Faceless Killers: Read the first thrilling Kurt Wallander novel (Kurt Wallander, 1)

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Young Wallander is a Swedish-UK co-production, with Pålsson the sole Swedish actor, amidst a mostly British cast. In November 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.

At the very end of Faceless Killers, as Kurt Wallander reflects on the “senseless violence” he has seen, he thinks about “the new era, which demanded a different kind of policeman. We’re living in the age of the noose. . . . Fear will be on the rise” [p. 280]. What does Wallander mean by “the age of the noose”? What changes and new fears does he envision? Have these fears been validated by the events of the decade since the book was first published? Wallander was born in 1948. [1] His mother died when he was about 14. [2] After completing national service, [3] he joined the police. As a young police officer, he was nearly killed when a drunk whom he was questioning stabbed him with a butcher's knife (this is mentioned in the account of his first case). He has a sister, Kristina. Wallander was once married, but his wife Mona left him and he has since had a difficult relationship with his rebellious only child, Linda, who barely survived a suicide attempt when she was fifteen. He also has issues with his father, an artist who has painted the same landscape 7,000 times for a living; the elder Wallander strongly disapproved of his son's decision to join the police force and frequently derides him for it. Mankell's writing style is immersive and atmospheric, and his portrayal of Wallander is both nuanced and relatable. The book is filled with complex characters and unexpected twists, keeping readers on edge until the end. 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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Why did I think that I would not like this? Oh, Robert Langdon. I got tired of him. But Kurt Wallander is different. His being an inspector (a detective) is just about any job in the office. As I read this in the past 5 working days, I could not help relate what he goes through to what I am going through in the office. There are times that even if I put everything I have (full attention, extended working hours, extensive research), there are just some things that would not work and at the time when everything looks hopeless, comes a spark of inspiration or a word, a phrase uttered by someone (in my case, my boss) that made me think: right, why did I not think of doing it that way? In Wallander's case, it was that bank teller who has excellent memory of what happened that day in the bank when Johannes Lovgren was murdered. The novel focuses on Sweden's liberal attitude regarding immigration, and explores themes of racism and national identity. [1] It only describes the situation in the country without any challenge or criticism. [1] Adaptations [ edit ] The Glass Key Award-winning debut of the series introduces Kurt Wallander, a divorced, heavy-drinking detective in his 40s. His daughter is not talking to him, and his eccentric father still disapproves of him joining the force. We meet the rest of the squad, Wallander’s mentor Rydberg and the rookie Martinsson, as they respond to a homicide on a remote Skånian farm. An elderly man is found beaten to death and his wife dies after uttering the word ‘foreigner’. Amid latent xenophobia that escalates into violence and vigilantism, Wallander faces pressure from the press and prosecutor Annete Brolin, to whom he is attracted.

We soon discover that a gruesome murder has taken place in a farm, with only a neighbouring farmhouse, outside the sleepy village of Lunnarp.Faceless Killers is a 1991 crime novel by Swedish author Henning Mankell. It is the first book in the Wallander series, named after its recurring protagonist, a middle-aged detective based in Ystad, Sweden named Kurt Wallander. While Wallander’s personal life flounders after a recent divorce, he strives to find the killers of a well-respected elderly couple who owned a local farm. Wallander finds that the brutal murders may have been perpetrated by foreigners; the case, as it unravels, makes an implicit commentary on the relationships between Sweden’s immigration policies, the epidemic of racism, and Swedish nationalism. The Pyramid ( Pyramiden– 2007) A made-for TV movie, also starring Gustaf Skarsgård as the young Wallander The Swedish TV series, 2005-2013 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.