have taken place; in many other crime novels these would have seemed expected and run-of-the-mill almost.
  Wallander as a character is a brilliant creation. In many ways he is the stereo-typical overweight, divorced police inspector. However, he is much more complex than that; you feel that his career has taken over his life yet he is still struggling to decide what life is all about and what he wants out of it. You get a real sense that he is not a detective that merely wants a result; he wants to try and understand why these brutal crimes are committed.
  I will definitely read the other books in the series, Mankell really draws you in but the book is so much more than a mere page-turner
  
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• Posted on 2009-08-11
  "The insecurity in this country is enormous. People are afraid. Especially in farming communities like this one."
  
  Set in Sweden in 1990, Henning Mankell's first Kurt Wallander mystery begins with a dramatic, Raymond Chandler-esque scene. An elderly farmer from Lannarp, an "insignificant farming village" in southern Sweden, awakens early with a sense of unease: "Something is different. Something has changed." As the farmer gazes at the farm next door, he notices a series of homely, seemingly insignificant details, and he and the reader slowly conclude that he is not overreacting in his growing alarm. When he finally hobbles next door to check on the occupants, he discovers a gruesome scene--his neighbor of forty years lying bludgeoned to death, his wife slowly strangling in a noose. Kurt Wallander, substituting for the absent police chief of Ystad, answers the farmer's panicked call and investigates the "methodical violence" of the bloody crime scene.
  
  Wallander is a loner these days, his wife of many years having left him. His daughter is estranged. Lonely and depressed, he is drinking and smoking too much, not eating properly, and not taking care of his appearance or his house. He latches onto this case, attempting to deal with his own issues and solve the case at the same time. He soon discovers that the victim, Johannes Lovgren, is not the innocent farmer he has appeared to be, and as he investigates and follows clues, he and the press quickly conclude that the crime may have been committed by foreigners. Public threats are made against foreigners by extremists, and Wallander takes them very seriously.
  
  It is in the examination of these attitudes that this novel is different from the typical whodunit. The country is changing, drugs are everywhere, and organised crime is growing. As the violence ratchets up and immigrants are targeted for attack, the author examines Sweden's "open borders" immigration policy, concluding that part of the problem for the populace (and the police) is the haphazard record-keeping at Immigration. No one knows who is in the country, how they got there, in which camps they may be living, and where they go if they leave the camps. When hate crimes begin, the tension ratchets up.
  
  Wallander's sociological observations broaden the scope and add immeasurably to what is already an exciting mystery, told in a straightforward narrative style. Comments and observations are included naturally within the context of the story, and they "fit" beautifully, explaining why Wallander thinks the way he does and why he pursues the directions he does. Wallander works the Lovgren case for eight months before tying it up, and the many false leads and false conclusions keep the reader involved and interested. Wallander himself makes some personal discoveries, but how much he can be trusted to remain on the straight and narrow remains to be seen. With the author's focus on the "big picture" throughout the novel, this mystery has more fully developed themes than most other crime thrillers, and with Wallander, the imperfect policeman, managing the case, and not-quite-managing his life, it is no wonder that this novel has led to twelve novels and a popular BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh. n Mary Whipple
  
  
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• Posted on 2009-07-19
  Gritty & Real
  
  Kurt Wallander is a mess. He's worried about his weight, he can't sleep, he's in a weird place with his wife, his father is acting somewhat demented and at one point he finds himself spying on his own daughter. Just for starters. What makes "Faceless Killers" work is how well Henning Mankell integrates the real world of a cop's life with the pursuit of the murder or murderers of an elderly couple on a remote farm.
  
  Wallander just deals with it. He's stoic, rugged and tougher than he knows. He approaches this case with sheer doggedness and a few moments of physical exertion. It's his brain that clicks things together, looks for the threads. There are false leads and then one big false lead but Wallander presses on, undeterred. "The solution and the truth might be found through the combination of the most inconsequential information," he realizes.
  
  The action is straightforward. Mankell's style doesn't change whether he's describing Wallander eating or Wallander swinging upside down. "He tried to wriggle loose. But his foot was wedged in tight. He was hanging in midair, unable to do anything. The blood was pounding his temples." At times the writing is a bit clunky, overly straightforward but it's effective and clear.
  
  Through it all, Wallander watches the changes in Sweden and wonders if he can keep up. "A new world had emerged, and he hadn't even noticed it. As a policeman, he still lived in another, older world. How was he going to learn to live in the new? How would he deal with the great uneasiness he felt at these changes, at so much happening so fast?"
  
  The ending is drawn out. It's untypical. The pitch is in control and feels completely routine, grounded. The message: solving these cases takes time, effort and character. Good stuff. It's all about Wallander.
  
  
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• Posted on 2009-07-14
  Good, Solid Police Procedural
  
  Wallendar is a fascinating character. His best quality is that he is tenacious on the case. He keeps thinking about giving up, he keeps going down dead ends, and he keeps making mistakes, but he keeps pursuing the killers above all else. He makes big mistakes in his personal life and career, but since he solves cases and he seems to be a geniunely nice guy, he is forgiven much. He worries about his relationship with his ex-wife and his daughter. His partner and mentor is ill. In spite of the personal turmoil, he keeps plugging along on the case.
  
  The book was hard to put down. My acquaintance with Wallender is that I've seen the Branagh's Masterpiece Mystery series and read "The Dogs of Riga". The plot of this book is the most plausible and least fantastic of the Wallender novels. The solving of the case just seems right. I do think the characterization of Wallendar in the Dogs of Riga was a little more smooth.
  
  
  
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• Posted on 2009-07-05
  Introducing Detective Wallander...
  
  Author Henning Mankell has written a series of highly successful mystery novels featuring his Swedish detective Kurt Wallander. "Faceless Killers", the first novel, was published in 1991 and made available in English in 1997. Even in translation, the reader can appreciate a well-developed leading character and an intricately plotted story.
  
  "Faceless Killers" opens with the brutal torture and murder of an elderly farmer and his wife near the city Ystad in southern Sweden. Detective Kurt Wallander is assigned the case, which initially offers only scanty clues. The dogged Wallander will pursue every lead in a case seemingly linked to wartime collaboration with Nazi-occupied Norway and with neo-Nazi fears of foreign migrants in modern-day Sweden. Mankell credibly sells both the tedium of mundane shoe-leather police work and the excitement of closing in on a dangerous suspect in weaving together a tight and ultimately satisfying story.
  
  Wallander himself is a gifted detective beset by a crumbling personal life. When we first meet Wallander, he is being divorced by his wife, avoided by his daughter, frustrated by an aging father, and tempted by a new and attractive female chief prosecutor. He survives horrendous work hours fueled by many cups of coffee during the day and perhaps too much alcohol at night. His dogged determination to bring justice to the dead ensures he remains a sympathetic if flawed protagonist.
  
  Mankell provides a nuanced portrait of Sweden as backdrop to the novel. Old ways are passing, and the new ways, such as the welcoming of immigrants from Africa and from Eastern Europe, cause much tension. Even the drab winter weather of southern Sweden seems part of the storyline. The fine level of detail in this portrait highlights the middle-aged Wallander as a man slightly out of synch with his time and place.
  
  "Faceless Killers" is highly recommended as a well-executed murder mystery featuring a very human leading character in the middle of an intricate plot.
  
  
  
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