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A review by paola_mobileread
Assassino senza volto by Henning Mankell
2.0
What is it with Wallander? I really don't know. I am not even sure it served my particular purpose of a light read on the beach.
There is no suspence: I don't think I am giving anything away if I say that something happens at the beginning, and basically that's it, while Wallander and his team look for the "faceless killer" of the title.
There is no particularly cunning detective work: I won't spoil it for you, but every now and then some new facts or details emerge that add another piece to the "puzzle" - but the puzzle itself is not particularly puzzling. Indeed, I found myself beyond caring, as I merely wanted to finish a book I started, that is the only thing which kept me going for the 370+ pages of my edition.
There is no particularly sensitive analysis of Swedish society, at least he writes nothing which would not apply to any of the wealthy European countries dealing with immigration from their less wealthy neighbours. And the writing is not particularly good or atmospheric, though admittedly this may be an issue of translation. In the end, I presume the success of this series must be due to Wallander being a "normal" slightly clumsy sort of guy that a (most likely male) reader may relate to - but there are several such police detective characters ([a:Andrea Camilleri|17350|Andrea Camilleri|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236953748p2/17350.jpg] springs immeditely to my Italian mind, or the anti-hero Aurelio Zen, created by [a:Michael Dibdin|43318|Michael Dibdin|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1284567982p2/43318.jpg] well before the appearance of Kurt Wallander on the scene). And Mankell is himself a bit repetitive as the same style is in and you find a similar style in the only other Mankell's book I read, [b:The Return of the Dancing Master|39797|The Return of the Dancing Master|Henning Mankell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320555009s/39797.jpg|1503602].
Of course, many people seem to love Wallander, but as far as I am concerned I think it will be a long time before I attempt number 2 in the Wallander series...
There is no suspence: I don't think I am giving anything away if I say that something happens at the beginning, and basically that's it, while Wallander and his team look for the "faceless killer" of the title.
There is no particularly cunning detective work: I won't spoil it for you, but every now and then some new facts or details emerge that add another piece to the "puzzle" - but the puzzle itself is not particularly puzzling. Indeed, I found myself beyond caring, as I merely wanted to finish a book I started, that is the only thing which kept me going for the 370+ pages of my edition.
There is no particularly sensitive analysis of Swedish society, at least he writes nothing which would not apply to any of the wealthy European countries dealing with immigration from their less wealthy neighbours. And the writing is not particularly good or atmospheric, though admittedly this may be an issue of translation. In the end, I presume the success of this series must be due to Wallander being a "normal" slightly clumsy sort of guy that a (most likely male) reader may relate to - but there are several such police detective characters ([a:Andrea Camilleri|17350|Andrea Camilleri|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236953748p2/17350.jpg] springs immeditely to my Italian mind, or the anti-hero Aurelio Zen, created by [a:Michael Dibdin|43318|Michael Dibdin|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1284567982p2/43318.jpg] well before the appearance of Kurt Wallander on the scene). And Mankell is himself a bit repetitive as the same style is in and you find a similar style in the only other Mankell's book I read, [b:The Return of the Dancing Master|39797|The Return of the Dancing Master|Henning Mankell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320555009s/39797.jpg|1503602].
Of course, many people seem to love Wallander, but as far as I am concerned I think it will be a long time before I attempt number 2 in the Wallander series...