FACELESS KILLERS: HENNING MANKELL

This is the first in the series of eleven Kurt Wallander murder 'who done its,' which I hope to read in order over the next few months.  Set in Sweden, Wallander is the typical detective, skeptical, almost burned out, on the verge of being a drunk, divorced but still in love with his wife, estranged from his daughter, with a father who borders on dementia.  Not much of a pick me upper, as Wallander also becomes increasingly unhappy with the cultural changes in Sweden, from the loosening of immigration laws, to liberal courts, to the questioning of police authority, to increasing violence in all areas of life.  It's enough to make Wallander wonder if it's worth it, if you have to fight the authorities, the press, as well as the criminals.

In this particular novel, an elderly couple is brutally murdered on a farm in a rural area of Sweden, once a peaceful and idyllic place.  There seems to have been no motivation for the murder, a poor, hard working retired farm couple but as usual, not everything is what it seems.  And the farmer, we learn, has secretly kept money in various bank accounts, most recently taking a large amount in cash from a bank, two days before the murder. Thus begins a series of wrong avenues, as Wallander and crew at first think it might be a relative, then an illegitimate son, unbeknowst to even the farmer's wife.  All turn out to be dead ends though the press seems to put the blame on 'foreigners,' in this case, illegal immigrants seeking asylum.

A few hate calls are made to Wallander, then a Somali is shot in the head, supposedly in retaliation for the death of the farm couple, thus Wallander must find not only murderers of the farmer and wife but the killers of the Somali immigrant.  Wallender traces the eye witness reports of a car back to a retired policemen.  He at first denies any wrong doing.  Wallender, however, puts a trace on him, who follows him to a Neo Nazi's house.  When they are confronted, the Nazi flees but is chased down by Wallanger; the police officer never confesses but is sent to prison and the death of the farmer and wife is seemingly forgotten. 

A year later, Wallander is about to give up on the case when trinket from a Farmer's Market reminds him of the various sellers, most who seem to be from Eastern Europe.  He puts this together with an eye witness report from a teller in the bank where the farmer took out his money.  She remembers two men having come in after the farmer, both foreign, exchanging money.  Wallender puts this together with the death of the farmer and realizes the two foreigners must have realized the farmer had just taken out an enormous amount of cash, followed him to his house, murdered him and wife and left no trail.  This proves to be correct and the two Czechs are arrested after a chase and Wallander can finally sleep.  Of course, there's the attempt to reconcile with his wife; a brief affair with a prosecutor, the unruly, angry father, neglected, so he thinks, by his son, and the daughter who is dating an African.  Lots to worry and think about for Wallander over the next eleven or so books.