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macloo's review against another edition
4.0
By now we know Martin Beck, police detective, and his colleagues pretty well. A month before Christmas, nine people are gunned down in a city bus. No witnesses. This is an exceeding rare crime for Sweden — the characters refer to it as Sweden's first mass murder, and at least once they remark on the University of Texas tower shooting of 1966, which was quite recent when this novel was written. Once again, the crime is marked by a staggering absence of clues or leads.
Among some things that struck me (reading in 2019) were the several mentions of "nymphomaniacs." The idea of a woman with an insatiable sex drive seems to have fascinated the authors. I found it kind of silly, and I wondered if it was kind of a new notion in the 1960s. Also the references to "junkies" and "pushers." It's not so much that these terms date the book as that they remind me that the '60s were a time when worlds were colliding, and for the police, it was a case of an underworld they were all too familiar with crossing over into the world of everyday respectability.
Anyway, the Stockholm police put everyone on the bus murders case, and even bring in extra detectives from the hinterlands (treating the reader to the biases against the northern residents of Sweden), but mostly they just beat their heads against the wall. Weeks pass as they desperately turn over every rock — and of course, bit by bit, some threads appear. We see the payoffs of a refusal to give up, and a willingness to return again and again to question a person. Also the ability to listen carefully. To believe that no detail is too small.
The final page of this book is utterly fabulous. Don't even think about looking at it in advance.
Among some things that struck me (reading in 2019) were the several mentions of "nymphomaniacs." The idea of a woman with an insatiable sex drive seems to have fascinated the authors. I found it kind of silly, and I wondered if it was kind of a new notion in the 1960s. Also the references to "junkies" and "pushers." It's not so much that these terms date the book as that they remind me that the '60s were a time when worlds were colliding, and for the police, it was a case of an underworld they were all too familiar with crossing over into the world of everyday respectability.
Anyway, the Stockholm police put everyone on the bus murders case, and even bring in extra detectives from the hinterlands (treating the reader to the biases against the northern residents of Sweden), but mostly they just beat their heads against the wall. Weeks pass as they desperately turn over every rock — and of course, bit by bit, some threads appear. We see the payoffs of a refusal to give up, and a willingness to return again and again to question a person. Also the ability to listen carefully. To believe that no detail is too small.
The final page of this book is utterly fabulous. Don't even think about looking at it in advance.
kchisholm's review against another edition
4.0
Harper Perennial have recently started republishing the Martin Beck series by Sjowall and Wahloo - originally written between 1965 and 1975. (The full series as at this book, is outlined below.) These books are often included in lists of the great classics of crime fiction. They integrate a wide range of social and cultural issues alongside their crime fiction base, making some very pointed observations and statements about Swedish society at the time that they were written. Even allowing for the way that they mirror society, as seen through the author's joint eyes at that time, they also stand up incredibly well in current day terms - there is no sense that they have become dated or antiquated in any way and the message is as relevant and pointed today as it was when they were written.
THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN is the next book in the Harper series, originally from 1968. It opens with Stockholm police stretched to the limits by a series of protests against the war in Vietnam. On a rainy night, at the height of one of the major protests, off in the suburbs of Stockholm a double decker bus veers off the road, the driver and 8 of his passengers gunned down by an unknown killer. The murders seem to be totally motiveless, there doesn't seem to be any connection between any of the people on that bus. One of the passengers is one of Beck's own detectives, dead in his seat, with his service revolver in his hand and no apparent reason for being anywhere near that bus.
Again Sjowall and Wahloo weave an intricate investigation story deftly with a view of the surrounding circumstances of the time - the effect that the protests are having on police resourcing, the tension between Stockholm and more regional areas of Sweden, the tension between the investigating team members, social problems of workers coming to Sweden for a better life and finding a different story. Even Sweden's much commented on sexual freedom and liberation is considered, when the discovery of nude photographs of the dead man's girlfriend are found in his desk.
As expected in any book from this pair of writers, the investigation is deft and very human focused. The book incorporates a range of commentary on a wide range of issues, but there's nothing preachy or pushy - the tone is observational, the issues highlighted as part of the characters reactions and observations.
Each of the Harper Perennial titles incorporates an introduction written by a well known Crime writer of current times - THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN is introduced by Sean and Nicci French, who, highlight a number of the social commentary elements of the book. Whilst the entire introduction is very interesting, one of the most telling comments is right at the end:
"And speaking as another married couple who write thrillers, we don't know which of them wrote what, we can't see the joins, and we don't care".
