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A review by tfitoby
The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
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