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Martin Beck #8
The Locked Room
In one part of town, a woman robs a bank. In another, a corpse is found shot through the heart in a room locked from within, with no firearm in sight. Although the two incidents appear unrelated, Detective Inspector Martin Beck believes otherwise, and solving the mystery acquires the utmost importance.
291 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Maj Sjöwall
105 books457 followersMaj Sjöwall was a Swedish author and translator. She was best known for the collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm. In 1971, the fourth of these books, The Laughing Policeman (a translation of Den skrattande polisen, originally published in 1968) won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel. They also wrote novels separately.
Sjöwall had a 13 year relationship with Wahlöö which lasted until his death in 1975.
Sjöwall had a 13 year relationship with Wahlöö which lasted until his death in 1975.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 354 reviews
November 20, 2024
I could plot out the book and discuss all that action rot, but what really matters in this eighth book in Sjowall and Wahloo’s masterwork can be boiled down to two points: 1. Martin Beck; and 2. the illusions of justice.
1. Martin Beck is in less than half of this eighth book. While his friends and colleagues are seconded to the Robbery department trying to solve a murder in a recent bank robbery, and to end a seemingly linked rash of bank robberies entirely, Beck has been handed a case (sort of an act of rehabilitation to ease him back into service after his recovery from a bullet to the chest) of apparent suicide, which turns out to be a classic "locked room" murder. When Beck is around, though, boy does he tower over the story. His quiet investigation is the one that matters; his scrupulous and plodding methodology is the effective methodology; his conscience is the moral core of the series; his love for Rhea Nielson (a lefty landlord he bumps into during his investigation) is a necessary lesson about the characters we’ve come to love in the series, and not just Beck, of whom we learn the most, but even those men who never meet Rhea. is Beck’s tale, even when he’s off-page, and Beck’s denouement (because it is all his) is as satisfying for us as it is frustrating.
2. The illusions of justice loom even larger over the story than Martin Beck. I can’t help feeling that Sjowall and Wahloo don’t believe that justice is something we should aspire to let alone something that is even possible. Not that they come out and say that. But they ask questions and leave them unanswered, making us do the work: is it just for a man to be imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit while being simultaneously acquitted for a crime he did commit? Does the success of one false conviction make up for the failure of what could have been a genuine conviction? Is it just for the perpetrator of one of the killings to go free due to her social standing and circumstances? Is the manipulation of data a just way to expand power? Is a class based society inherently unjust? Is it just to control a person? To impede a person? To listen to one person over another? To judge a person? To have one's own perspective? Is perspective inherently unjust? As I have said, they don't even try to answer these questions. They want us to think about the answers for ourselves, and I adore them for that.
This series is better with each installment, and I am increasingly convinced that this is detective fiction of truly literary calibre. Usually I wouldn't want a series of this quality to end, but this time I want to finish it as soon as possible so I can continue the reread I've already begun. It's THAT good.
Later -- I am now on my third read (listen) through of this series and I feel compelled to add a third reason why The Locked Room is such a wonderful instalment.
3. This is the moment when the long game Sjowall and Wahloo were playing becomes impossible to ignore. From the first moment in Roseanna to the last moment in The Terrorists, Sjowall and Wahloo were weaving a Sweden wherein all the lives that touched each other set off reverberations that would last years. Their books span a decade and decisions made eight years before -- or even twenty years before (at a time long before the books began their record) -- have consequences in The Locked Room. One of the things many people love about Harry Potter is the complexity of its intersections -- I think Sjowall and Wahloo have Ms. Rowling beat.
1. Martin Beck is in less than half of this eighth book. While his friends and colleagues are seconded to the Robbery department trying to solve a murder in a recent bank robbery, and to end a seemingly linked rash of bank robberies entirely, Beck has been handed a case (sort of an act of rehabilitation to ease him back into service after his recovery from a bullet to the chest) of apparent suicide, which turns out to be a classic "locked room" murder. When Beck is around, though, boy does he tower over the story. His quiet investigation is the one that matters; his scrupulous and plodding methodology is the effective methodology; his conscience is the moral core of the series; his love for Rhea Nielson (a lefty landlord he bumps into during his investigation) is a necessary lesson about the characters we’ve come to love in the series, and not just Beck, of whom we learn the most, but even those men who never meet Rhea. is Beck’s tale, even when he’s off-page, and Beck’s denouement (because it is all his) is as satisfying for us as it is frustrating.
2. The illusions of justice loom even larger over the story than Martin Beck. I can’t help feeling that Sjowall and Wahloo don’t believe that justice is something we should aspire to let alone something that is even possible. Not that they come out and say that. But they ask questions and leave them unanswered, making us do the work: is it just for a man to be imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit while being simultaneously acquitted for a crime he did commit? Does the success of one false conviction make up for the failure of what could have been a genuine conviction? Is it just for the perpetrator of one of the killings to go free due to her social standing and circumstances? Is the manipulation of data a just way to expand power? Is a class based society inherently unjust? Is it just to control a person? To impede a person? To listen to one person over another? To judge a person? To have one's own perspective? Is perspective inherently unjust? As I have said, they don't even try to answer these questions. They want us to think about the answers for ourselves, and I adore them for that.
This series is better with each installment, and I am increasingly convinced that this is detective fiction of truly literary calibre. Usually I wouldn't want a series of this quality to end, but this time I want to finish it as soon as possible so I can continue the reread I've already begun. It's THAT good.
Later -- I am now on my third read (listen) through of this series and I feel compelled to add a third reason why The Locked Room is such a wonderful instalment.
3. This is the moment when the long game Sjowall and Wahloo were playing becomes impossible to ignore. From the first moment in Roseanna to the last moment in The Terrorists, Sjowall and Wahloo were weaving a Sweden wherein all the lives that touched each other set off reverberations that would last years. Their books span a decade and decisions made eight years before -- or even twenty years before (at a time long before the books began their record) -- have consequences in The Locked Room. One of the things many people love about Harry Potter is the complexity of its intersections -- I think Sjowall and Wahloo have Ms. Rowling beat.
April 7, 2022
The Locked Room, Martin Beck #8 in the Majo Sjowall and Per Wahloo mystery series, reveals a bit of sense of humor in its self conscious focus on a sub-genre, a “locked room” mystery, associated originally with Agatha Christie. Beck himself does not read detective stories, but several people around him do, and they all recognize the death of an older man in a locked room as a familiar mystery trope.
So there’s two crimes in the book, that only Beck thinks are related, for no obvious reason. A woman robs a bank and kills a man in the process, and an old man is killed in a locked room, which everyone initially assumes is suicide, but where is the murder weapon? Beck sees that mistakes were made in the early investigation of both crimes because of early too-quick assumptions.
In recent books we have gotten a little back story on Beck’s team as people, and regarding Beck himself we now see he is divorced, forging a relationship with his adult daughter, and maybe strating a new relationship? Is he happier? Well, he smiles once a while! Oh, and of course Beck recovers from his traumatic rifle wound at the hands of The Abominable Man (#6). He’s back at work, mostly lonely, driven.
The solution of the crime in this one features Beck as almost Poirot-like in revealing to a suspect that he knows more about the scene and the suspect than anyone could have imagined. And there is a twisting set of surprises in the resolution that are engaging. Satisfying, clever. I thought there were several nods in this one to Christie and Poirot, since Beck is usually not the central figure in solving the crimes. In the Beck stories, it is a team approach. But I like the centrality of Beck in this one, and his humanity: he connects with Rhea, a landlady, who helps him with the crimes, reaches out to connect with him. Possible love connections.
What else is remarkable about this entry? It’s the most consciously leftist critique of Swedish society, with increased crime, higher suicide rate, dugs, prostitution increasing, police corruption, issues with injustice. I like the introduction by mystery great Michael Connelly, paying his respects to his predecessors.
So there’s two crimes in the book, that only Beck thinks are related, for no obvious reason. A woman robs a bank and kills a man in the process, and an old man is killed in a locked room, which everyone initially assumes is suicide, but where is the murder weapon? Beck sees that mistakes were made in the early investigation of both crimes because of early too-quick assumptions.