The PS section in this book continues Richard Shepherd's analysis; briefly discusses the film adaptation of 1973 and continues the Q and A sessions with Maj Sjowall.
Full list of titles available from Harper Perennial so far:
Roseanna
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
The Man on the Balcony
The Laughing Policeman
The Fire Engine that Disappeared (June 2007)
Murder at the Savoy (June 2007)
THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN is the next book in the Harper series, originally from 1968. It opens with Stockholm police stretched to the limits by a series of protests against the war in Vietnam. On a rainy night, at the height of one of the major protests, off in the suburbs of Stockholm a double decker bus veers off the road, the driver and 8 of his passengers gunned down by an unknown killer. The murders seem to be totally motiveless, there doesn't seem to be any connection between any of the people on that bus. One of the passengers is one of Beck's own detectives, dead in his seat, with his service revolver in his hand and no apparent reason for being anywhere near that bus.
Again Sjowall and Wahloo weave an intricate investigation story deftly with a view of the surrounding circumstances of the time - the effect that the protests are having on police resourcing, the tension between Stockholm and more regional areas of Sweden, the tension between the investigating team members, social problems of workers coming to Sweden for a better life and finding a different story. Even Sweden's much commented on sexual freedom and liberation is considered, when the discovery of nude photographs of the dead man's girlfriend are found in his desk.
As expected in any book from this pair of writers, the investigation is deft and very human focused. The book incorporates a range of commentary on a wide range of issues, but there's nothing preachy or pushy - the tone is observational, the issues highlighted as part of the characters reactions and observations.
Each of the Harper Perennial titles incorporates an introduction written by a well known Crime writer of current times - THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN is introduced by Sean and Nicci French, who, highlight a number of the social commentary elements of the book. Whilst the entire introduction is very interesting, one of the most telling comments is right at the end:
"And speaking as another married couple who write thrillers, we don't know which of them wrote what, we can't see the joins, and we don't care".
The PS section in this book continues Richard Shepherd's analysis; briefly discusses the film adaptation of 1973 and continues the Q and A sessions with Maj Sjowall.
Full list of titles available from Harper Perennial so far:
Roseanna
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
The Man on the Balcony
The Laughing Policeman
The Fire Engine that Disappeared (June 2007)
Murder at the Savoy (June 2007)
shepcatzero's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like The Laughing Policeman more than I did, but it was sort of a dumpster fire. It was a slog to begin with, almost willfully dragging out the story without adding any real local color or texture or depth of character — all the cops feel more or less interchangeable, and despite this being billed as "a Martin Beck police mystery," Beck himself seems more like a spectator or supporting character. It's heavy on pointless detail, describing a lot while telling the reader nothing important. The mystery itself is compelling enough; if only the authors and their cops felt any urgency to solve it.
Then I ran into the line, "To use a hackneyed phrase, they were thunderstruck," which is an unforgivable meta-failure in any language.
Sjöwall and Wahlöö also suffer tremendously by theirs being the next book in my queue after an Elmore Leonard novel (Riding the Rap), though virtually any novel suffers as a counterexample of how Dutch never wastes the reader's time.
Then I ran into the line, "To use a hackneyed phrase, they were thunderstruck," which is an unforgivable meta-failure in any language.
Sjöwall and Wahlöö also suffer tremendously by theirs being the next book in my queue after an Elmore Leonard novel (Riding the Rap), though virtually any novel suffers as a counterexample of how Dutch never wastes the reader's time.
tfitoby's review against another edition
4.0
The Story of a Crime Book 4: The One With A Mass Murder, a Cop Killing and Beck Takes a Back Seat
Simenon aside I don't think there are any other crime writers who have managed to capture so much in so few pages, once more Sjowall & Wahloo have written fantastic piece of genre fiction whilst holding a mirror up to society, it's failings and its strengths. Yes it is from their own particular Marxist viewpoint but they are not dogmatic about it.
This case is set in the winter of 1968, Europe is protesting American involvement in Vietnam and authority figures in Stockholm, including the police department of Martin Beck, are finding themselves labelled as the villains of society. Nine people are murdered by a gunman on a bus who then flees the scene of his crime leaving Martin Beck and his homicide department to investigate the death of one of their own team, shot whilst off duty.
