Category Archives: Wahlöö, Per

17/365: The Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

The Fire Engine That DisappearedThe Fire Engine That Disappeared
by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Translated from: Swedish
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Martin Beck #5
Publication Date: January 1, 1969
Genre: mystery: silver age (1950-1979)
Pages: 213
ReRead?: No
Project: Project 365

The lightning-paced fifth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck investigating one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career.The incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building's eleven occupants. And if one of Martin Beck's colleagues hadn't been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe because somehow a regulation fire-truck has vanished. Was it terrorism, suicide, or simply a gas leak? And what if, anything, did the explosion have to do with the peculiar death earlier that day of a 46-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: "Martin Beck"?

This is the 5th book in the Martin Beck series of Swedish police procedurals. I’ve read through book 6, but had skipped this one because it wasn’t available as a digital checkout through one of my library systems. Fortunately, I was able to double back and get it as a print book. There are a total of 10 books in the series, so I am now over the halfway point.

I preferred this entry to the next one, Murder at the Savoy (which I read first), because I felt like the plot was better. These are definitely police procedurals, and they are very old school. They don’t rely on flashy technology or CCTV footage because neither DNA nor ubiquitous surveillance cameras have been invented yet. These are the classic “put on your shoes and knock on doors” procedurals. The crime is solved through solid police work and nothing more.

I get the impression from reading these books that Sweden in the 1960’s was a fairly grim place, and a far cry from the sleek, modern cities (or the picturesque countryside) that I picture when I think of it today. The authors depict it as a rough and tumble working class society, with quite a lot of organized crime and vice.

The series is named for one of the characters, Martin Beck, but it is really an ensemble enterprise, similar to Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series. In this particular installment, Martin Beck does not play a starring role. All of the characters are important and distinct from one another. A solid entry into the series.

1967: The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

The Man on the BalconyThe Man on the Balcony
by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Translated from: Swedish
Rating: ★★★½
Series: Martin Beck #3
Publication Date: January 1, 1967
Genre: mystery: silver age (1950-1979)
Pages: 194
ReRead?: No
Project: a century of crime

The chilling third -- and breakthrough -- novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, finds Martin Beck investigating a string of child murders. With an introduction by Jo Nesbo: "Sjöwall and Wahlöö have shoulders that can accomodate all of today's crime writers. And we are all there."

In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendent, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three year old boy. With the likelihood of another murder growing as each day passes, the police force work night and day. But their efforts have offered little insight into the methodology of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck's mind, and he may just have the break he needs.


This is the third book in the Martin Beck series, which was published in Sweden and translated into English. The fourth book in the series, The Laughing Policeman, won the Edgar Award.

This is a classic police procedural – Martin Beck is all work and no play. It is focuses on Beck, although some of his colleagues have supporting roles, and it’s focused on the hard graft of investigating crime. Beck is a damaged protagonist – his personal life is in shambles, he is pretty much miserable all of the time. The characters feel very real. I’ve known a lot of police officers – I was a prosecutor for over a quarter century – and most fictional police officers feel about as real as the cowboys played by John Wayne in classic Westerns.

These guys, though, they feel real. They can be petty and irritable. They are not larger than life, rather they grind out the day-to-day work of solving crimes. They are manifestly unhandsome, they are of average, or sometimes even below-average, intelligence, they are plodding. They do not have magical powers of insight or understanding and, in fact, sometimes things are basically beating them in the face before they figure out what is going on. But, they figure shit out. That’s how real police work happens. With detectives putting on their shoes and socks and knocking on doors and talking to people.

I used to read a lot more Nordic Noir than I do now – especially Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallender series, and, of course, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. I’m trying to hit crime books that were sort of defining of various aspects of the genre as part of this project, and the Martin Beck series, in many ways, is the source material for all of those authors who came later.

My library has all 10 of the Vintage kindle editions that were re-issued in the 1990’s.