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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