In recent books we have gotten a little back story on Beck’s team as people, and regarding Beck himself we now see he is divorced, forging a relationship with his adult daughter, and maybe strating a new relationship? Is he happier? Well, he smiles once a while! Oh, and of course Beck recovers from his traumatic rifle wound at the hands of The Abominable Man (#6). He’s back at work, mostly lonely, driven.
The solution of the crime in this one features Beck as almost Poirot-like in revealing to a suspect that he knows more about the scene and the suspect than anyone could have imagined. And there is a twisting set of surprises in the resolution that are engaging. Satisfying, clever. I thought there were several nods in this one to Christie and Poirot, since Beck is usually not the central figure in solving the crimes. In the Beck stories, it is a team approach. But I like the centrality of Beck in this one, and his humanity: he connects with Rhea, a landlady, who helps him with the crimes, reaches out to connect with him. Possible love connections.
What else is remarkable about this entry? It’s the most consciously leftist critique of Swedish society, with increased crime, higher suicide rate, dugs, prostitution increasing, police corruption, issues with injustice. I like the introduction by mystery great Michael Connelly, paying his respects to his predecessors.
April 7, 2022
The Story of Crime can be read out of order. Crime is an ongoing process, it started with Cain and Abel and will continue for a long time into the future. Likewise, Martin Beck started his police career many years before Roseanna, and will probably continue after the tenth book, if the authors don't plan to kill him off. Each novel is focused on one particular case, and there is no need to be familiar with the previous ones. But Sjowall and Wahloo did have the whole thing planned in advance and there is a bigger picture to be revealed at the end of the series. It has less to do with individual characters and their personal development, although Beck goes through some family troubles from one novel to another, and more with the general sickness of the Swedish society, with the roots of evil as the leftist authors saw it, with the social and moral conditions that facilitate crime and the incapacity of the government structures to deal with the problem.
Michael Connelly is spot on in his introduction to this eight book and what it meant for him in his formative years as a crime writer:
... there were no better teachers when it came to showing how the detective story could rise above mere entertainment to the point of holding a mirror up to ourselves and the societies we build.
He also points out, and I agree with him on this, that the present novel is one of the funniest in the whole series. A particularly bleak and bitter sort of humour, but it did manage to make me laugh out loud more than once. The source of this humour is more often than not police incompetence, a series of bumbling mistakes and pratfalls worthy of the Keystone cops, but the initial chuckles turn to anger after awhile, an effect that I am sure is deliberate. So while I laughed at a roomful of brass watching a security camera movie with an unexpected protagonist, or at the unusual shopping list for a bank robbery ( One dozen pairs of briefs, fifteen pairs of nylon socks, six fishnet vests, a pound of black caviar, four Donald Duck rubber masks, two packets of of nine-millimetre automatic ammunition, six pairs of rubber gloves, preserved Appenzeller cheese, one jar of cocktail onions, cotton wool, one astrolabe ... ), I found little to admire in the display of blind self-promotion or sheer stupidity that resulted in
In a film, maybe, there's something comic about tumbling out of a widow and dangling five storeys above the ground. In reality there certainly isn't. Torn hands and clothes aren't particularly funny either.
As I started to say earlier, the story is multi-layered (the criminal, the individual, the social, the political), and apparently disjointed, but it all comes together to an elegant and logical conclusion.First there's the actual mystery of the locked room, one of the very first themes used in detective novels when the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Hercules Poirot were able to unlock the puzzle by logical deductions helped along by pipe smoke. Martin Beck is cut from a different cloth:
The Sward story was odder and not really reminiscent of any case Martin Beck had ever handled. This should have been stimulating, but he had no personal interest in enigmas and did not feel stimulated at all.
Beck knows that the majority of crimes remain unsolved, but this is his job and he will see it through, even if he takes no pleasure or satisfaction from it. A man is found dead in his apartment in an advanced state of decomposition. The door and all the windows are locked, so the case is initially dismissed as a suicide, without a thorough investigation of the crime scene. Beck is given the file when he comes back to work after a long convalescence, but nobody expects him to get far.
The second layer is another crime, a bank robbery that ends with a foolish bystander shot dead. Several members of Beck's team are assigned to this second case. This plot line is presented in alternate viewpoints between the police and a criminal gang, and appears unconnected to the locked room murder.
As a police procedural novel, the tension is produced by the contrast between Beck's professionalism and patient accumulation of clues and the gung-ho, guns blazing approach of the other task force who jumps to action based on feeble leads and wrong assumptions. The class system and prejudices also come into play, as the locked room case is initially ignored because the victim was poor and without connections.
Sjowall and Wahloo built their reputation not only on clever plots and biting satire, but also on strong characterization, and the present novel is no exception. Martin Beck plays a much more active role here than in the last three books, he struggles with physical and mental trauma after injuries sustained in the line of duty, and with loneliness and disillusionment at home. There is though a ray of hope for him, as he gets acquainted with a woman as vibrant and full of life as he is melancholic and introverted. Their chapters together mark an unusual positive and hopeful outlook for a series generally known for its downbeat and cynical tone.
Many of his team members are familiar to me from previous books, so instead of talking about them I would like to look closer at the criminal elements. The shift of blame from the individual to the social is evident for me here, as the line of demarcation between the good guys and the bad guys is completely erased. The first bank robber is shown to be a victim of domestic abuse and exploitative labour market. The other professional gangsters are unexpectedly portrayed as smart and interesting and fun to be around. Most of the blame is laid at the door of the police - poor recruiting criteria, poor training, lack of motivation, inept leadership, political meddling. The novel was published in 1972, but a couple of quotes will maybe help you see how significant the issues remain today. The first is about militarization of police:
All of a sudden, situations that formerly could have been cleared up by a single man equipped with a lead pencil and a pinch of common sense required a busload of police officers equipped with automatics and bullet-proof vests.
The long term result, however, was something no one had quite foreseen. Violence breeds not only antipathy and hatred but also insecurity and fear.
The second is about mass surveillance:
When the political police had been forbidden to bug people's telephones, the theorists of the National Police Board had hastened to their aid. Through scare propaganda and gross exaggeration Parliament had been prevailed on to pass a law permitting phones to be bugged in the struggle against drugs. Whereupon the anticommunists had calmly continued their eavesdropping, and the drug trade had flourished like never before.
The ending is a giant mockery of the idea of justice, a continuation of the black-and-white reversal and the most acid bout of mirth since "The Laughing Policeman". So much effort and resources and time have been spent for so little return that you can only shrug your shoulders and go get drunk in some quiet place while society stubbornly heads down a highway to Hell. You start to understand why Beck is always depressed.
I am though an incurable optimist, and maybe the next book will show me not only the woes of our time, but also some solution.
Michael Connelly is spot on in his introduction to this eight book and what it meant for him in his formative years as a crime writer:
... there were no better teachers when it came to showing how the detective story could rise above mere entertainment to the point of holding a mirror up to ourselves and the societies we build.
He also points out, and I agree with him on this, that the present novel is one of the funniest in the whole series. A particularly bleak and bitter sort of humour, but it did manage to make me laugh out loud more than once. The source of this humour is more often than not police incompetence, a series of bumbling mistakes and pratfalls worthy of the Keystone cops, but the initial chuckles turn to anger after awhile, an effect that I am sure is deliberate. So while I laughed at a roomful of brass watching a security camera movie with an unexpected protagonist, or at the unusual shopping list for a bank robbery ( One dozen pairs of briefs, fifteen pairs of nylon socks, six fishnet vests, a pound of black caviar, four Donald Duck rubber masks, two packets of of nine-millimetre automatic ammunition, six pairs of rubber gloves, preserved Appenzeller cheese, one jar of cocktail onions, cotton wool, one astrolabe ... ), I found little to admire in the display of blind self-promotion or sheer stupidity that resulted in
In a film, maybe, there's something comic about tumbling out of a widow and dangling five storeys above the ground. In reality there certainly isn't. Torn hands and clothes aren't particularly funny either.
