Rating: 
Summary: Interesting character with a simple plot
Review: This first book in the Kurt Wallander series revolves around a very simple plot. The "mystery charm" is not really there, but the main character, Kurt Wallander, is so interesting that you will be hooked to leran more. That is why I am giving this series at least one more shot at improving the plots!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: This is a detective novel set in southern Sweden. It is one of a set of continuing novels and the main character is far from perfect. He is a police officer who has been divorced and is not coping. He cannot relate to his father and daughter. His divorce has also led him to not looking after himself and succumbing to a diet of alcohol and take away food. No doubt previous novels have charted how this has all happened but it is not necessary to read them to understand the action. This novel is able to stands on its own. A murder occurs involving an old couple being tortured to death. Suspicion initially rests on a local refugee camp and things began to spin out of control. The novel is largely a police procedural and the main character is shown to investigate the various possibilities and leads in a methodical way. The book is marketed as not just a detective thriller but a book which is meant to have an insight into the refugee problem in Sweden and the strains that it is putting on that society. That in fact is probably the books weakest aspect. The main character is shown to be slightly racist but, this probably does not reflect the views of the author more part of the development of a flawed central character. Despite that the book is one of the better detective books that I have read in years. I read it from cover to cover in a short time. It evokes the cold of the Swedish winter, the desolation and loneliness of farm life. It has something which is fresh and new in the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, atmospheric, compelling
Review: This is a fairly straightforward story: an elderly couple are brutally murdered, and through sheer determination, and a bit of good luck, the police, headed by the central character Kurt Wallander, solve the crime. As you'd expect. It's well done though, in a Scandinavian sort of way. It's not just that the action takes place in and around Ystad in Sweden. There's a definite feeling of Scandinavian calm about the novel, despite the subject matter. And also a suggestion of the often supposed, though rarely true in my experience, Scandinavian seriousness, graveness, literalness, whatever. Some of that may be down to the translation. At times the writing has an almost childlike quality to it; or perhaps it's just a "matter-of-fact-ness". It's not unappealing. What Mankell is good at is making you feel the chilly Swedish landscape. Ever-threatening is the weather, closing around the police as they close around the killers. It's like the elements are in league with the criminals sometimes, and it gives the book quite a creepy feeling. Mankell doesn't pay much attention to the other characters in the book; Wallander is the main man. But Wallander's crumbling personal life is described quite well, and threatens to derail his life constantly. The way he pulls through the problems of the murders, the weather and his personal life, to succeed, is perhaps the central attraction and theme of Faceless Killers. A good read. And quite an easy read. But nonetheless satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: This is the first of Mankell's Kurt Wallander series and, in the course of reading, one comes across plenty reasons to persevere with the others. It's about a tenaciously driven workaholic hard-drinking middle-aged policeman in a chilly north European country, estranged from his wife with a tumultuous relationship with his young adult daughter. As others have pointed out, there is nothing new there so far and the similarity to DI Rebus is striking. Mankell's voice however is very much his own and the most striking similiarity is that he is one of the few writers of crime fiction in the same league as Rankin. So if the gap between instalments of the Rebus series is too much for you to bear, there are few better places you could look for consolation than here. As with the Rebus series the sense of place is beautifully realized but the place itself could not be more different: instead of the dark streets of Edinburgh we get the rural landscape of southern Sweden with its patchwork of small towns. And Wallander, if not much less demon-ridden, is a far softer character than Rankin's SAS-trained urban Scottish hardman. A peculiarly shocking murder of an elderly couple occurs deep in the Skanian countryside and while Wallender and his colleagues follow false lead after false lead, they have also to deal with the ugly political fallout. They have failed to keep form the public the incendiary fact that the last utterance of one victim was the single word "Foreign" and in a climate of growing hostility to asylum seekers this soon engenders murderous consequences. The plot is nicely developed and finely paced and Wallander's often troubled relationships - notably with his estranged wife and daughter, with his aging father, with his once close friend Sten Widen, with his colleagues, especially his dying mentor Rydberg and with the sharp and attractive new prosecutor Anette Brolin - are beautifully rendered. Great stuff.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read. The book was well written and it kept you guessing to the very end. This book is set in a small Swedish town and the small villages outside of town. Being from one of those small villages I appreciated the book even more. But knowing the surroundings is not a must, it's just as good even if you don't know the area. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a good mystery with that extra something. This is not a book for the weak of heart, there are some scary scenes, but in the end it is all worth it because it's a great book. I gave it 5 stars and I am looking forward to reading all his other books.
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