Faceless Killers

A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell, Steven T. Murray - translator

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

First in the Kurt Wallander mystery series.

It was a crime of senseless violence. On a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse, an elderly farmer was bludgeoned to death, his wife left to die with a noose around her neck. As if this didn't present enough problems for Ystad police inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman's last word, his only tangible clue, were foreign. If publicized, they could be the match that would inflame Sweden's already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

With this case - unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the young prosecutor who has piqued his interest - Wallander feels he has a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, though it will require all of his talent to do so.

©1991 Henning Mankell, English translation 1997 Steven T. Murray (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"An exquisite novel of mesmerizing depth and suspense." (Los Angeles Times)
"Mankell's work mixes compelling procedural details with strong social consciousness....A superior novel and a harbinger of great things to come." (Booklist)
"[A] brilliant U.S. debut....The author goes well beyond the narrow police procedural in creating a full-bodied Wallender and in casting light on the refugee problem in contemporary Swedish society." (Library Journal)

Murders in the country side.

Story of a Swedish policeman and what it takes to solve a double murder in the county side. Tough work when you have little help in a small town where murders only years apart. Tough work and patience going over the details to find the men who did the crime. Story held my attention and the narration was good. Life in the Swedish country is very different from the farming communities in the USA.

Dragon Tattoo

If you liked "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" particularly the the Scandinavian atmosphere of it, you'll lik this. Although not as exciting, it's still a good read and the narrator does a fine job.

Solid story poorly performed

A good story but a strange presentation. the presenter sounded like he had just arrived from a radio drama of the 1950's. Heavy diction, overdone phrasing

Stolid Story

What is it about northern frame of mind that seems to create a dull and lumpish lifestyle? That's the question which Mankell's story gives rise to, but it's a question that becomes the counterweight to the drama of dreadful murder, some gripping gumshoe work, and nationalist/refugee conflict. The pace of the story is not action-packed, but takes its time to develop, and the human challenges faced by Wallender, the main guy, are familiar to most middle aged adults. I'm not sure if I liked those parts or not, but I suppose they made Wallender a sympathetic if slightly pathetic hero.

The narrator's voice was mildly annoying, especially for the women's voices. I wish someone else had read the story, as it might have given me a different feeling about the book.

Mankell's book was written in the 90's but it seems to presage the world of today with so much nationalist conflich around the world. Although it was written probably a quarter century ago, I found Wallander's interior musings-- on the nature of the new world he & his society is passing into-- quite pertinent to our lives today.

Good book

This was my first audio book and I really enjoyed it!! Narrator made the story very easy to listen to and compelling

Standard crime novel with a novel Swedish scent.

A standard crime thriller with a Swedish hue.
A once marvelous country of Swedes now filled with the dregs of all the dirty african and muslim stinkholes, not unlike many once great European nations now filled with human garbage. The story expectedly has a woke tint with dreams of a negroe slut and an african boyfriend for the Swedish cop’s daughter.

Nothing Special....

This is my first Henning Mankell / Kurt Wallander novel.

I have read/listened to a few Nordic region writers this past year and figured I'd give Mankell a listen as he is a well-noted writer from that region of the world.

The mystery and story in and of itself is good, but nothing spectacular. Likewise, the main character is very unspectacular. Having heard of this character before, mentioned in reviews and word of mouth, I had much higher expectations.

Likewise, I went ahead and purchased one of Audible's package deals which included the first three books in this series all at once.

While the stories do improve, I am underwhelmed with both Mankell and the Wallander series - quite average.

The narrator, Dick Hill was good, but he is so "white-bread", he's not the perfect fit here.

Granted, overall, not bad, but nothing I will seek out in the future - 3 Mankell / Wallander books is enough for me.

Anticlimactic

Only hear from one perspective throughout the entire book which makes it very one dimensional and boring. Struggles to go deep. Lots of time just explaining what’s been going on instead of experiencing it with the author. Mystery doesn’t even feel exciting because of how the story is written. Then he quickly solved it at the end and that’s it? Disappointed but hoping the series gets better as I’m running out of books to read.

Swedish Detective

When Police Detective Kurt Wallander responds to a call in the middle of the night, he finds a farmer has been brutally tortured and murdered. His wife has been beaten and is barely alive. Before the farmer's wife succumbs to her injuries, she whispers the word "foreign". Kurt wants to keep that fact from the public; but there is a leak at the police station and newspapers quickly let everyone know what the woman said. This leads to a rise in hate crimes in the usually peaceful Swedish countryside.

Several years ago, I watched the Kurt Wallander mysteries on public television and enjoyed them. I thought I'd give the first book in the series I try, so I downloaded the audiobook. The character of Wallander was a bit depressing. His wife has left him, his teenage daughter will not talk to him, and his father seems to have the beginnings of Alzheimer disease. Kurt is working long hours and drinking heavily. The whole situation made me question if he should be in charge of this investigation.

Even though the narrator, Dick Hill, does a fine job with the story, I found my mind wandering while listening to this mystery. I had a hard time remembering the names of the characters, including which ones were cops and which ones were suspects. I probably should have switched to reading instead of listening.

Loved the story but the reader was TOO SLOW!!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Unfortunately, the reader who has a very nice quality to his voice, was just too old and slow sounding for me. As it happens, I gave up on the audio book, and finished the story with a book from the library.