As I started to say earlier, the story is multi-layered (the criminal, the individual, the social, the political), and apparently disjointed, but it all comes together to an elegant and logical conclusion.First there's the actual mystery of the locked room, one of the very first themes used in detective novels when the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Hercules Poirot were able to unlock the puzzle by logical deductions helped along by pipe smoke. Martin Beck is cut from a different cloth:
The Sward story was odder and not really reminiscent of any case Martin Beck had ever handled. This should have been stimulating, but he had no personal interest in enigmas and did not feel stimulated at all.
Beck knows that the majority of crimes remain unsolved, but this is his job and he will see it through, even if he takes no pleasure or satisfaction from it. A man is found dead in his apartment in an advanced state of decomposition. The door and all the windows are locked, so the case is initially dismissed as a suicide, without a thorough investigation of the crime scene. Beck is given the file when he comes back to work after a long convalescence, but nobody expects him to get far.
The second layer is another crime, a bank robbery that ends with a foolish bystander shot dead. Several members of Beck's team are assigned to this second case. This plot line is presented in alternate viewpoints between the police and a criminal gang, and appears unconnected to the locked room murder.
As a police procedural novel, the tension is produced by the contrast between Beck's professionalism and patient accumulation of clues and the gung-ho, guns blazing approach of the other task force who jumps to action based on feeble leads and wrong assumptions. The class system and prejudices also come into play, as the locked room case is initially ignored because the victim was poor and without connections.
Sjowall and Wahloo built their reputation not only on clever plots and biting satire, but also on strong characterization, and the present novel is no exception. Martin Beck plays a much more active role here than in the last three books, he struggles with physical and mental trauma after injuries sustained in the line of duty, and with loneliness and disillusionment at home. There is though a ray of hope for him, as he gets acquainted with a woman as vibrant and full of life as he is melancholic and introverted. Their chapters together mark an unusual positive and hopeful outlook for a series generally known for its downbeat and cynical tone.
Many of his team members are familiar to me from previous books, so instead of talking about them I would like to look closer at the criminal elements. The shift of blame from the individual to the social is evident for me here, as the line of demarcation between the good guys and the bad guys is completely erased. The first bank robber is shown to be a victim of domestic abuse and exploitative labour market. The other professional gangsters are unexpectedly portrayed as smart and interesting and fun to be around. Most of the blame is laid at the door of the police - poor recruiting criteria, poor training, lack of motivation, inept leadership, political meddling. The novel was published in 1972, but a couple of quotes will maybe help you see how significant the issues remain today. The first is about militarization of police:
All of a sudden, situations that formerly could have been cleared up by a single man equipped with a lead pencil and a pinch of common sense required a busload of police officers equipped with automatics and bullet-proof vests.
The long term result, however, was something no one had quite foreseen. Violence breeds not only antipathy and hatred but also insecurity and fear.
The second is about mass surveillance:
When the political police had been forbidden to bug people's telephones, the theorists of the National Police Board had hastened to their aid. Through scare propaganda and gross exaggeration Parliament had been prevailed on to pass a law permitting phones to be bugged in the struggle against drugs. Whereupon the anticommunists had calmly continued their eavesdropping, and the drug trade had flourished like never before.
The ending is a giant mockery of the idea of justice, a continuation of the black-and-white reversal and the most acid bout of mirth since "The Laughing Policeman". So much effort and resources and time have been spent for so little return that you can only shrug your shoulders and go get drunk in some quiet place while society stubbornly heads down a highway to Hell. You start to understand why Beck is always depressed.
I am though an incurable optimist, and maybe the next book will show me not only the woes of our time, but also some solution.
April 10, 2021
This is the final one in the series for me. I had already listened to all the others in audiobook form. However, this one was only available as a paperback book in my library system. On my to-read list since April 2014, it was time to bit the bullet and read it!
I marvel that this series was written by partners Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahloo. I can't imagine setting out to write a book with my partner, but maybe I lack imagination!
I love the humanity of the character of Martin Beck and his sensitivity. He is doggedly determined to discover the cause of death and not willing to take the easy route.
My favorite passage illustrates the lovely simplicity of an ordinary meal turned into something more meaningful with undercurrents of romance:
"You want to stay," she said to Martin Beck. "So, stay."
"No. I'm off now. Thanks for the tea, sandwiches, and wine."
He saw that for a moment she was thinking of exerting some kind of influence over him, presumably using the spaghetti [homemade spaghetti bolognese] as a lever. [.....] He was in a more cheerful mood than he'd been in for a long time, a very long time; though as yet he was not conscious of it."
It was a satisfying ending. There will be no more entries in this series and I am glad to have completed the circle and read all the volumes.
I marvel that this series was written by partners Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahloo. I can't imagine setting out to write a book with my partner, but maybe I lack imagination!
I love the humanity of the character of Martin Beck and his sensitivity. He is doggedly determined to discover the cause of death and not willing to take the easy route.
My favorite passage illustrates the lovely simplicity of an ordinary meal turned into something more meaningful with undercurrents of romance:
"You want to stay," she said to Martin Beck. "So, stay."
"No. I'm off now. Thanks for the tea, sandwiches, and wine."
He saw that for a moment she was thinking of exerting some kind of influence over him, presumably using the spaghetti [homemade spaghetti bolognese] as a lever. [.....] He was in a more cheerful mood than he'd been in for a long time, a very long time; though as yet he was not conscious of it."
It was a satisfying ending. There will be no more entries in this series and I am glad to have completed the circle and read all the volumes.
June 3, 2014
Martin Beck returns to work for the first time in fifteen months since getting shot in the line of duty, in his absence a spate of bank robberies have captured the public imagination and the focus of the abominable National Police Commissioner causing half of his team seem to be seconded to the Bank Robbery Squad and somewhere across town a pensioner is found murdered in his apartment, all doors and windows locked from the inside. The mystery unfolds against the backdrop of Sjowall & Wahloo's decaying Sweden, poisoned by the failures of "The Third Way" and a militarised police force, whilst Martin Beck's psychological recovery starts to take place, not just from getting shot but from a lifetime of being a lonely, melancholy policeman.
It's been said from the beginning of the remarkable "Story of a Crime" sequence of books featuring Martin Beck and his colleagues in the Stockholm Police Force that Sjowall & Wahloo were using the traits of the police procedural and the detective novel to critique the problems within in Swedish society in the late 60s but it is here within the boundaries of a truly classic mystery plot that they raise the commentary above the general hubbub of background noise and plant it front and centre. Yet with Martin Beck as protagonist and the general sense of melancholy and despair that surrounds him from day one it feels completely natural, almost like the impending sense of doom experienced in an apocalyptic novel as the world prepares to come crashing down around our heroes.
The Locked Room might just be the best entry in the series yet, with two intriguing mysteries intricately plotted and some wonderful observations of the effect the job can have on the man and how even small changes in attitudes of society can dramatically change the nature of the job, plus one of the most memorable police raids I've ever witnessed. Powerful stuff from "just a crime novel."
It's been said from the beginning of the remarkable "Story of a Crime" sequence of books featuring Martin Beck and his colleagues in the Stockholm Police Force that Sjowall & Wahloo were using the traits of the police procedural and the detective novel to critique the problems within in Swedish society in the late 60s but it is here within the boundaries of a truly classic mystery plot that they raise the commentary above the general hubbub of background noise and plant it front and centre. Yet with Martin Beck as protagonist and the general sense of melancholy and despair that surrounds him from day one it feels completely natural, almost like the impending sense of doom experienced in an apocalyptic novel as the world prepares to come crashing down around our heroes.
The Locked Room might just be the best entry in the series yet, with two intriguing mysteries intricately plotted and some wonderful observations of the effect the job can have on the man and how even small changes in attitudes of society can dramatically change the nature of the job, plus one of the most memorable police raids I've ever witnessed. Powerful stuff from "just a crime novel."
April 30, 2018
A man is shot in a bank raid.
A man is found in a room which has been locked from the inside. He has been dead for two months. Shot. But no gun in the room, so not a suicide. But how did the murderer get out?
