The Secret Life of Wallander

Mankell's compelling books about the idealistic police inspector - who is even more miserable than Morse - have sold more than 30 million copies in 43 different languages and inspired more than 25 film adaptations.

In Europe, readers took instantly to the troubles, lonely cop with his horrendous health problems and catastrophic home life. The nine Wallander novels became runaway bestsellers all over Europe, but in Britain and the United States success was slower to take off. But now, since Kenneth Branagh has taken on the central role in he acclaimed and award-winning BBC series, British and American fans have really taken Wallander to their hearts. The popularity of the character has turned the small Swedish town of Ystad into one of the country's top tourist attractions and many British and American visitors are joining the queue to visit murder scenes and immerse themseleves in the bleak landscape made famous on screen.

Yet Wallander is much more than just another TV crime series. Henning Mankell invented the caring policeman as a vehicle to write about the disturbing increase in violence and racism that was undermining the comfortable social democracy of Sweden. Those problems are as international as Wallander's appeal.

Stafford Hildred is one of Britain's best-known television critics and showbusiness writers, with a long career in the media. He had previously written and co-writtem an array of bestselling biographies whose subjects include John Thaw, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Rod Stewart and Jamie Oliver.