THE SITE FOR DIE HARD CRIME & THRILLER FANS
Features

Faceless Killers – the illustrated edition

2 Mins read

Today, the Folio Society has launched a special edition of Faceless Killers – the first Wallander novel written by Swedish author Henning Mankell. For many fans of Scandinavian crime fiction, this is the novel that kick started the Nordic noir subgenre when it was published in 1991 in Sweden as Mördare utan ansikte. It went on to win the prestigious Glass Key Award in Scandinavia in 1992, and its subsequent translation into English in 1997 was coupled with a Swedish and British television adaptations of the story and its characters.

Mankell went on to write 11 further Wallander novels, and is regarded as a godfather of Nordic noir. Now, Faceless Killers is returning in print as a hardback complete with illustrations by the California artist Morgan Schweitzer, who is also an art director in the advertising industry. This deluxe printing is priced at £50, and this is the first time The Folio Society has printed a Scandinavian crime novel.

You can find out everything there is to know about Wallander in print and on television, here.

Let’s take you through a photographic unboxing of this extremely attractive rendition of Scandinavian crime fiction…

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

The book arrives in a padded box but is also protected by a translucent wax paper sleeve.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

This laser cut hole in the slipcase provides a first glimpse of Morgan Schweitzer’s illustrations. The cardboard slipcase is unvarnished and you can almost feel the texture of the book’s cover peeking through the porthole.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

Emerging from the slipcase, the jacket itself is a deep petrol blue with Schweitzer’s bleak, chilling artwork emblazoned across front and back. The blue echoes the colour scheme of the first Swedish edition of the book in 1991.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

If you’ve read the novel, you’ll know the significance of the remote cottage and the footprints in the snow, which seem to sink into the cover itself thanks to the skill of the artist. If you haven’t read it, you’ll find out all about this mysterious scene inside.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

In addition to the cover art, this printing includes five illustrations plus a short introduction by the singer and poet Patti Smith, which appears in English for the first time and talks about her meeting with Henning Mankell before his death in 2015.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

Here’s a detail from the frontis illustration to give you a taste of the artist’s style and the mood of the imagery.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

Fittingly, there is artwork to sit next to rumination in the text about Wallander’s own father, a painter of melancholic Swedish scenes.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

The back cover completes the landscape, with vehicle tracks this time leading away to the horizon.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell illustrated edition from Folio Society

And back into the slipcase it goes. Could this be the ideal gift for the lover of Scandinavian crime fiction… even if that person is your good self?

To find out more or to purchase, visit the Folio Society website.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts
KindlePrintReviews

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

Translated by Megan E Turney — From Ruth Galloway to Eve Ronin, if there’s one thing readers can’t complain about in recent years it’s a lack of strong female protagonists in crime novels. Now, debut Danish author Jenny Lund Madsen introduces Hannah Krause-Bendix, who is…
Features

Lost: Those Who Kill – Danish crime drama returns to BBC Four

Lovers of Scandinavian crime fiction in the UK have been waiting quite a while for something new to settle into in 2023, but that wait ends on Saturday 8 April at 9pm, when BBC Four will air the latest season of Those Who Kill (Den…
Features

Irish crime drama North Sea Connection comes to BBC Four

The highly-rated RTÉ crime show North Sea Connection is coming to BBC Four in the UK, with the first two episodes airing from 9pm on Saturday 4 February. It’s an ideal series to take in if you enjoy perilous plot lines set in moody, isolated…
Crime Fiction Lover