Beck is back after sick leave - having himself been shot recently. He struggles to get back into the swing of policing, but doggedly pursues clues to the end. He has stopped smoking - reducing the ratio of adult smokers in the book to around 90%, a low for the series. There is a hint of a new love interest.
The lefty politics in this book have been turned up a notch compared to the earlier books. Though a card carrying liberal (I read the Guardian, me) I found this a touch irritating. Lots of right on comments about the Govt failing the people and favouring bankers instead. Plus ca change. Vietnam protests are gathering pace and the cops seem more interested in cracking open student heads than catching criminals.
One element I did really like. There is a fantastic passage about a botched police raid that is straight out of Keystone Cops. Comic genius.
Overall I found this less satisfying than the other books. Nonetheless they had set the bar high so this is still a good read.
Soundtrack - harmony in my head
The Clash - "White riot", "Police and thieves", "Bankrobber"
The Beat - "Stand down Margaret"
The Pogues - "The old main drag", "Birmingham six"
Tom Robinson - "Up against the wall" - perhaps "Martin" too
Bill Bragg - "Between the wars"
The Laurel and Hardy theme tune - when I used to go to football matches, we would sing this to the police, implying that they were less than competent. The wit of the crowd - we were full of it.
A man is found in a room which has been locked from the inside. He has been dead for two months. Shot. But no gun in the room, so not a suicide. But how did the murderer get out?
Beck is back after sick leave - having himself been shot recently. He struggles to get back into the swing of policing, but doggedly pursues clues to the end. He has stopped smoking - reducing the ratio of adult smokers in the book to around 90%, a low for the series. There is a hint of a new love interest.
The lefty politics in this book have been turned up a notch compared to the earlier books. Though a card carrying liberal (I read the Guardian, me) I found this a touch irritating. Lots of right on comments about the Govt failing the people and favouring bankers instead. Plus ca change. Vietnam protests are gathering pace and the cops seem more interested in cracking open student heads than catching criminals.
One element I did really like. There is a fantastic passage about a botched police raid that is straight out of Keystone Cops. Comic genius.
Overall I found this less satisfying than the other books. Nonetheless they had set the bar high so this is still a good read.
Soundtrack - harmony in my head
The Clash - "White riot", "Police and thieves", "Bankrobber"
The Beat - "Stand down Margaret"
The Pogues - "The old main drag", "Birmingham six"
Tom Robinson - "Up against the wall" - perhaps "Martin" too
Bill Bragg - "Between the wars"
The Laurel and Hardy theme tune - when I used to go to football matches, we would sing this to the police, implying that they were less than competent. The wit of the crowd - we were full of it.
June 7, 2014
This is a little hard to rate. In some ways - quite a few, in fact -- this is their (Sjöwall and Wahlöö's) most accomplished book. The characterization is rich. But there were certain elements of the plot that I didn't like. For the longest time, for example, I thought that the whole section of the bank business was a false lead, which it is not.
So..., 4- stars. A somewhat ironic rating decision, I realize... penalizing the book for being *more* tightly plotted than it seemed to be. But the *seeming* itself counts for something, too, I suppose.
So..., 4- stars. A somewhat ironic rating decision, I realize... penalizing the book for being *more* tightly plotted than it seemed to be. But the *seeming* itself counts for something, too, I suppose.
July 23, 2015
Of the two Martin Beck novels I’ve now read, I far preferred ‘The Laughing Policeman’. This volume, despite the classic but still intriguing premise, is just too slight a tale with far too much inconsequential padding.
The title of course says it all. This is the traditional story of a man found murdered in a room which no one could have got into or out of – so what the hell happened? It’s up to Martin Beck to find out. Unfortunately Sjőwall and Wahlőő are unable to make this tale fill an entire book. and so throw in a bank robbery plot as well. However the bank robbery is not investigated by Beck, and the team charged with tracking down the robbers is a little too Keystone Kops to fit in with your standard Scandinavian crime fiction. About half this novel is Beck, while the rest is a waste of time.
Still it’s an interesting snapshot of Swedish – and indeed Western – society in the early Seventies. There’s Vietnam protests, citizens believing that all police are fascists and a very free and easy view to sex and relationships. And at the centre of it all is Martin Beck, a tired and intriguing figure who I just wish had been given more to do.
The title of course says it all. This is the traditional story of a man found murdered in a room which no one could have got into or out of – so what the hell happened? It’s up to Martin Beck to find out. Unfortunately Sjőwall and Wahlőő are unable to make this tale fill an entire book. and so throw in a bank robbery plot as well. However the bank robbery is not investigated by Beck, and the team charged with tracking down the robbers is a little too Keystone Kops to fit in with your standard Scandinavian crime fiction. About half this novel is Beck, while the rest is a waste of time.
Still it’s an interesting snapshot of Swedish – and indeed Western – society in the early Seventies. There’s Vietnam protests, citizens believing that all police are fascists and a very free and easy view to sex and relationships. And at the centre of it all is Martin Beck, a tired and intriguing figure who I just wish had been given more to do.
October 23, 2021
This is classic Scandinavian thriller material of the seventies of the last century. And as for the quality of writing it is very good and the mystery is good.
Martin Beck returns from being shot 15 months ago to active duty. He gets an easy job like solving a locked room mystery and takes his time for it.
The other story line involves bank robbery and the policemen involved trying to nab some robbers and their helpers, which proves to be more difficult as previously thought.
The bankrobber storyline starts with a robbery with a deadly ending and does make for some interesting reading. In the end not everything in this book turns out to be as straightforward as you’d expect.
Classic Scandinavian thriller and still excellent reading
Martin Beck returns from being shot 15 months ago to active duty. He gets an easy job like solving a locked room mystery and takes his time for it.
The other story line involves bank robbery and the policemen involved trying to nab some robbers and their helpers, which proves to be more difficult as previously thought.
The bankrobber storyline starts with a robbery with a deadly ending and does make for some interesting reading. In the end not everything in this book turns out to be as straightforward as you’d expect.
Classic Scandinavian thriller and still excellent reading
September 7, 2024
Update, September 2024, to my review below from March 2018: I’ve just re-read this, starting this afternoon after going on our local vigil, and having a quick lunch, and once again, I’ve read the whole book before bedtime! Only Beck novels do this to me! 🤪🤣
I literally could not put this book down, except for cleaning the bathroom and making our evening meal, I have read it all day! We have the last two on the bookshelf but I'd better delay reading them or I'll be reading all day tomorrow too!! Talk about a page-turner!
I literally could not put this book down, except for cleaning the bathroom and making our evening meal, I have read it all day! We have the last two on the bookshelf but I'd better delay reading them or I'll be reading all day tomorrow too!! Talk about a page-turner!
January 8, 2015
More than a year after the events of The Abominable Man, Martin Beck is recuperating from the gunshot wound which nearly killed him. The novel's title (the classic detective trope of the "locked room") refers to Beck's first case upon returning to work, a suspected suicide who has died from a gunshot to the heart. The only problem is that no weapon was found on the body or in the room and all the doors and windows were locked from the inside. Beck has to revisit a badly botched investigation in order to make sense of the seemingly impossible.
Coupled with this narrative is a storyline revolving around what appears to be an unrelated series of bank robberies, the stopping and solving of which has become something of an obsession for District Attorney Sten "Bulldozer" Olssen and the special squad he (somewhat overenthusiastically) leads.
The social commentary is more strident than it has been before in the series, but I never found it irritating or overwhelming. To my mind, the authors have built up more than enough trust and their humane social vision and critique has been an ever-present feature of the series. The cynical observations of the omniscient narrator fit neatly and naturally in these stories in which personal crimes and the response of the state are firmly located in their social and political context.
The small-scale counterpoint to an unfeeling society and a power-obsessed state apparatus is the beautifully realised character of Rhea Nielson, an unconventional landlord whose warmth and honesty opens up a new emotional landscape for Martin Beck. There is a lovely lightness and liberation to this slowly developing relationship that clearly marks a turning point in Beck's personal life.