The authors seem to be using the weather to set the tone for their novels so far and what is remarkable is that each of them have been unique in approach to storytelling whilst consistently adding something to the body of work as a whole. The meandering daze of The Man Who Went Up In Smoke replaced by an oppressive heatwave leaving everybody on edge throughout The Man On The Balcony and now a long, cold, grey and snowy winter adding to the pervasive mood of depression that falls on the detectives, the case and the novel. The slow, methodical and everyday nature of the investigation is what really shines through in this case and should work as a glowing example of what crime fiction should be.
Martin Beck takes a back seat in this investigation, marshalling his troops to great effect but on the whole adopting a more Socialist approach towards solving the case. This allows us to get to know other members of the team that have only had passing roles in previous cases. Kollberg is the major benefactor from this decision from Sjowall & Wahloo, the recipient of more case time as we meet his wife and child (in direct contrast to Beck's failing private life) and witness his own peculiarities when investigating a crime; it is his hard work and dedication to catching his colleagues murderer that finally pays off and it is his relationship with Martin Beck that seems to be more and more at the heart of these novels.
This one feels like new heights have been reached once more in a series that has gotten consistently better from book one and it's surely not going to be long before a five star reaction is had to one. If you haven't read Sjowall & Wahloo yet I feel you could easily start here but taking the complete journey from start to finish has it's own rewards too.
Part 1: Roseanna
Part 2: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke
Part 3: The Man On The Balcony
Simenon aside I don't think there are any other crime writers who have managed to capture so much in so few pages, once more Sjowall & Wahloo have written fantastic piece of genre fiction whilst holding a mirror up to society, it's failings and its strengths. Yes it is from their own particular Marxist viewpoint but they are not dogmatic about it.
This case is set in the winter of 1968, Europe is protesting American involvement in Vietnam and authority figures in Stockholm, including the police department of Martin Beck, are finding themselves labelled as the villains of society. Nine people are murdered by a gunman on a bus who then flees the scene of his crime leaving Martin Beck and his homicide department to investigate the death of one of their own team, shot whilst off duty.
The authors seem to be using the weather to set the tone for their novels so far and what is remarkable is that each of them have been unique in approach to storytelling whilst consistently adding something to the body of work as a whole. The meandering daze of The Man Who Went Up In Smoke replaced by an oppressive heatwave leaving everybody on edge throughout The Man On The Balcony and now a long, cold, grey and snowy winter adding to the pervasive mood of depression that falls on the detectives, the case and the novel. The slow, methodical and everyday nature of the investigation is what really shines through in this case and should work as a glowing example of what crime fiction should be.
Martin Beck takes a back seat in this investigation, marshalling his troops to great effect but on the whole adopting a more Socialist approach towards solving the case. This allows us to get to know other members of the team that have only had passing roles in previous cases. Kollberg is the major benefactor from this decision from Sjowall & Wahloo, the recipient of more case time as we meet his wife and child (in direct contrast to Beck's failing private life) and witness his own peculiarities when investigating a crime; it is his hard work and dedication to catching his colleagues murderer that finally pays off and it is his relationship with Martin Beck that seems to be more and more at the heart of these novels.
This one feels like new heights have been reached once more in a series that has gotten consistently better from book one and it's surely not going to be long before a five star reaction is had to one. If you haven't read Sjowall & Wahloo yet I feel you could easily start here but taking the complete journey from start to finish has it's own rewards too.
Part 1: Roseanna
Part 2: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke
Part 3: The Man On The Balcony
marcele's review against another edition
3.0
People were right, this one is the best of Martin Beck's books. At least, so far. And, ironically, Beck isn't so present all the time, the investigation was so clearly a group effort. I couldn't ignore, despite its age, the comments on feminine sexuality. "She likes to have sex, so she is definitely a nymphomaniac! If she acts on it, she's a whore." UGH. One less star for this. But the fact they have the answer for the crime right there since the beginning was pretty awesome.
beckybosshart's review against another edition
5.0
This book is fantastic: written in and for the 1970s but speaking to this or any era. This is going to be one of my best books of the year, and I’m not a noir or police procedural fan at all. Once I got into it, I finished it in 2 days:wow. The atmosphere is dark and the story grim, but the dialogue is so funny and the sense of place so strong.
Read for the Sheddunit book club
Read for the Sheddunit book club
rosewise5171964's review against another edition
3.0
I was wowed by Jonathan Franzen's introduction and enthusiasm but it's a little spare for me, not quite my style (makes me think of a Swedish Elmore Leonard - so if you like him, then maybe this is for you!)
tanjis's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
efredricksen's review against another edition
4.0
Squarehead crime fiction. I'll have to read some more from this series. (Thanks, Mom!)