Mankell’s Faceless Killers and Mcbain’s 87th Precinct

Kurt Wallander and Faceless Killers

Kurt Wallander, a senior police detective in the small town of Ystad in the Swedish province of Skane, is the protagonist of the book Faceless Killers. Kurt is a divorced officer with a chaotic existence. Both his daughter and his father are distant from him. His ailing and elderly father scarcely tolerates him, and he keeps his daughter at a distance both physically and emotionally. While working tirelessly to solve the murder of an elderly farming couple, Kurt must deal with his depression and his exceedingly bad eating and drinking habits. The novel unfolds when Kurt receives a call in what he thinks is a routine call only to reach a remote farmhouse and 6discover a scene of carnage. A man is brutally slayed while his wife is strangled and barely alive (Mankell & Hill, 72). Kurt starts the investigation with his only clue being the last words of the woman who later dies in the hospital “Foreign”. Kurt tries to keep this information from the police but unfortunately it is leaked to the media. This escalates tension with white supremacist groups becoming violent in the town causing a series of anti-refugee violence. It takes Kurt seven months of tireless and painstaking investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice solving two murder cases in the process.

The 87th Precinct and Ed McBain

Inscribed by Ed Mcbain (the crime fiction writing pseudonym of Evan Hunter), the 87th Precinct is a police procedural series of novels and stories which were later adapted into fiction crime drama television shows McBainc and McLarty 43). The series, which features resolving roles of officers from the precinct, is cast in a fictional city of Isola that is likened to New York City. The series traces its origin since 1956 and continued up to 2005. The novels made strides from the previous common short pocket novels of roughly two hundred pages released twice or thrice a year to the recent common novels which are longer and released once every year or two.

Differences Between Faceless Killers and the 87th Precinct

The series differed in several ways from other mystery police drama series where the officers solved cases through routine procedures, criminals making errors, or even failing to arrest the criminals at all. The investigators were also not overworking in the cases and spent time with their families by going home at night and handling the cases routinely (McBain and McLarty 63). They also let other detectives assist in cases by handling routine work. Officers played alternating roles in the preceding series. Most of the novel features a role for Mcbain leading character detective Steve Carella who is an honest, dogged, and persistent person who usually solves cases through hard work. He marries at the end of the novel and raises a family in the course of the series.

Similarities and Differences

There exist several similarities and differences in the two novels. The two departments are eager to solve cases, as evidenced by the two hardworking detectives. Faceless Killers presents a police department that is broken, as evidenced by Kurt’s life, which includes poor eating and drinking habits, a lonely life, and overworking to deal with depression (Mankell & Hill, 87). The 87th Precinct, on the other hand, presents a police department which is organized, with officers following a routine and keen to raise families and have time with them. This can be seen from the fact that the detectives go home in the evening.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, based on the Faceless Killers novel, the department is under pressure to bring the criminal to justice, as there is violence, unlike the Precinct where sometimes criminals were not apprehended at all. The detectives in Faceless Killers are heavily invested in cases, unlike those of the 87th Precinct who even let other officers handle part of cases. Finally, both novels end with the characters seeking happiness. Kurt falls in love with an attorney and reconciles with his daughter, while Steve marries and raises a family.

Works Cited

Mankell, Henning, and Dick Hill. Faceless Killers: #1. Blackstone Audio, 2006, pp. 68-145.

McBain, Ed, and Ron McLarty. The Frumious Bandersnatch: A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2011, pp. 23-119.