The Locked Room is probably also the self-consciously funniest of the series so far. There has been a real undercurrent of humour (often fairly dark) in many of the other novels, but I laughed out loud at several moments while reading this one. Obviously, Sjöwall and Wahlöö are having fun with the "locked room" conceit (which is fairly playfully solved), but there's a real bubbling of comedy here. the bull-at-a-gate approach of Olssen's special squad is a source of some (nearly fatal) keystone cops style slapstick, and serves as a marked contrast to Beck's painstaking and methodical approach to police work. Ironic inversions abound, and even Kafkaesque bureaucratic absurdity that both collars a criminal and ensures that Martin Beck, much to his relief, is not promoted to Commissioner.
Coupled with this narrative is a storyline revolving around what appears to be an unrelated series of bank robberies, the stopping and solving of which has become something of an obsession for District Attorney Sten "Bulldozer" Olssen and the special squad he (somewhat overenthusiastically) leads.
The social commentary is more strident than it has been before in the series, but I never found it irritating or overwhelming. To my mind, the authors have built up more than enough trust and their humane social vision and critique has been an ever-present feature of the series. The cynical observations of the omniscient narrator fit neatly and naturally in these stories in which personal crimes and the response of the state are firmly located in their social and political context.
For the fact of the matter is that the so-called Welfare State abounds with sick, poor, and lonely people, living at best on dog food, who are left uncared for until they waste away and die in their rat-hole tenements. No, this was nothing for the public. Hardly even for the police.
The small-scale counterpoint to an unfeeling society and a power-obsessed state apparatus is the beautifully realised character of Rhea Nielson, an unconventional landlord whose warmth and honesty opens up a new emotional landscape for Martin Beck. There is a lovely lightness and liberation to this slowly developing relationship that clearly marks a turning point in Beck's personal life.
The Locked Room is probably also the self-consciously funniest of the series so far. There has been a real undercurrent of humour (often fairly dark) in many of the other novels, but I laughed out loud at several moments while reading this one. Obviously, Sjöwall and Wahlöö are having fun with the "locked room" conceit (which is fairly playfully solved), but there's a real bubbling of comedy here. the bull-at-a-gate approach of Olssen's special squad is a source of some (nearly fatal) keystone cops style slapstick, and serves as a marked contrast to Beck's painstaking and methodical approach to police work. Ironic inversions abound, and even Kafkaesque bureaucratic absurdity that both collars a criminal and ensures that Martin Beck, much to his relief, is not promoted to Commissioner.
February 12, 2014
So: the famous Martin Beck series.
Hmm. Well, I must say it starts well, and when Beck himself's on stage, especially when he's actually doing something, this hums along quite nicely.
The problem with the book, though, is that it's far too often used as a soap box for pseudo-political passages on, say, the Swedish welfare system, problems facing police recruitment, etc. etc.
And the heavy-handed keystone kops style humour in places, while not unamusing, might find a more comfortable home in another novel.
Perhaps a function of the famed dual-authorship of this series? Whatever the reason, before long I found myself plodding, then skimming, then abandoning. A shame: I expected better. Is there a particularly good one I should have started with?
Hmm. Well, I must say it starts well, and when Beck himself's on stage, especially when he's actually doing something, this hums along quite nicely.
The problem with the book, though, is that it's far too often used as a soap box for pseudo-political passages on, say, the Swedish welfare system, problems facing police recruitment, etc. etc.
And the heavy-handed keystone kops style humour in places, while not unamusing, might find a more comfortable home in another novel.
Perhaps a function of the famed dual-authorship of this series? Whatever the reason, before long I found myself plodding, then skimming, then abandoning. A shame: I expected better. Is there a particularly good one I should have started with?
January 15, 2024
Points deducted for S&W's social criticism. Not because I disagree with it, but because of the way they (don't) weave it into their story here. Blunt, preachy and pushy. It's just annoying. Not annoying; Beck and his crew. Always nice hanging out with these guys. They once again face cases that are not as straightforward as they appear to be. This one has a bit of gangster flavour as well, with ambitious baddies planning one of those career-ending heists. Enjoyable, but the aforementioned noise makes this the weakest entry in the series (for now) for me. MVP? Bulldozer Olsson. Every bank robber's nightmare.
May 13, 2020
Having been drawn to the latest TV crime adaptation set in Europe. Van Der Valk policing in Amsterdam. I was keen to turn to an older trusted crime series.
Having finished all the Maigret novels I picked out the Martin Beck novels by Sjowall and Wahloo.
Incidentally, I didn’t enjoy Beck as a TV show recently .
The Locked Room is the eighth novel in this collection of books set largely in Stockholm and written by this husband and wife team over 10 years 1965-1975. It was always their intention to write 10 books only; future projects were never realised. Since, Per Wahloo died of cancer in 1975, only weeks after The Terrorists, the final instalment of the Martin Beck series was published.
I have read the earlier books in sequence and so The Locked Room was always high on my to be read list.
It is also interesting as my recent reading of Inspector Zhang series by Stephen Leather which focuses on a number of locked room mysteries.
When the great literary history of locked room stories are listed for some reason this one, despite its title giving it away, is not mentioned as a classic. Without doubt these authors were instrumental in influencing modern police procedures / crime thrillers. For locked room mysteries there are also few better in the context of realism and solid police work.
It is also timely to read one a Martin Beck story as Maj Sjowall recently passed away at the end of April this year. I dedicate this review to her memory and her literary heritage.
Martin Beck has been on long-term sick having got himself shot and very nearly killed in his last case. There are rumours that his survival is almost heroic and consequently he is in line for promotion. Something he wouldn’t want and has never sought. Indeed, he feels his incapacitation and rehabilitation were almost a critique on his own character of knowing best; in other words - poor judgement.
He is back on a phased return and is handed a cold case that has been handled badly; assumed a suicide when without doubt was murder. The confusion being bad police work and a locked room/crime scene.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team are redeployed to the major armed robbery unit where a group of known criminals are one step ahead of the investigation. A more recent fatal killing during a recent back raid comes under their operation but not their focus. It seems a rogue operation or copycat and their mission is to catch the brains behind it all, those pulling the strings and believed to be planning the ultimate heist.
With political asides and negative insights into the role of the police department the story is full of humour; incompetence and possible redemption of Beck himself. While clever police work is rarely seen, Beck transforms his investigation by methodical and old fashioned detective procedures. Following leads, having asked questions and being open to the answers. Meanwhile the more ‘modern’ approach is shown to come up short, fall down on assumptions made and bungling raids.
Subtle, informative and a beautifully revealed plot, that shows up mediocracy and mismanagement. When Beck closes his investigation,his seniors can’t understand his reasoning or conclusions. Their lack of comprehension is dismissed by applying a psychological interpretation on Beck’s report feeling his mind is still not back up to speed back on the job.
There is a paradox here. Justice must be seen even if the truth is blurred and criminals remain at large. It perhaps shows some of the political pressures at the time but it resonates with me even today about the role of inspectors in criminal investigations.
I loved this story. It blends and weaves together three plots into a seamless story that shows Beck is back on form and regardless of the profession he loves and which nearly took his life he is committed to his job. He might not be appreciated but the authors offer him a fitting distraction and full compensation in his spare time.
A great series and a standout book among them. I enjoyed it immensely and for those who haven’t discovered them, you are missing out.
Having finished all the Maigret novels I picked out the Martin Beck novels by Sjowall and Wahloo.
Incidentally, I didn’t enjoy Beck as a TV show recently .
The Locked Room is the eighth novel in this collection of books set largely in Stockholm and written by this husband and wife team over 10 years 1965-1975. It was always their intention to write 10 books only; future projects were never realised. Since, Per Wahloo died of cancer in 1975, only weeks after The Terrorists, the final instalment of the Martin Beck series was published.
I have read the earlier books in sequence and so The Locked Room was always high on my to be read list.
It is also interesting as my recent reading of Inspector Zhang series by Stephen Leather which focuses on a number of locked room mysteries.
