Books by Henning Mankell

Book SynopsisFour nuns and a fifth woman are killed in a savage night-time attack in Africa. A year later, Inspector Kurt Wallander investigates the disappearance of an elderly birdwatcher and discovers a gruesome and meticulously planned murder - a body impaled in a trap of sharpened bamboo poles. Then, another man is reported missing.Once again Wallander''s life is put on hold as he and his team work tirelessly to find a link between the series of vicious murders.Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for Sidetracked.Trade ReviewInspector Wallander is one of the most wonderful creations in contemporary crime writing -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *Truly horrifying... The novels become a compulsion - one reads them all * Daily Telegraph *A first-class police procedural * Independent on Sunday *The real test of thrillers of this kind is whether you want to spend more time in the detective's company. I certainly do -- Sean French * Independent *Mankell's long, subtle, involving novel could turn you to crime * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSpiralling into an alcohol-fuelled depression after killing a man in the line of duty, Inspector Kurt Wallander has made up his mind to quit the police force for good. When an old acquaintance seeks Wallander''s help to investigate the suspicious circumstances in which his father has died, Kurt doesn''t want to know. But when his former friend turns up dead, shot three times, Wallander realises that he was wrong not to listen. Against his better judgment, he returns to work to head what may now have become a double murder case. An enigmatic big-business tycoon seems to be the common denominator in the two deaths. But while Wallander is on the trail of the killer, somebody is on the trail of Wallander, and closing in fast...Over 35 million copies of the Kurt Wallander series sold worldwide.Trade ReviewOne of his best * The Times *Vintage Nordic storytelling * Observer *Impeccable plotting * Daily Express *Absorbing, chilling and dripping with evil atmosphere * The Times *Rather in the way that Dire Straits were the Trojan horse that kickstarted the CD industry, Mankell's novels became the standard bearer for foreign crime in translation...the writer is a man of rare skills -- Barry Forshaw * Daily Express *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSome cases aren’t as cold as you’d thinkKurt Wallander’s life looks like it has taken a turn for the better when his offer on a new house is accepted, only for him to uncover something unexpected in the garden – the skeleton of a middle-aged woman. As police officers comb the property, Wallander attempts to get his new life back on course by finding the woman’s killer with the aid of his daughter, Linda. But when another discovery is made in the garden, Wallander is forced to delve further back into the area's past.A treat for fans and new readers alike, this is a never before published Kurt Wallander novellaTrade ReviewAn absolute pleasure to read and one worth luxuriating in -- Alison Flood * Observer *Wallander remains one of the most impressive and credible creations in crime fiction today -- Ian Thompson * Spectator *Good news for those suffering Wallander withdrawal symptoms -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *This beautifully crafted story will grab you and it will not let go -- David Stephenson, 4 stars * Sunday Express *A final precious gobbet for those of us who aren’t ready for Inspector Wallander’s story to come to an end -- Jake Kerridge * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHenning Mankell (1948-2015) became a worldwide phenomenon with his crime writing, gripping thrillers and atmospheric novels set in Africa. His prizewinning and critically acclaimed Inspector Wallander Mysteries continue to dominate bestseller lists all over the globe and his books have been translated into forty-five languages and made into numerous international film and television adaptations: most recently the BAFTA-award-winning BBC television series Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. Driven by a desire to change the world and to fight against racism and nationalism, Mankell devoted much of his time to working with charities in Africa, including SOS Children's Villages and PLAN International, where he was also director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. In 2008, the University of St Andrews conferred Henning Mankell with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of his major contribution to literature and to the practical exercise of conscienceTrade ReviewWallander's investigations are perfectly judged to create a thrilling mood of growing tension culminating in a satisfying climax * The Times *Wonderfully bleak thrillers...somehow unremitting and gripping at the same time -- Sean French * Independent *Mankell is one of the most ingenious crime writers around. Highly recommended * Observer *Sweden's answer to Morse and Wexford * Mail on Sunday *Gripping... Expert plotting * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHenning Mankell (1948-2015) became a worldwide phenomenon with his crime writing, gripping thrillers and atmospheric novels set in Africa. His prizewinning and critically acclaimed Inspector Wallander Mysteries continue to dominate bestseller lists all over the globe and his books have been translated into forty-five languages and made into numerous international film and television adaptations: most recently the BAFTA-award-winning BBC television series Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. Driven by a desire to change the world and to fight against racism and nationalism, Mankell devoted much of his time to working with charities in Africa, including SOS Children's Villages and PLAN