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)

a super mystery

it was an excellent book. Kaptest interested totally all the time. Sometimes the volume of the narrator went down to low we had to keep turning up the volume.

First read

This was my first read by this author…a little slow however it was good…

Poor narration

I didn't like the narrator. His diction was bad and the Swedish pronounciation poor. A couple of times there were similar names and it was hard to know which was which as the narrator used the same dull voice all the way through.

great story, awful delivery

This guy is one of those male narrators who feel they must raise their voice two octaves and soften their delivery when reading the women’s dialog, totally ruining this listener’s experience. So annoying. Even male narrators I enjoy (the actor who reads Midsomer Murders) tend to do this. It is offensive, insulting, and condescending. And so unnecessary. I cant think of a single female narrator who radically lowers her voice when reading the male dialog. This book, which I listened to in its entirety, was really ruined by the narrator.

Good cold listen for a hot, steamy afternoon

This is my first listen to an Henning Mankell novel, and I plan to come back for more ... but not if Dick Hill is the narrator. I agree with other reviewers that he was not the best choice for a Swedish mystery novel. If it hadn't been clear that the novel was set in Sweden, I would have thought it was in NYC given Hill's narration. Simon Vance would have been more appropriate.

In spite of Hill's narration, I enjoyed the mystery itself, the insight into Swedish culture and politics, and the relentless cold and bleak landscape that Mankell paints with his words. It does well as an atmospheric mystery novel.

I found two things difficult, however: (1) developing sympathy for Wallender himself; and (2) accepting the fast shift through several months (and toward a new, improved Wallander) near the end of the novel. At times I found Wallendar to be pathetic in his heavy drinking and self-pity. I'm glad he seemed to clean up at the end, but it wasn't clear how he finally did that. In fact, I would have thought that the lull, the dragging on of the case, would have pushed him over the edge.

But my sentiments might have to do with the narration. A less obnoxious narration might have tempered the bad-boy behavior of Wallendar, and allowed me to feel more sympathetic. Mankell has piqued my interest with this first in the series, so I do expect to listen to more ... but only if there's a different narrator.

Good, not great

This is an average detective story without any very interesting twists. The narrator would be great for a jersey mob crime drama, but it was a mismatch with the Swedish setting and culture of the book.

Faceless?

I can identify with Wallender, the cop hero in this book. He's middle aged, divorced, eating and drinking too much and his boss drives him relentlessly. I kept waiting for him to collapse, but he never did and I was glad to see that it ended well for him. I was also struck with the similarities between Sweden and the USA in culture, immigration concerns and just cop similarities. This is my second, but won't be my last Mankell book.

Keeps you there

Kept me listening and that matters. If you like Girl With the Dragon Tatoo you will like this

Endured for the story

I thought the characters tended to sound drunk in this performance. I like the characters but will take a break before committing to book 2.

Great narration

I really enjoyed to storyline and the narration was superb! Classic broken detective hero with a brilliant mind.