Best Laurie Thompson Books
There's a data issue worth flagging before I write this: Laurie Thompson is the English-language translator of Henning Mankell's work, not the author. The books listed — The Dogs of Riga, The Man Who Smiled, The Kurt Wallander series, Inspector Van Veeteren — are all Mankell's. Thompson's translations are excellent, but the author bio should almost certainly be for **Henning Mankell**. Want me to write the bio for Henning Mankell instead, and flag this as a data fix needed in your collection?
Where to Start with Laurie Thompson
- Best entry point → The Man from Beijing
- What readers keep coming back to → The Dogs of Riga
- Highest rated by readers → The Troubled Man (Kurt Wallander #10)
Best Laurie Thompson Books
- 1
The Man Who Smiled
Kurt Wallander • Book 4
by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson
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After killing someone in the line of duty, a broken Wallander considers quitting police work until a friend's suspicious death pulls him into Sweden's corrupt elite circles.
★ 3.95 Goodreads (26.3K ratings) - 2
The Troubled Man
Kurt Wallander • Book 10
by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson
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Retired naval officer Håkan von Enke vanishes during his morning walk, pulling Wallander into a personal investigation since von Enke is his granddaughter's grandfather.
★ 3.98 Goodreads (19.1K ratings) - 3
The Dogs of Riga
Kurt Wallander • Book 2
by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson
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Two dead gangsters in expensive suits wash up on a Swedish beach, pulling Wallander into Latvia's violent post-communist underworld. Mankell captures a society where old certainties have collapsed into lawless brutality.
★ 3.72 Goodreads (30.8K ratings) - 4
The Pyramid: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries
Kurt Wallander • Book 9
by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson, Ebba Segerberg
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Before the major cases that made him famous, young Kurt Wallander cut his teeth on five challenging investigations that shaped his approach to crime. Mankell fills in his detective's origin story with characteristic Nordic noir atmosphere.
★ 3.86 Goodreads (14.3K ratings) - 5
Borkmann's Point
Inspector Van Veeteren • Book 2
by Håkan Nesser, Laurie Thompson
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Two ax murders in the quiet seaside town of Kalbringen draw Inspector Van Veeteren into a web of old grudges and buried crimes. Nesser's Nordic mystery explores how small communities protect their secrets until violence forces truth into the light.
★ 3.72 Goodreads (9.9K ratings) - 6
The Man from Beijing
by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson
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Mankell connects a brutal massacre in rural Sweden to historical injustices spanning from 19th-century China to modern-day revenge in this sweeping, ambitious thriller.
★ 3.51 Goodreads (18.1K ratings)