9 Best Henning Mankell Books
The best Henning Mankell books, ranked by how many expert sources recommend each one, with notes on who each novel suits and where to start reading.
Our take
Henning Mankell’s crime novels pair patient police investigations with questions about violence, prejudice, and a changing society. His best-known detective, Kurt Wallander, works in southern Sweden while struggling with exhaustion and strained personal relationships. The cases offer suspense, but they also spend time with the damage that surrounds a crime and the people left to understand it.
Faceless Killers introduces Wallander, and The Dogs of Riga takes his investigation beyond familiar ground. Sidetracked, The Fifth Woman, and One Step Behind offer later cases with more of the detective’s history behind them. The Pyramid looks back at his early career through shorter stories. Readers who want a different investigator can try The Return of the Dancing Master, while Italian Shoes shows Mankell working in a quieter, more intimate form. Start with Faceless Killers for Wallander, or choose Italian Shoes if you prefer reflective fiction to a police procedural.
9 books · 7 sources · Last updated
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Reading Henning Mankell in order? See all Henning Mankell books in order
How to choose from this list
Skip to the full rankingIf you want to begin with Wallander: Faceless Killers → The Dogs of Riga
If you want a later, demanding police investigation: Sidetracked → The Fifth Woman → One Step Behind
If you want more of Wallander's personal history: The Man Who Smiled → The Pyramid
If you want a different investigator: The Return of the Dancing Master
If you want quieter fiction beyond crime: Italian Shoes
The 9 books, ranked
Ranked by how many expert sources name each book. Ties go to the book more people recommend.
For readers interested in Wallander’s damaged confidence as well as the criminal investigation. The contrast between polished appearances and concealed harm gives the case bite, though earlier novels explain the detective’s exhaustion more fully.
What it's about
Burned out and ready to quit, Wallander is pulled back when a lawyer friend insists his father’s car crash was murder, then dies the same way. The clues point to a charismatic tycoon whose benevolent smile may hide a very efficient killer.
For newcomers who want to meet Wallander before the later cases deepen his personal history. Its social tensions establish the series’ concerns early, though the grim violence makes it a bleak introduction.
What it's about
An elderly farming couple are savagely attacked in rural Skane, and the dying wife’s last word, "foreign," ignites a wave of xenophobia. As tensions rise, Kurt Wallander fights exhaustion, politics, and his own chaos at home to unmask the killers.
For readers continuing from Faceless Killers who want Wallander drawn beyond his familiar surroundings. The Latvian setting gives the investigation a different political atmosphere, though the period’s turmoil makes it more overtly geopolitical.
What it's about
Two corpses wash ashore in a life raft on Sweden’s icy coast, executed and wearing expensive suits. The trail drags Wallander from Ystad to a nervous post Soviet Riga, where police, politicians, and gangsters blur together and trusting the wrong person could be fatal.
For readers drawn to the motives behind violence and the slow connection of apparently separate crimes. The patient investigation gives moral questions space, though the cruelty and deliberate pacing can make it a heavy read.
What it's about
A retired car dealer is discovered impaled on sharpened stakes, and a florist vanishes before turning up strangled and bound to a tree. Wallander slowly uncovers links to a brutal crime in Africa and a patient avenger targeting men who once terrorised women.
For readers curious about how Wallander became the detective of the novels. The shorter prequel cases offer several stages of his development, though their personal references carry more weight after reading some later-set books.
What it's about
This prequel collection follows Wallander from his first clumsy case as a young patrolman to investigations just before Faceless Killers. Five novellas trace the missteps, mentors, and sleepless nights that turn him into the worn but driven inspector of the later novels.
For readers who want Mankell’s melancholy attention to people without a police investigation. Its intimate focus on isolation and old obligations gives room for reflection, though the quiet pace differs sharply from his crime novels.
What it's about
Fredrik Welin, a disgraced former surgeon, lives alone on an icy island, measuring out his days with rigid routines. When a woman he once abandoned appears, asking him to keep an old promise, he is forced off the island and into a reckoning with love, guilt, and age.
For established Wallander readers who want the investigation to press closely on his professional and personal limits. Its sense of pursuit builds tension, though the emotional strain and intricate case reward sustained attention.
What it's about
Three students playing at eighteenth century dress up are found shot dead in the woods, and days later one of Wallander’s closest colleagues is murdered at home. Grieving and exhausted, Wallander chases a meticulous killer who always seems to be one move ahead.
For readers who want a strong example of Mankell’s combination of police work and social criticism. The urgent investigation provides momentum, though the violence against women and disturbing opening are especially harsh.
What it's about
On a sweltering summer day, Wallander watches a young woman set herself on fire in a rape field. Soon prominent men are being axed to death and scalped. The hunt for a methodical serial killer exposes trafficking, misogyny, and the limits of Wallander’s stamina.
The Return of the Dancing Master
For readers who want Mankell’s crime writing outside Wallander’s cases. A different investigator gives the historical and political themes a fresh perspective, though the brutality and psychological weight remain as demanding as the series novels.
What it's about
Young police officer Stefan Lindman travels to a remote Swedish village after a retired colleague is found tortured to death, tango music echoing from the crime scene. His unofficial investigation uncovers terrifying ties between the victim’s past and a resurgent neo Nazi network.
Sources
- 1
The Top Five Wallander Novels to Get You Hooked on Henning Mankell
dorsetbookdetective.wordpress.com
- 2
The Man Who Smiled: 13 Thrilling Books by Swedish Author Henning Mankell
murder-mayhem.com
- 3
Best of Henning Mankell
goodreads.com
- 4
Book 112/113: The White Lioness and The Man Who Smiled by Henning Mankell
reddit.com
- 5
Henning Mankell
fantasticfiction.com
- 6
Henning Mankell böcker i ordning: Wallander, Afrika och barnböcker
slff.se
- 7
Looking for your favorite Scandinavian crime novel
reddit.com
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