Scan barcode
celtic67's review against another edition
This was a good short read. Having said that as it was written nearly 40 years ago was a bit dated. But that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the read. After all people still enjoy Agatha Christie.
Martin Beck and his squad are to busy in fighting it is any wonder they manage to sove crimes. But they do. It was refreshing to read a book with no internet,Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones etc.
Old school but enjoyable.
Martin Beck and his squad are to busy in fighting it is any wonder they manage to sove crimes. But they do. It was refreshing to read a book with no internet,Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones etc.
Old school but enjoyable.
killstorm's review against another edition
4.0
The fourth book in the ten book "Martin Beck" procedural series about a group of detectives in 1960s Stockholm, Sweden. A case of mass murder becomes interlocked with a cold case in a finely told tale. My favorite so far (I've read four) of the Sjowall and Wahloo series.
emlo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Quite a slow police procedural with a lot of doggedly chasing down clues. It's interesting to get a perspective of the politics and issues of Sweden in the late 60s. I guess the treatment of women in the book is indicative of the time. You can see the influence these books had on later crime fiction.
bookfann's review against another edition
mysterious
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mass/school shootings
littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
A police procedural written in 1970 that surprisingly doesn’t feel that dated. It’s the fourth book in the series so I felt like I may be missing a small bit of history related to the characters but overall it was easy to get into. Quite enjoyed seeing them work through the case and the twists and turns that came along.
kcfromaustcrime'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)
navinvembar's review against another edition
3.0
Quiet and compelling. Fully drawn characters with a nicely cynical attitude towards life.
izmadi's review against another edition
4.0
I've ordered this on impulse, after seeing someone saying it was better than Simisola and I was not disappointed. Halfway through, I realized it was part of a huge series and I felt embarrassed to not have previously heard of it, I will certainly look into the rest of the series and might even check out the live action adaptations.
Personally, the only thing that wasn't my favourite was that most of the solution and investigation revolves around cars and how well people knew them. As this is a topic that has never interested me (I can only differentiate cars by color), I couldn't relate to that part and I felt it was a little too simple to focus so much on one type of clue. I did however like that the solution wasn't easy to figure out for the reader and even towards the end I was still expecting some other unexpected twist to happen right at the very end. And to some extent, it does. I've also loved the chemistry between the characters, though I might have to read more of the series before I can start differentiating them more, they didn't stand out much from each other.
For illustration purposes, here is the song mentioned in the book, the clip even includes the image on the vinyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhDKnRSMAwQ
Personally, the only thing that wasn't my favourite was that most of the solution and investigation revolves around cars and how well people knew them. As this is a topic that has never interested me (I can only differentiate cars by color), I couldn't relate to that part and I felt it was a little too simple to focus so much on one type of clue. I did however like that the solution wasn't easy to figure out for the reader and even towards the end I was still expecting some other unexpected twist to happen right at the very end. And to some extent, it does. I've also loved the chemistry between the characters, though I might have to read more of the series before I can start differentiating them more, they didn't stand out much from each other.
For illustration purposes, here is the song mentioned in the book, the clip even includes the image on the vinyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhDKnRSMAwQ
rocketiza's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked how this wasn't your typical police novel and felt insanely relevant in 2022 with mass shootings and a few times explicitly acknowledged the public has good reason to mistrust cops versus how the genre always paints them as crusading heroes who need to bend the rules to do justice.
michaeldavidsharp's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0