亨宁·曼凯尔，瑞典国定级作家。一九四八年生于瑞典斯德哥尔摩，父亲是一名法官，因此他从小就对犯罪事件很感兴趣。他十六岁辍学，漂泊数年后回到瑞典，在斯德哥尔摩剧院找到一份舞台管理的工作，自此专心创作。

一九九一年，《无面杀手》甫一面世立刻为他赢得了如潮的好评以及巨大的国际声誉，迄今已在全球售出一百五十万本。另一部作品《死亡错步》则摘得二〇〇一年英国犯罪作家协会金匕首大奖。这个以瑞典警察科特·沃兰德为主角的系列作品兼具侦探小说的悬疑性与人性深度，迅速跨越了地域和文化的隔阂，风靡整个欧洲。亨宁·曼凯尔也因此而一跃成为欧洲排名第一的犯罪小说家。沃兰德系列多次在瑞典国内被改编为系列电视剧。BBC购买版权后改编的同名电视剧亦斩获英国电影和电视艺术学院（BAFTA）的电视剧金奖。警探科特·沃兰德已经成为瑞典乃至整个欧洲家喻户晓的人物。

First in the Kurt Wallander series.

It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecuter who has peaked his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.