Henning Mankel, 1948 – 2015

A good man is gone.

Some Days You Do ...

I had the good fortune to meet Henning Mankel on several occasions some half-a-dozen or more years ago, when I was in Sweden with a crew from BBC Scotland, fronting a documentary on Mankel’s work as a crime novelist for BBC4. The programme title (it was to be shown in tandem with the adaptations then being filmed with Kenneth Branagh) was Who is Kurt Wallander?, though, of course, it should have been, more properly, Who is Henning Mankel?

We met first in Stockholm, at a conference that Mankel had largely funded, dedicated to the subject of child literacy – one of his major concerns.

… to teach every child in the world to read and write would cost no more than we in the west spend on dog food.

The second, and longer meeting, was at his home in Gothenburg; the last in Ystad, fictional home of his police detective hero, the aforementioned…

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The Pyramid

Mr. Mankell died of cancer some weeks ago. He is one of my favourite writers, having read several of his Kurt Wallander series I decided to pick this one up. This is where you get to read about how Kurt became a detective, read till page 70 and so far it is good. Lastly, he…