The Laughing Policeman (The Martin Beck Series) (Paperback)

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• This item: The Laughing Policeman (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall

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• The Fire Engine That Disappeared (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall

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• Murder at the Savoy (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall

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The Man on the Balcony (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.99

The Fire Engine That Disappeared (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.99

Murder at the Savoy (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.99

The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.99

The Abominable Man (The Martin Beck Series) by Maj Sjowall 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.99

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Review
'For Beck, as with Maigret, each investigation is less a riddle to be answered than a human situation to be understood!it's all done with immense accomplishment. A welcome addition to the Martin Beck casebook.' Matthew Coady, Guardian 'If you haven't read Sjowall/Wahloo, start now.' Sunday Telegraph 'I've read "The Laughing Policeman" six or eight times. Each time I reach the final twist on the final page, I shiver afresh.' Jonathan Franzen 'Tantalizing!the splendid story of an apparently motiveless crime.' New York Times Book Review '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. Witness, wife, petty cop or crook -- they're all real characters even if they get just a few sentences. The plots hold, because they're ingenious but never inhuman.' New York Times

Product Description
This is the fantastic fourth 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. On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin. The press, anxious for an explanation for the seemingly random crime, quickly dubs him a madman. But Martin Beck of the Homicide Squad suspects otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck's best detectives - and he, surely, would not have been riding that lethal bus without a reason. With its wonderfully observed lawmen, its brilliantly rendered felons and their murky Stockholm underworld, and its deftly engineered plot, "The Laughing Policeman" has long been recognised as a classic of the police procedural.

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11 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   10 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds, 10 Jan 2007 By  Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       George Santayana On a rainy Stockholm night a gunman opens fire on Stockholm bus, killing eight passengers and critically wounding a ninth. The crime scene is bloody and chaotic. Critical clues may have been destroyed when the first police officers arrive on the scene and trample through the bus. Police Superintendent Martin Beck is placed in charge of the investigation. There appear to be no clues and no apparent motive. His task is the monumental one of taking this chaotic scene and imposing enough order on it so that clues may be found, leads followed, and the criminal or criminals brought to justice. The physical and mental burdens of the job are compounded by emotional burdens once Beck discovers that one of the victims happens to be a detective who worked in Martin Beck's unit. That is the plot that unfolds in the opening pages of Per Wahloo and Maj Sowall's remarkably well-crafted "The Laughing Policeman". The Laughing Policeman, published in Sweden in 1968 and in the U.S. in 1971 (winner of that year's Edgar Award for Best Novel), was the fourth in a series of ten Martin Beck mysteries written by the Swedish, husband and wife team of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. The plot and structure of the four Beck mysteries I've read to date do not deviate from the standard format found in any well-written police procedural. However, what sets the Beck mysteries apart is their location and character development. Naturally enough, each book is a small window into Swedish life and culture in the 1960s and 1970s when the books were written. Further, as the series develops the character of Beck and his colleagues evolve and the reader slowly obtains a real feel for Beck and his fellow police officers. By the fourth book, the personalities of Martin Beck and his police colleagues have developed to the point where the reader almost has an instinct for how each will react to a given situation. At the same time the characters, especially Beck, remain far from predictable. However, they are already fully formed in the authors' minds and for that reason I suggest reading these books in order. I do not think it appropriate to divulge any details about a police procedural such as this so I will leave it to the reader to see how Martin Beck and his crew slowly put together the pieces of the puzzle behind the killings. The authors are quite good at keeping the pot boiling. They don't reveal too much too early and they do not rely on Sherlock Holmes-like deductions to take the place of crafting a story. Additionally, the writing is filled with funny moments and asides. In its own way the Beck mysteries provide a very interesting glimpse into Swedish life and culture in the 1960s and 1970s. In the hands of Wahloo and Sjowall, Beck's conversations are filled with both blunt exchanges and very sly, sardonic comments that kept me chucking throughout. I was also impressed with how the authors have slowly continued to build up their protagonists back stories. By this volume in the series the reader has a pretty good idea as to the home lives and personal idiosyncrasies of all the major characters. They are free from stereotype and make reading the book a more enjoyable experience. The Laughing Policeman was a good read, one of those books that you feel you must finish just one more chapter before heading off to bed or back to work. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Crime fiction at its best, 17 May 2005 By  kimbofo (London, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    This review is from: The Laughing Policeman (Crime Masterworks) (Paperback) Described by many as a "classic of the police procedural", "The Laughing Policeman", by husband-and-wife Scandinavian team Maj Sjöwall and Peter Wahlöö, is a wonderfully realised piece of detective fiction. While written in the late 1960s, the storyline is far from dated. It's a well crafted and exquisitely plotted piece of fiction that had me hooked from the first page. The setting is Stockholm, Sweden. It's a cold, wet November evening and two policemen have just stumbled upon a double-decker bus that has driven off the road. On board are eight people, including an off-duty police officer, who have been gunned down by an unknown assailant. Who was the murderer and what was his motive? Why was the policeman onboard? And did he know the young nurse sitting next to him? The crime - Sweden's first ever mass murder - tests the resolve of all the detectives working on it, including Inspector Martin Beck whom appears in three other novels by the Sjöwall and Wahlöö. I initially found the writing in "The Laughing Policeman" a little disjointed - probably the fault of the translator and not the authors - but once I got used to the style I absolutely loved this book. The humour and the banter between the police working on the case really brought the story alive. And despite the grim subject matter, I found myself chuckling throughout because of the one-liners. This is definitely a classic piece of crime fiction that holds up against the best of its genre today, and I would highly recommend it to anyone after a powerful and intelligent read. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars On the buses, 17 Feb 2007 By  A Reader (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews Book #4, and the loveable pair of Swedish Marxists are on top form with this one; it's a real high point in the series. The procedural aspects are very much to the fore, the wonderful Gunvald Larrson character looks like he's here to stay, and there's a great comedic turn from the Keystone-like Kristiansson and Kvant. Oh, and Kollberg gets kinky. Read it! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 11 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars The last laugh The synopsis has been set out before. This is an ultra lean, economical , short, cogent read. There is barely a wasted word or sentence. It is real without being graphic. Read more Published 1 month ago by Officer Dibble 3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Scandinavian police procedural The Swedish wife-and-husband team of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö skillfully plot the violent murder of a bus-load of passengers and a young up-and-coming police trooper in this... Read more Published 3 months ago by Feanor 5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Scandinavian crime novel A very atmospheric book catching a time (the sixties) and a place (Sweden) which happens to be about crime. Well plotted and a must to read if you are a Mankell fan, don't miss it. Published 4 months ago by McDweeb 5.0 out of 5 stars Very Readable Swedish Crime A very enjoyable read, written in 1968 by a husband and wife team, who together produced this atmospheric detective novel, set mostly in Stockholm Not so much a `who... Read more Published 20 months ago by MeMyself 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent This was the first book I read by this author. Superb to the point I ordered several more titles and have not been disappointed. Published on 9 Feb 2004 1.0 out of 5 stars Dated and stilted After reading other Scandinavian crime writers i was looking forward to this, what a disappointment! Read more Published on 27 Nov 2003 by Tom P 5.0 out of 5 stars A Baltic Maigret - gritty and realistic All the ingredients of a classic crime investigation - intricate plotting, dogged detection, engaging characters and, for once, a satisfying ending. Read more Published on 22 Sep 2003 by M. I. R. Clarke 4.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned and engrossing I have read a few scandinavian detective stories recently which have been translated into english and have enjoyed them all. Read more Published on 6 Jan 2003 by J. Cronin Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 11 customer reviews...

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