When the great literary history of locked room stories are listed for some reason this one, despite its title giving it away, is not mentioned as a classic. Without doubt these authors were instrumental in influencing modern police procedures / crime thrillers. For locked room mysteries there are also few better in the context of realism and solid police work.
It is also timely to read one a Martin Beck story as Maj Sjowall recently passed away at the end of April this year. I dedicate this review to her memory and her literary heritage.
Martin Beck has been on long-term sick having got himself shot and very nearly killed in his last case. There are rumours that his survival is almost heroic and consequently he is in line for promotion. Something he wouldn’t want and has never sought. Indeed, he feels his incapacitation and rehabilitation were almost a critique on his own character of knowing best; in other words - poor judgement.
He is back on a phased return and is handed a cold case that has been handled badly; assumed a suicide when without doubt was murder. The confusion being bad police work and a locked room/crime scene.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team are redeployed to the major armed robbery unit where a group of known criminals are one step ahead of the investigation. A more recent fatal killing during a recent back raid comes under their operation but not their focus. It seems a rogue operation or copycat and their mission is to catch the brains behind it all, those pulling the strings and believed to be planning the ultimate heist.
With political asides and negative insights into the role of the police department the story is full of humour; incompetence and possible redemption of Beck himself. While clever police work is rarely seen, Beck transforms his investigation by methodical and old fashioned detective procedures. Following leads, having asked questions and being open to the answers. Meanwhile the more ‘modern’ approach is shown to come up short, fall down on assumptions made and bungling raids.
Subtle, informative and a beautifully revealed plot, that shows up mediocracy and mismanagement. When Beck closes his investigation,his seniors can’t understand his reasoning or conclusions. Their lack of comprehension is dismissed by applying a psychological interpretation on Beck’s report feeling his mind is still not back up to speed back on the job.
There is a paradox here. Justice must be seen even if the truth is blurred and criminals remain at large. It perhaps shows some of the political pressures at the time but it resonates with me even today about the role of inspectors in criminal investigations.
I loved this story. It blends and weaves together three plots into a seamless story that shows Beck is back on form and regardless of the profession he loves and which nearly took his life he is committed to his job. He might not be appreciated but the authors offer him a fitting distraction and full compensation in his spare time.
A great series and a standout book among them. I enjoyed it immensely and for those who haven’t discovered them, you are missing out.
November 27, 2017
Really enjoyable book. Never read any by this author before this one was recommended to me. Have the locked room dilemma and how could someone allegedly commit suicide when there was no gun or shell cartridge found in the room. Detective Martin Beck plays a very small part in this book since he must have been shot in Book 7 of the series. But there is a lot of comedy in this book not sure if it is intentional as the rest of the National Police Force reminds me of the Keystone Cops. Interesting way that Beck discovers how the deceased was murdered, but we have one person jailed for life for a murder they did not commit. That same person being acquitted of the murder they did commit. Bank robbers who get away with the money, etc. Not sure if this is the authors M.O. but it makes for an interesting and different read. Definitely would recommend this book!
August 28, 2021
La novela tiene sus altos y bajos. No es uniforme. Por momentos entretiene, por momentos aburre. Me quedo con una parte, la del policía Martín Beck. El resto es meter otra historia dentro de la original que lleva al título. Tenía otra expectativa.
The novel has its ups and downs. It is not uniform. At times it entertains, at times it bores. I'll take a part, that of the policeman Martín Beck. The rest is to put another story inside the original that leads to the title. I had another expectation.
The novel has its ups and downs. It is not uniform. At times it entertains, at times it bores. I'll take a part, that of the policeman Martín Beck. The rest is to put another story inside the original that leads to the title. I had another expectation.
September 13, 2016
Review of the audiobook.
This is the eighth book in one of the original police procedural series. I didn't expect this to be a surprise and in some ways it isn't. We have most of the same elements, but I was sad to see Melander not involved in this book - he is one of my favorite characters.
It's actually difficult to review this book without spoilers, but I'll try. In previous books, there have been moments where police officers are less than perfect. They make mistakes and that continues here and we have a scene that is a comedy of errors.
The ending in this one is a bit of a surprise, but since it's written in such a way that I have little actual emotion for any of the characters so I come away feeling surprised and entertained, but not disappointed. Much like real life, really.
This is the eighth book in one of the original police procedural series. I didn't expect this to be a surprise and in some ways it isn't. We have most of the same elements, but I was sad to see Melander not involved in this book - he is one of my favorite characters.
It's actually difficult to review this book without spoilers, but I'll try. In previous books, there have been moments where police officers are less than perfect. They make mistakes and that continues here and we have a scene that is a comedy of errors.
The ending in this one is a bit of a surprise, but since it's written in such a way that I have little actual emotion for any of the characters so I come away feeling surprised and entertained, but not disappointed. Much like real life, really.
April 13, 2017
Book no 8 in the series has a convalescing Beck (after his ordeal in Den vedervärdige mannen från Säffle) investigating a classic-tinted "closed room"-mystery, while his colleagues hunt for bank robbers-cum-murderers in a seemingly unrelated case...
May 18, 2018
One of my favourites in the series. I like how Kollberg and Gunvald Larsson have learned to work together and a solidarity is felt even though they started out disliking each other.
The cases are baffling, the solution quite unforeseeable and well thought out. Can't really say more without spoiling.
Martin Beck meets Rhea and a new chapter starts in his life.
Only two more to go!
The cases are baffling, the solution quite unforeseeable and well thought out. Can't really say more without spoiling.
Martin Beck meets Rhea and a new chapter starts in his life.
Only two more to go!
December 6, 2021
serinin karakterlerinin daha önceki kitaplarda yerine oturduğunu söylemiştik. artık bu karakterlerin gelişiminim, değişimini izliyoruz. 1970'leri İsveç'inin çok yalın bir panoraması veriliyor. Tüm karakterler, bu kitapta görüp kaybolanlar da dahil olmak üzere hepsi kanlı, canlı.
Bu kitapta toplumsal eleştiri gene var. Ama mizahî yön daha yoğun. Hele 18. bölümde başarısız polis baskınını okurken, Komiser Clouseau tadında bir absürt durum tadı alıyorsunuz.
Kurgu diğerlerinde olduğu gibi doğrusal, anlatım 3. şahsın ağzından.
Tercüme iyi. Ama nedense çevirmenden sonra bir editörün elinden geçmemiş metin. Çok olmasa da çevirmenin gözünden kaçmış olan hatalar aynen kalmış. İki örnek:
sayfa 210: "Elektrikli süpürgeyle saçlarını kurutuyordu."
sayfa 270: "Bildiğim kadarıyla, ant içmemişsen, eksik ya da yanlış bilgi vermek suç değildir." bura "ant içmek" değil "yemin altında ifade vermek"ten bahsediliyor.
Bu kitapta toplumsal eleştiri gene var. Ama mizahî yön daha yoğun. Hele 18. bölümde başarısız polis baskınını okurken, Komiser Clouseau tadında bir absürt durum tadı alıyorsunuz.
Kurgu diğerlerinde olduğu gibi doğrusal, anlatım 3. şahsın ağzından.
Tercüme iyi. Ama nedense çevirmenden sonra bir editörün elinden geçmemiş metin. Çok olmasa da çevirmenin gözünden kaçmış olan hatalar aynen kalmış. İki örnek:
sayfa 210: "Elektrikli süpürgeyle saçlarını kurutuyordu."
sayfa 270: "Bildiğim kadarıyla, ant içmemişsen, eksik ya da yanlış bilgi vermek suç değildir." bura "ant içmek" değil "yemin altında ifade vermek"ten bahsediliyor.
October 5, 2021
Michael Connolly writes in his introduction to the Kindle edition of this novel that “The Martin Beck books tell us so much more than just how a crime is solved. . . [T]hey tell us how a crime happens and how a city, country, and society can often be complicit. They take us beneath the surface. They tell it like it is.” And that is certainly true of The Locked Room. In fact, of all the eight novels I’ve read so far in the series, this book most boldly lays bare the authors’ leftist perspective on Swedish society. The Locked Room advances the continuing story of Martin Beck and his colleagues in the National Homicide Squad. But throughout the book is a running commentary on the incompetence and unpopularity of the Swedish police, the deficiencies of Sweden’s welfare state, and the sad consequences of capitalism.