International, where he was also director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. In 2008, the University of St Andrews conferred Henning Mankell with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of his major contribution to literature and to the practical exercise of conscienceTrade ReviewWell paced... A thinking man's thriller * New York Times *The real test of thrillers of this kind is whether you want to spend more time in the detective's company. I certainly do -- Sean French * Independent *Mankell is one of the most ingenious crime writers around, strong on characterisation, plotting and atmosphere. Highly recommended -- Peter Gutteridge * Observer *Superbly crafted detective stories -- Christopher Gray * Oxford Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is Midsummer's Eve. Three young friends meet in a wood to act out an elaborate masque. Each is killed by a single bullet. Soon afterwards, one of Inspector Wallander's colleagues is found murdered. Is it the same killer, and what could the connection be? In this investigation Wallander is always, tantalisingly, one step behind.Trade ReviewOne of the most ingenious crime writers around. Highly recommended * Daily Telegraph *Mankell is in the first division of crime writing * The Times *Not only an intriguing puzzle, but a moving description of a man trying to keep faith with a dead friend... This is the best aspect of crime fiction: a gripping plot plus the exploration of character and relationships that reverberate around murder * Independent *So compelling that, at the end of the sleepless night it took to read, I blearily reached for a keyboard to search for Mankell's other titles -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisStopping to use a cash machine one evening, a man falls to the ground: dead. A taxi driver is brutally murdered by two teenage girls who demonstrate a complete lack of remorse. One girl escapes police custody and disappears without trace. Soon afterwards, a blackout covers half the country. When an engineer arrives at the malfunctioning power station, he makes a grisly discovery... Inspector Kurt Wallander is sure that these events must be linked - somehow. Hampered by the discovery of betrayals in his own team, lonely and frustrated, Wallander begins to lose conviction in his role as a detective. And somehow these criminals seem always to know the police''s next move.Trade ReviewFirewall is the eighth of his investigations, and the most enjoyable yet * Guardian *Another gripping Inspector Wallander mystery by Sweden's master crime writer * The Times *Enormously enjoyable -- Jessica Mann * Sunday Telegraph *Firewall cracks along at a punishing pace... I am already hankering for a return to Ystad and a few more sleepless nights traipsing after Kurt * Observer *Kurt Wallander is right up there with Ian Rankin's John Rebus * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. In a wood outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim''s side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page. A string of incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, has been taking place and Inspector Wallander fears that these events could be the prelude to attacks on humans on a much greater scale. Meanwhile Linda Wallander, preparing to join the Ystad police force, arrives at the station. Showing all the hallmarks of her father - the maverick approach, the flaring temper - she becomes involved in the case and in the process is forced to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world''s sinners.Trade ReviewWith this book his fans are in for a double treat as Mankell gives us two Wallanders for the price of one... Crime fiction doesn't get any better than this * Mail on Sunday *Probably Britain's favourite European mystery writer... Mankell's subtle use of his characters keeps you reading * Daily Mail *This novel will not disappoint Kurt's followers. He remains integral, and his guilt-shot relationship to his daughter is beautifully done * Independent *The Nordic King of European thriller writers -- Louise France * Observer *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvery morning Håkan von Enke takes a walk in the forest near his apartment in Stockholm. Then, one day he fails to come home.Detective Kurt Wallander is not officially involved but Håkan''s son is engaged to his daughter Linda. A few months earlier Håkan was eager to talk to Kurt about a controversial incident from his past. Could this be connected to his disappearance? When Håkan''s wife also goes missing, Wallander is determined to uncover the truth but the investigation will force him to look back over his own past, as he comes to the unsettling realisation that even those we love the most can remain strangers to us...Trade ReviewA heartbreaking tale of descent into despair and darkness that serves as a totem for what great crime writing can achieve -- Declan Burke * Irish Times *Magnificent * Financial Times *By the time you get to the end, you'll be wanting another. But it would be hard to beat this tale of murder and loss which leads back to the heart of the cold war * Daily Mirror *A plot as twisted and exciting as any Le Carre thriller * Daily Mail *It's a fine finale for the fretful policeman and it's hard not to feel you'll miss the old bugger -- Siobhan Murphy * Metro *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR SIDETRACKEDHerbert Molin, a retired police officer, is living alone in a remote cottage in the vast forests of northern Sweden. He has two obsessions: one is the tango and the other is a conviction that he is being hunted, constantly pursued by ''demons''. He has no close friends, no close neighbours, and by the time his body is eventually found, Molin is almost unrecognisable. Lindman, a police officer on extended sick leave, hears