Henning Mankell, the internationally renowned Swedish crime writer  has died at the age of 67. The author discovered he had cancer last year, and wrote about the experience in his last book, Quicksand: What It Means To Be A Human Being. His best-selling novels, which follow policeman Kurt Wallander through Sweden and Mozambique, were turned into a TV drama starring Sir Kenneth Branagh. Mankell wrote some 50 novels and numerous plays, selling more than 40 million copies worldwide.

Following in the footsteps of the popular 1960s Swedish crime-writing duo of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, Mankell’s Wallander series helped define the Scandinavian genre that became known as Nordic noir. Mankell himself was deeply engaged in social and political issues. He was also among the activists who were attacked and arrested by Israeli forces as they tried to sail to the Gaza strip with humanitarian supplies in June 2010.

Born in February 1948, Mankell wrote dozens of plays, novels, children’s books and screenplays. But it was for his Wallander series that he was most renowned. Although he became known as a leading proponent of “Scandi Crime”, Mankell was not a fan of genre fiction.