With all the buzz that surrounded the Dragon Girl series, I became intrigued with the numerous references to the "best" Swedish mystery writer who had been overlooked. During a recent flight to LA, (my favorite reading time), I finally dipped in to Hennig Mankell and I am hooked.
Ever the conventionalist, I started with the first of the series of his signature character, Kurt Wallander, called Faceless Killers. All I can say is get your hands on anything this guy has written, it was fabulous! A quick but riveting read, great characters, great plot, great backstory, it was a ton of fun and kept me awake from Richmond all the way to LA, no small feat. OK, I might have had a short nap, but still...
The best part of this book, in my opinion, is that Mankell was able to paint a horrific picture of crime without actually recounting all the details. I for one, do not want to have terrifying criminal acts of violence explicitly described, it is just too upsetting. For that reason, I really enjoyed the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, and refused to watch the American one; just too much information.
In this novel, the intention and outcome was apparent without having to slog through the exact actions. Thank you, Hennig Mankell! So for those of you who love a great mystery, here is your guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment