- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; (Reissue) edition (15 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000724293X
- ISBN-13: 978-0007242931
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 169,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Martin Beck series - The Man on the Balcony
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Product Description
Review
‘Authentic seeming, grim, but fascinating.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A well-told, documentary-type tale of how the Stockholm police slog away…There is something of Ed McBain's “87th Precinct” novels about it, but with less of a factory finish.’ Spectator
‘The decalogue about the Swedish Chief Inspector Martin Beck created by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo during the 1960s and 1970s are indeed classic police fiction. They changed the genre. Whoever is writing crime fiction after these novels is inspired by them in one way or another.’ Henning Mankell
‘Their mysteries don’t just read well; they reread even better…The plots hold, because they’re ingenious but never inhuman.’ New York Times
• The Martin Beck series is widely recognised as one of the greatest masterpieces of crime fiction ever written.
• There are 10 novels in the series and they are beautifully packaged – appealing to both new and old fans.
• The books have a massive fan following and have inspired writers from Agatha Christie to Henning Mankell and Graham Greene to Jonathan Franzen.
• Blanket review coverage anticipated across the media.
Product Description
The third thrilling classic instalment in the Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s – the novels that have inspired all crime fiction written ever since.
The Martin Beck series is widely recognised as the greatest masterpiece of crime fiction ever written. These are the original detective stories that pioneered the detective genre and inspired writers from Agatha Christie to Henning Mankell; Graham Greene to Jonathan Franzen. Translated into 35 languages, they have sold over 10 million copies around the world.
Written in the 1960s, they are the work of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo – a husband-and-wife team from Sweden. The ten novels follow the fortunes of the detective Martin Beck, whose enigmatic, taciturn character has inspired countless other policemen in crime fiction. The novels can be read separately, but do follow a chronological order, so the reader can become familiar with the characters and develop a loyalty to the series. Each book will have a new introduction in order to help bring these books to a new audience.
Someone is killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm – killing them after having his own way with them. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won’t say much and a three-year-old boy who can’t say much. The dedicated work of the police seems to be leading nowhere, and with each passing day, the likelihood of another murder grows. But then Beck remembers someone – or something – he overheard.
‘The Man on the Balcony’ balances the most inhuman of crimes with the humanity of the men who must solve it – resulting in a police procedural that is as moving and credible as it is enthralling.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the third in the series, Martin Beck is back on Swedish soil, and has been promoted. Unfortunately, it's not 'peace and love' for Beck and his colleagues Kollberg, Melander, et al. The crimes in this story are grisly, but there's a warmth and intimacy in the book - and the whole series - that is endearing. The story virtually reads itself, and there are (as in all the books) comments of a political and societal nature that were true in 1967 and which still ring true today. Civilisation is in decline in Sweden - and by extension throughout the whole of the western world.
This edition of the series from Harper is very attractively designed, and the letter on the spines spell out the main character's name: MARTIN BECK. This is book R - the third in the series.
This edition of the series from Harper is very attractively designed, and the letter on the spines spell out the main character's name: MARTIN BECK. This is book R - the third in the series.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you are lucky enough to have read any of these books then you know their strength is the way they marry a "police procedural" novel to the driest of wit. Usually in such novels (McBain/Connelly/Cornwell/any other crime series in the last 30 years) you get one, possibly two interesting characters, often with plodding personal issues tacked on (what is it with American detectives that they must have this?) and a load of uninteresting characters there to supply plot detail. In the world of Martin Beck and friends, however, every single policeman or woman is captivating and memorable. You don't want the story to end, simple as that, you want to stay in their company. And the story itself? A killer is attacking children in a city. The cops have nothing, a lead is wasted at the start, and children die. Slowly (and entirely believably) the Police start to track him down. As simple as that. It is plotted with such economy and elegance that, although you and I have read dozens of these, your heart will be in your throat as the end nears. The book was written over 30 years ago but the style, characters and bone-dry black humour make this, and the others, as good as crime novels get. Tell me I'm wrong. Oh, and start worrying about the casting of the inevitable TV series..."Robbie Coletrane IS Martin Beck"...
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was really interested to discover and read this 1960s Scandinavian detective novel by a husband-wife team in the style of Nicci French meets Henning Mankell. A lot of 1960s/70s crime fiction doesn't stand up to modern scrutiny, marred by among other things casual racism and sexism. The Man on the Balcony is a marked exception - and a fascinating one. The authors' biog (which is quite brief) passes an interesting comment - identifying them as lifelong Marxists. An unusual statement in a crime novelists' author blurb - a context which usually tends to more anodyne comments. But it is, I suspect, quite significant.
The Man on the Balcony ticks all the crime/thriller boxes of plot, characterisation and atmosphere, but more interestingly it provides an understated but compelling critique of modern (or at least post-War) society. Throughout the book the reader is made aware of the corrosion eating away at social structures, mores, workplace, family relationships. It is incredibly well done - not an in-your-face lecture, just a gradual accumulation of inference. Like Nicci French, there is no sense of two authorial voices or any division of purpose and it is a very smooth and convincing read. I believe Sjowall and Wahloo wrote 10 novels in the series before Per Wahloo died and the books stopped. There's quite a lot about them on the internet including this Britannica entry, and there is a lot of comment on both their literary and political legacy. I am very excited to have found them by chance and can't wait to get my hands on the other 9 books. They also appear to have influenced some fairly awesome literary luminaries including Grahame Greene and Henning Mankell.
The Man on the Balcony ticks all the crime/thriller boxes of plot, characterisation and atmosphere, but more interestingly it provides an understated but compelling critique of modern (or at least post-War) society. Throughout the book the reader is made aware of the corrosion eating away at social structures, mores, workplace, family relationships. It is incredibly well done - not an in-your-face lecture, just a gradual accumulation of inference. Like Nicci French, there is no sense of two authorial voices or any division of purpose and it is a very smooth and convincing read. I believe Sjowall and Wahloo wrote 10 novels in the series before Per Wahloo died and the books stopped. There's quite a lot about them on the internet including this Britannica entry, and there is a lot of comment on both their literary and political legacy. I am very excited to have found them by chance and can't wait to get my hands on the other 9 books. They also appear to have influenced some fairly awesome literary luminaries including Grahame Greene and Henning Mankell.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Classic police procedural - 4+
Although this crime novel was published for the first time in 1968, it has a timeless quality that makes it read as a contemporary novel. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Blue in Washington
The Ideology Is Showing
This is the third in the series of ten Martin Beck books. The detectives are faced with two problems at once: someone who doesn't hesitate to use violence if it makes his life... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ragnar
The original scandanavians!!
I am re-working my way through the Martin Beck cycle...having only read 2-3 originally years ago. This one(Man on the balcony) did not disappoint... Read more
Published 4 months ago by John S. McDonald
One or two questions
Odd one this.
The usual downbeat atmosphere prevails of course and it's a delight to get inside the heads of these cops who aren't perfect by any means and don't even like... Read more
The usual downbeat atmosphere prevails of course and it's a delight to get inside the heads of these cops who aren't perfect by any means and don't even like... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Gargoyle
Martin Beck Review
One of the best of the series . Contains elements of the keystone cops and a lot of political and social insight into Sweden in the sixties. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ken Jeffrey
Superb outing for Martin Beck in Swedish crime series
THE MAN ON THE BALCONY is the third of Sojwall and Wahloo's ten novels featuring Martin Beck and his Stockholm police colleagues. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Maxine Clarke
There's a killer on the road. His brain is squirming like a toad
Jim Morrison
"The Man on the Balcony" paints another grim picture of life in Sweden as seen through the eyes of Inspector Martin Beck and his colleagues on the Stockholm... Read more
"The Man on the Balcony" paints another grim picture of life in Sweden as seen through the eyes of Inspector Martin Beck and his colleagues on the Stockholm... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Leonard Fleisig
Sterile summer of love
Set in 1967, the contrast is between the 'Summer of Love' and the sleazy underbelly of Stockholm, patrolled by newly promoted Superintendent Beck. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Officer Dibble
Parklife
Of course we`re used to dour, chilly Swedish crime fiction now, but these books by husband & wife Sjowall & Wahloo (apparently they`d write a chapter each, editing each other as... Read more
Published 18 months ago by GlynLuke
Book Three
Alright so the series was slow-going to start with but now I'm on Book Three it's flying. "The Man on the Balcony" is the best yet.... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by P. G. Strachan
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