Writer and creator of Wallander

Born: February 3, 1948;

Died: October 5, 2015

Henning Mankell, who has died of cancer aged 67, was a Swedish writer and crime novelist who, in creating the detective Kurt Wallander became the figurehead of the Nordic noir genre. The Wallander novels sold millions of copies worldwide and became a television series starring Kenneth Branagh in the title role.

Inspector Wallander first appeared in 1989's Faceless Killers in which he investigated a murderer who was targeting foreigners in Sweden. Known for his grumpy and difficult attitude to authority, as well as his health problems (he had diabetes) the character of Wallander became a hit – something which took Mankell by surprise.

" I realised after two or three novels that I had this instrument who could be useful," he said. He also said he wanted to show how difficult it can be to be a good police officer.

"But after, I think, the third novel, I spoke to this friend of mine and asked what sort of disease I could give him. Without hesitating, she said: 'diabetes' So I gave him diabetes and that made him more popular. You could never imagine James Bond giving himself a shot."

The Wallander character went on to appear in 11 novels, although Mankell wrote 40 in all as well as works of non-fiction, including Quicksand: What it Means to be a Human Being, which recounted his experiences of cancer.

Mankell was born in Stockholm, the son of a lawyer, and was abandoned by his mother when he was one. Brought up by his father, he dropped out of secondary school to travel to Paris, where he became active in student politics as well as working on a freighter to make money.

By the early 1970s, he had returned to Stockholm where he worked as a stagehand and wrote his first play. His first novel, about the Swedish Labour movement, also appeared in 1973.

His Wallander novels attracted readers all over the world and were translated into 40 languages. Swedish television later made a series from the books starting Krister Henriksson in the title role, which was screened in the UK on BBC Four. The BBC then made their own version starring Branagh, which was shown between 2008 and 2010.

Mankell revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with cancer. The disease was discovered when he went to see an orthopaedic surgeon in Stockholm with what he assumed was a slipped disc. Instead, tests revealed that he had a tumours in his lung and neck.

Writing about his experiences, Mankell said his anxiety was profound. "It was a catastrophe for me," he said. "Everything that was normal to me up to that point was gone all of a sudden. No one had died of cancer in my family. I had always assumed I'd die of something else."

Mankell devoted much of his free time to working with Aids charities in Africa, where he is director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of St Andrews in recognition of his contribution to literature.

He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Eva Bergman.