of the death of his former colleague and, to take his mind off his own problems, decides to involve himself in the case. What he discovers, to his horror and disbelief, is a network of evil almost unimaginable in this remote district, and one which seems impossible to link to Molin''s death.Trade ReviewAbsorbing, chilling and dripping with evil atmosphere * The Times *Mankell is the master of the slow burn, and The Return of the Dancing Master makes us crave more of his misty, haunted atmosphere * Independent *A worthy successor to the Wallander whodunnits * Sunday Telegraph *The new cast is introduced with customary brilliance, and the political edge suggests a fine new direction from this immense talent * Scotland on Sunday *Compelling...there's no one better at the genre... His characters are his greatest invention * San Francisco Chronicle *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisOnce a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him.The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in northern Sweden, a place Welin''s father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he Trade ReviewMankell is a vivid and compelling storyteller * Independent *As with the the best of crime fiction, Mankell deals not only in character, plot and action, mystery and revelation, concealment and discovery, but also creates a world with its own mental and emotional atmosphere * Irish Times *Mankell has always been an ambitious writer... This novel transcends the limits of his earlier work * Sunday Times *Authoritative plotting and well-defined characterisation... An examination of the boundless human capacity for making the wrong decisions and a recognition of the challenges posed by ageing -- Barry Forshaw * Daily Express *Mankell's words fall like snowflakes, building up to make even the most ugly thing something of beauty... The strength of women, the bestiality some men are capable men, and the impermanence of life are some of the themes that Mankell once again spins into a quiet masterpiece -- Kieran Meeke * Metro *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSweden, winter, 1991. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team receive an anonymous tip-off. A few days later a life raft is washed up on a beach. In it are two men, dressed in expensive suits, shot dead.The dead men were criminals, victims of what seems to have been a gangland hit. But what appears to be an open-and-shut case soon takes on a far more sinister aspect. Wallander travels across the Baltic Sea, to Riga in Latvia, where he is plunged into a frozen, alien world of police surveillance, scarcely veiled threats, and lies. Doomed always to be one step behind the shadowy figures he pursues, only Wallander''s obstinate desire to see that justice is done brings the truth to light.Trade ReviewRiga is a haunted place, and Mankell describes it with the sort of creepy detail that one shudders to believe is accurate -- Donna LeonMankell could turn you to crime * Daily Telegraph *Mankell is a powerful writer * Independent *Wallander is among the very best fictional crimebusters * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1878, aspiring entomologist Hans Bengler travels to the Kalahari Desert in hopes of making a name for himself by discovering a previously unknown insect or two. There he encounters a boy named Molo, an orphan whose family has been killed by European colonists. Bengler “civilizes” the boy by rechristening him Daniel, teaching him to pray to the Christian god, and finally bringing him home to Sweden. The boy is bewildered and awed by the new land, cut off from his culture and the spirits of his family, and Bengler finds that raising a child across a great cultural divide is more difficult than he imagined. A psychological drama of one boy’s struggle to find his place in a new land far from home, Daniel is a compelling novel for our modern globalized world.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom internationally bestselling author Henning Mankell comes a gripping mystery and a depiction of every parent's worst nightmare.When Louise Cantor finds her twenty-eight year old son dead in his apartment, everything indicates it was a suicide. Louise, however, refuses to accept this, and with nothing more than few suspicions and a mother's intuition, she and her ex-husband set out to find what happened. What they discover is a dark underworld of people exploiting the victims of the AIDS epidemic: corrupt businessmen dealing infected blood, suspicious researchers carrying out dangerous tests, and lecherous drug dealers peddling black market medicine. Their investigation takes them across three continents, and leads them into some mighty financial institutions and highest corridors of power, where suddenly their own lives are at stake.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1904, Hanna Renstrom boards a ship bound for Australia hoping to escape the cold and poverty that have dominated her life in Sweden. Her harrowing journey lands her in Portuguese East Africa, a world where colonialism and white colonists rule, where she becomes a peculiar outsider: she is on the outskirts of white society, because of her gender and profession as the owner of a bordello, and separated from the African prostitutes with whom she lives due to her skin color. As her life becomes increasingly intertwined with the brothel, Hanna moves inexorably toward the moment when one decision will defy all the expectations society has of her and, most important, those she has of herself.   Henning Mankell imbues this deeply moving story with all of the gripping drama, vividly drawn characters, and evocative details of place that fans of his acclaimed Kurt Wallander crime novels have come to love.