No more Wallander books after author's death

Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, who died Monday, was adamant that his characters, including detective Kurt Wallander, should never be resurrected by a another writer, his publisher said.

"It is out of the question that there would be other books featuring Wallander," Dan Israel, the Swedish publisher with whom Mankell founded the Leopard publishing house in 2001, said on Tuesday.

Israel stressed that he would therefore oppose any attempt at reviving Mankell's characters in new novels.

In doing so he takes the opposite tack from the publishers of the "Millennium" series. The first trilogy was created by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.

A fourth book in that series, by another crime writer, was published earlier this year, over a decade after Larsson's sudden death in 2004.

Similarly since James Bond creator Ian Fleming died in1964 there have been a string of new Bond books produced.

The best-selling Mankell, whose detective Kurt Wallander character became a worldwide phenomenon, died aged 67 on Monday after a battle with cancer.

Mankell wrote and published a final book wrapping up the Wallander series, "The Troubled Man", in 2009.

His publisher Israel said he would protect the literary heritage of his friend and collaborator, while adding that he remained unaware of the details of Mankell's will.

"Nothing can be approved without my agreement," he said.

Mankell was working on a book before his death which is just a draft and unpublishable, he added.

Mankell, who divided his time between Sweden and Mozambique, was a leading light in the Nordic police thriller genre.

His Wallander character became the star of successful TV drama series in both Swedish and English.

"Without him, the Nordic police novel wouldn't have more than an echo abroad...  but he was much more than a thriller writer," said Israel.

As well as his 12 Wallander books, Mankell also wrote another 30 works, including 10 children's books.

Some 40 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.
Source: AFP