A Marxist view of Swedish society
For example, here are Sjöwall and Wahlöö describing the motivation of two career criminals. “Big-time criminals profit from everything—from poisoning nature and whole populations and then pretending to repair their ravages by inappropriate medicines; from purposely turning whole districts of cities into slums in order to pull them down and then rebuild others in their place. The new slums, of course, turn out to be far more deleterious to people’s health than the old ones had been. But above all they don’t get caught.” There’s truth at the core of this diatribe. But it’s far over the top.
Later, Martin Beck muses “that the law has been designed to protect certain social classes and their dubious interests, and otherwise seems mostly to consist of loopholes.” The Marxist influence could hardly be clearer.
The police come off badly
The National Police Commissioner is, apparently, a politician without prior policing experience. He’s concerned, above all, with secrecy. “Don’t let anything get out,” he admonishes at every turn. And he has good reason to fear exposure. Like New York during the same era, Stockholm is in the grips of a crime wave—and the police have proven unable to do anything about it.
Although the force is severely underfunded, the National Homicide Squad does better than most. But its budget is far outstripped by the security police, a rabidly anti-Communist outfit that follows leads from fascist organizations to pursue suspected leftists and ignores violent action on the Right. (This is historically consistent with the pro-Nazi stance of the Swedish police and security services in World War II.)
The district attorney is obsessed with bank robberies, of which there have been many in recent years. Two of Martin Beck’s closest colleagues are detailed to his special squad to pursue a gang of bank robbers who have eluded the DA for years. They end up stumbling into a bungled operation that’s reminiscent of a Keystone Cops episode.
The police are so unpopular that the force has great difficulty recruiting new officers. Now anyone, including the “retarded,” can gain access to a badge. And the proof of this comment by an embittered officer is in one of the members of the DA’s special squad who appears to have an IQ of about 60.
Now about that “locked room” mystery
In this novel, as in all the previous entries in the series, the men of the National Homicide Squad are involved in two different investigations. Two of them pursue the bank robbers on assignment to the DA’s office. Martin Beck goes solo on the other.
Martin Beck has been on leave for months, recuperating from a gunshot wound to his chest. To ease his way back into the force, his superiors assign him a seemingly unsolvable case that has gone cold. (It’s a way to keep him busy without getting back into the action.) A retired dockworker, essentially barricaded in his rented room, has died of a gunshot wound. The investigating officer, who is notoriously incompetent, has concluded the man killed himself—even though there is neither a gun nor a spent cartridge in sight. Spending weeks of patient investigation into the case, Martin Beck does solve it at length. But prepare yourself for an ironic surprise. In the end, it’s all very, very funny.
An awkward translation?
Unlike the previous novels in the Martin Beck series, The Locked Room reads as though one of the two coauthors did most of the writing—the more doctrinaire of the couple. That seems apparent not only from the numerous passages lamenting the sorry condition of Swedish society and the incompetence of the Swedish police but from the dialog as well. Many of the conversations come across as awkward, something I hadn’t noticed in the pair’s earlier work. Now, perhaps the translator was at fault. A number of different translators worked on this series, and the man who translated The Locked Room was not responsible for any of the other books.
A Marxist view of Swedish society
For example, here are Sjöwall and Wahlöö describing the motivation of two career criminals. “Big-time criminals profit from everything—from poisoning nature and whole populations and then pretending to repair their ravages by inappropriate medicines; from purposely turning whole districts of cities into slums in order to pull them down and then rebuild others in their place. The new slums, of course, turn out to be far more deleterious to people’s health than the old ones had been. But above all they don’t get caught.” There’s truth at the core of this diatribe. But it’s far over the top.
Later, Martin Beck muses “that the law has been designed to protect certain social classes and their dubious interests, and otherwise seems mostly to consist of loopholes.” The Marxist influence could hardly be clearer.
The police come off badly
The National Police Commissioner is, apparently, a politician without prior policing experience. He’s concerned, above all, with secrecy. “Don’t let anything get out,” he admonishes at every turn. And he has good reason to fear exposure. Like New York during the same era, Stockholm is in the grips of a crime wave—and the police have proven unable to do anything about it.
Although the force is severely underfunded, the National Homicide Squad does better than most. But its budget is far outstripped by the security police, a rabidly anti-Communist outfit that follows leads from fascist organizations to pursue suspected leftists and ignores violent action on the Right. (This is historically consistent with the pro-Nazi stance of the Swedish police and security services in World War II.)
The district attorney is obsessed with bank robberies, of which there have been many in recent years. Two of Martin Beck’s closest colleagues are detailed to his special squad to pursue a gang of bank robbers who have eluded the DA for years. They end up stumbling into a bungled operation that’s reminiscent of a Keystone Cops episode.
The police are so unpopular that the force has great difficulty recruiting new officers. Now anyone, including the “retarded,” can gain access to a badge. And the proof of this comment by an embittered officer is in one of the members of the DA’s special squad who appears to have an IQ of about 60.
Now about that “locked room” mystery
In this novel, as in all the previous entries in the series, the men of the National Homicide Squad are involved in two different investigations. Two of them pursue the bank robbers on assignment to the DA’s office. Martin Beck goes solo on the other.
Martin Beck has been on leave for months, recuperating from a gunshot wound to his chest. To ease his way back into the force, his superiors assign him a seemingly unsolvable case that has gone cold. (It’s a way to keep him busy without getting back into the action.) A retired dockworker, essentially barricaded in his rented room, has died of a gunshot wound. The investigating officer, who is notoriously incompetent, has concluded the man killed himself—even though there is neither a gun nor a spent cartridge in sight. Spending weeks of patient investigation into the case, Martin Beck does solve it at length. But prepare yourself for an ironic surprise. In the end, it’s all very, very funny.
An awkward translation?
Unlike the previous novels in the Martin Beck series, The Locked Room reads as though one of the two coauthors did most of the writing—the more doctrinaire of the couple. That seems apparent not only from the numerous passages lamenting the sorry condition of Swedish society and the incompetence of the Swedish police but from the dialog as well. Many of the conversations come across as awkward, something I hadn’t noticed in the pair’s earlier work. Now, perhaps the translator was at fault. A number of different translators worked on this series, and the man who translated The Locked Room was not responsible for any of the other books.
April 4, 2013
"You can't start playing at Sherlock Holmes every time you come across a dead tramp"
O oitavo livro da série do Inspector Martin Beck é mais longo, obscuro e tem um enredo muito mais complexo que os anteriores.
Com 49 anos, quase 50, Martin Beck volta ao seu trabalho como Inspector Chefe da Policia de Estocolmo após 15 meses de convalescência. Depois de recuperar de um tiro nos pulmões que quase lhe tirou a vida, o nosso protagonista aparenta ter menos idade.
Para começar com calma, Beck investiga um caso, aparentemente simples, de um homem encontrado morto, fechado no seu apartamento. Não há sinais da arma usada e a vitima esteve à espera de ser descoberta durante mais de dois meses. Estando trancada por dentro, a porta teve de ser arrombada. Ainda que misterioso, o caso foi dado como resolvido: um suicídio, apesar de todas as pontas soltas.
Simultaneamente, os colegas de Martin Beck, entre os quais Kollberg (que está de dieta), Larsson (como sempre mal-humorado) e Rönn (que ainda antipatiza com o chefe) encontram-se a investigar um assalto a um banco, que resultou numa morte.
Neste livro são as mentes dos ladrões o alvo de exploração dos escritores suecos, que andam pelos lugares mais obscuros e duvidosos da cidade de Estocolmo.
Maj Söjwall e Per Wahlöö criaram um protagonista solitário, com uma ausência óbvia de romance na sua vida. Contudo, em "The Locked Room", durante a investigação, Martin Beck conhece Rhea Nielsen, uma mulher porque quem se sente instantaneamente atraído e que o ajuda, indirectamente, a resolver várias questões relacionadas com o misterioso quarto fechado.