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHenning Mankell's first novel, never before released in English, explores the reflections of a working class man who has struggled against the constraints of his station for his entire life. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.The year is 1911. The young rock blaster Oskar Johansson has been killed in an accident. Or so it says in the local newspaper. In spite of serious injuries, however, Oskar survives. Decades later, Oskar looks back and reflects on his working life as an invalid, his marriage, his dreams, and his hopes. Oskar's life is woven together out of fragments of voices, images, and episodes that, taken together, provide a sharp and precise picture of life in Sweden for the working class.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe eleventh riveting installment in the mystery thriller series that inspired the Netflix crime drama Young Wallander • Wallander is one of the most impressive creations in crime fiction today.... An old-fashioned moral force and sense of disquiet of the sort rarely found in contemporary crime fiction. —The GuardianAfter nearly thirty years in the same job, Inspector Kurt Wallander is tired, restless, and itching to make a change. He is taken with a certain old farmhouse, perfectly situated in a quiet countryside with a charming, overgrown garden. There he finds the skeletal hand of a corpse in a shallow grave. Wallander’s investigation takes him deep into the history of the house and the land, until finally the shocking truth about a long-buried secret is brought to light.   Includes an afterword by the author.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn early gem from the creator of the Kurt Wallander series, charting the life of a principled man through tragedy, heartbreak, true love and the battle for a nation''s soul.A very engaging portrait . . . There is a powerful lack of sentimentality to the telling of the story [and] a lovely and genuinely moving love story at the heart of the book. Liam Heylin, Irish ExaminerAt 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in 1911, Oskar Johansson is caught in a blast in an industrial accident. The local newspaper reports him dead, but they are mistaken.Because Oskar Johansson is a born survivor.Though crippled, Oskar finds the strength to go on living and working. The Rock Blaster charts his long professional life - his hopes and dreams, sorrows and joys. His relationship with the woman whose love saved him, with the labour movement that gave him a cause to believe in, and with his children, who do not share his ideals.Trade ReviewOne of Scandinavia's finest writers. -- Ian Rankin.He is in the great tradition of those whose works transcend their chosen genre to become thrilling and moral literature. -- Michael OndaatjeA literary writer of considerable accomplishment. -- Barry Forshaw * Independent. *In life and in art Henning Mankell was a man of passionate commitment. -- Kenneth BrannaghMankell is the master. -- Viv GroskopMankell's fierce instinct for social criticism is admirable. -- Mike Peed * New York Times. *Mankell writes with both a social conscience and great humour. -- Sarah Compton * Daily Telegraph. *An excellent craftsman. -- Joanna KavennaProvides a fascinating preview of the psychology of Kurt Wallander who was to become Mankell's most famous creation * Shots Magazine *A very engaging portrait . . . There is a powerful lack of sentimentality to the telling of the story [and] a lovely and genuinely moving love story at the heart of the book. -- Liam Heylin * Irish Examiner *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn January 2014 Henning Mankell was informed that he had cancer. However, Quicksand is not a book about death, but about what it means to be human. Mankell writes about love and jealousy, courage and fear, about what it is like to live with a fatal illness. This book is also about why the cave painters 40,000 years ago chose the very darkest places for their fascinating pictures. And about the dreadful troll that we are trying to lock away inside the bedrock of a Swedish mountain for the next 100,000 years. It is a book about how humanity has lived and continues to live, and about how Henning lived his own life. And, not least, about the great zest for life, which came back when he managed to drag himself out of the quicksand that threatened to suck him down into the abyss.Trade ReviewAn extraordinarily moving book… The chief strength of this book – and what makes it such a beautiful, moving document – is in the descriptions that Mankell gives of the joy and suffering he has seen, especially in Africa… Throughout Quicksand, there are scenes [of] joy and triumph in the midst of suffering and loss. This grave book, intensely beautiful in spirit, takes us to these places in the thoughtful company of a great soul -- Alexander McCall Smith * New Statesman *An honourable, courageous piece of work… A work of considerable scope… A remarkable man -- Sean O’Brien * i *An extraordinary book, mixing the intimate detail of memoir (the incidents from his childhood and early life are told beautifully, and with wonderful economy) with the moral beliefs of a man whose concern with social justice has dictated the pattern of his mature years. At times Mankell can sound like a latter-day Seneca, and he brings the same gravitas and moral authority to bear on his arguments… A deeply serious, and highly uplifting book…profoundly moving. -- John Burnside * Guardian *Potent and evocative -- Nick Rennison * The Sunday Times *Quicksand, a hybrid of essay and memoir, reflects knowledgeably on art, religion, childhood and the “final insensibility” that is our dying. Rarely has a writer contemplated the mystery of the end of life with such a wide-ranging curiosity -- Ian Thomson * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less