The winner was chosen by readers from more than 20 countries and by other authors at a big festival fro crime literature in Germany.
Accordning to the regulations of the prize it is to be given to an author who in particular has contributed to the development of the genre,
Author colleague Lisa Marklund, who nominated Henning Mankll for the award, states that Henning Mankell has taken crime writing to a compeltely new level. Other swedish nominees were Maj Sjöwall and Håkan Nesser.
The prize ceremony will be held in Unna, Germany, in March 2009.