Swedish crime writer Mankell dies at 67

Best-selling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, whose detective character Kurt Wallander became a worldwide phenomenon, has died at 67 after a battle with cancer.
Mankell, who first revealed he had cancer in January last year, “died in his sleep early this morning” in Sweden’s second city of Gothenburg, his publishing house Leopard said on its website on Monday.
Mankell’s collection of dark novels about the Swedish police inspector Wallander brought the author international fame, particularly after it was made into a television series by the BBC starring Oscar-nominated actor and director Kenneth Branagh.
”Henning Mankell was one of the great Swedish authors of our time, loved by readers in Sweden and all over the world,” said a statement from Leopard, which Mankell co-founded in 2001.
”Solidarity with those in need runs through his entire work and manifested itself in action until the very end,” it said.
Mankell, who shared his time between Sweden and Mozambique, published more than 40 novels, plays and children’s books, selling around 40 million copies around the world.
The Wallander series itself won numerous awards and contributed to the massive global interest in Scandinavian crime and thriller novels dubbed Nordic noir.
The prickly character of Wallander hails from the coastal town of Ystad which has drawn fans of the detective series from around the world curious to follow in his fictional footsteps.
Branagh wrote to Swedish Radio that he would miss Mankell’s intelligence and generosity.
US rock icon Patti Smith, who shared a long friendship with Mankell, expressed her grief in an email to Swedish daily Aftonbladet.