O ritmo da narrativa começa por ser lento, provocando mesmo em mim um sentimento de frustração por ansiar ver determinados detalhes desvendados. Mas aos poucos acelera e, de mãos dadas com a história, oferece ao leitor um conjunto maravilhoso de pequenos pormenores distintos que no final encaixam na perfeição! Três fios distintos ligam-se e no fim de tudo uma coisa é certa: o acaso e o destino estão novamente presentes.
Se um criminoso é punido por um crime que não cometeu, é a punição injusta, tendo em conta delitos tão ou mais graves que cometeu? Independentemente da resposta, a verdade é que me parece uma partida do destino, que oferece ao castigado uma questão para reflectir eternamente.
"One can never be really sure about anything in this world."
O oitavo livro da série do Inspector Martin Beck é mais longo, obscuro e tem um enredo muito mais complexo que os anteriores.
Com 49 anos, quase 50, Martin Beck volta ao seu trabalho como Inspector Chefe da Policia de Estocolmo após 15 meses de convalescência. Depois de recuperar de um tiro nos pulmões que quase lhe tirou a vida, o nosso protagonista aparenta ter menos idade.
Para começar com calma, Beck investiga um caso, aparentemente simples, de um homem encontrado morto, fechado no seu apartamento. Não há sinais da arma usada e a vitima esteve à espera de ser descoberta durante mais de dois meses. Estando trancada por dentro, a porta teve de ser arrombada. Ainda que misterioso, o caso foi dado como resolvido: um suicídio, apesar de todas as pontas soltas.
Simultaneamente, os colegas de Martin Beck, entre os quais Kollberg (que está de dieta), Larsson (como sempre mal-humorado) e Rönn (que ainda antipatiza com o chefe) encontram-se a investigar um assalto a um banco, que resultou numa morte.
Neste livro são as mentes dos ladrões o alvo de exploração dos escritores suecos, que andam pelos lugares mais obscuros e duvidosos da cidade de Estocolmo.
Maj Söjwall e Per Wahlöö criaram um protagonista solitário, com uma ausência óbvia de romance na sua vida. Contudo, em "The Locked Room", durante a investigação, Martin Beck conhece Rhea Nielsen, uma mulher porque quem se sente instantaneamente atraído e que o ajuda, indirectamente, a resolver várias questões relacionadas com o misterioso quarto fechado.
O ritmo da narrativa começa por ser lento, provocando mesmo em mim um sentimento de frustração por ansiar ver determinados detalhes desvendados. Mas aos poucos acelera e, de mãos dadas com a história, oferece ao leitor um conjunto maravilhoso de pequenos pormenores distintos que no final encaixam na perfeição! Três fios distintos ligam-se e no fim de tudo uma coisa é certa: o acaso e o destino estão novamente presentes.
Se um criminoso é punido por um crime que não cometeu, é a punição injusta, tendo em conta delitos tão ou mais graves que cometeu? Independentemente da resposta, a verdade é que me parece uma partida do destino, que oferece ao castigado uma questão para reflectir eternamente.
"One can never be really sure about anything in this world."
July 3, 2014
While I liked the two story lines, especially how they improbably tie together in the end, I found some of the political commentary about Sweden to be trying in the eighth book in this series. (Other readers have found this to be more bothersome in Book #6/Murder at the Savoy.) Martin Beck comes back from his convalescence, and is assigned a dead end case, where a retiree is found dead in his locked room and suicide is assumed until they find he has been shot and no gun or bullet casing can be found. In the other subplot, a DA is after a bank robber/killer, who he believes is part of a notorious gang, which has never been violent before. The Locked Room is a double entendre for the first murder and for Martin himself, who in the course of his investigation finds some solace in an unpretentious, caring landlady, Rhea Nielson. (I was disappointed that my e-book did not include the introduction by Michael Connelly.)
April 3, 2018
This one seemed different than the previous ones in the series for a couple of reasons. First, Martin Beck, himself, isn't actually in it that much, relatively speaking. And second, while they were always political, this one seems more damning of just how dysfunctional Sweden was in the early 1970s. Plus, it didn't really have a satisfying conclusion. Still, the locked room mystery was intriguing, even if the investigation into the bank robberies was an utter shower.
September 24, 2021
The eighth installment of this series finds Martin Beck just returning to work after a life-threatening encounter with a bullet. His colleagues are trying to put a stop to an outbreak of robberies--primarily bank robberies, but robberies of all sorts have taken over Stockholm. Most recently, a young woman walked into a bank, wound up with 87 thousand kroner, and shot a man who tried to stop her. Witnesses' accounts conflict (don't they always?)--she had several different outfits; she got into a blue car or a beige one--no, wait she didn't get in a car at all; she had accomplices waiting for her or maybe she just drove off/walked away alone. Who knows? The head of the bank robbery investigations--District Attorney "Bulldozer" Olsson soon decides it's one of a string of robberies planned by criminal mastermind Werner Roos. According to Bulldozer, Roos is planning a BIG robbery--his biggest yet--and the DA is adamant that they're going to get him this time.
A hot lead to Roos's plans practically falls into Bulldozer's lap, but will he and his team be able to use it to their advantage (Spoiler Alert---that's a big no). Meanwhile, Beck is handed an impossible crime to solve. The body of Karl Edvin Svard was found shot to death (after several weeks) behind the quadruple-locked door of his apartment. All the windows were shaded, unbroken, and locked as well. The local officers quickly filed it under suicide--but the case is handed over to Beck because things don't quite add up. For one thing, if the man shot himself, where is the gun? In an odd little twist, it's found in the most interesting place...Beck will, of course, figure it all out. But will he be able to prove it? And what about those bank robberies?
I'm having a difficult time deciding what I think of this one. It is both entertaining (in a Keystone Cops kind of way) to read about the absolutely inept handling of the bank robbery investigations by Bulldozer and his special team and depressing to see how little justice and correct police procedure ultimately figure in this story.
Seriously, if you can read the scene where Larsson and Kollberg and company bust into the room where they believe two of the bank robbers are holed up and Larsson winds up hanging out the window, one of the nervous uniformed officers shoots the lights out (literally) as well as hitting a hot water pipe (insert image of spraying hot water pipe), the police attack dog bites one of the officers and refuses to let go, and--as a grand finale--one of them tosses in some tear gas...and you don't laugh, then I guess you just don't like physical humor. It's slapstick straight from the era of silent film. And, of course, the bad guys aren't even there anymore. And the crackerjack band hot on the trail of the bank robbers don't get any better. Just wait till they screw up the intelligence they receive on the upcoming BIG bank job.
So, entertaining? Yes, indeed. And the locked room mystery is pretty good as well. Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö use an old trick to good effect and there's enough going on to distract most readers from seeing it until Beck finds the answer.
But...then there's the actual police investigations--breaking and entering for evidence; the whole Bulldozer fiasco; Beck not being sure his taping equipment is working properly (though--Beck comes through the best in this book). And there's all sorts of shady goings-on among the police. Not to mention that at the end of the book, Beck's superiors decide not to promote him (there had been rumors) and why? Because they think he's unbalanced. Now--just to be clear, Beck doesn't want to be promoted. He wants to keep on investigating crimes and not be kicked up to a desk job. [And he's definitely not unbalanced--he's probably the best detective they've got.] But, let's just suppose that Beck really is unbalanced. His superiors think it's better to keep an unbalanced Beck where he is--investigating crimes and dealing with the public?! There's some fine bureaucratic thinking for you... I know that this sort of thing happens in real life--but I'm not all that keen on my fiction being so realistic. I like the wheels of justice to run smooth in my detective stories.
On balance, this is a solid story. I enjoyed the mystery and I especially enjoyed the slapstick antics and Martin Beck's portion of the plot. If it hadn't been for the (to me) depressing realism of how justice (and the police) really works, I would probably rate it higher.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
A hot lead to Roos's plans practically falls into Bulldozer's lap, but will he and his team be able to use it to their advantage (Spoiler Alert---that's a big no). Meanwhile, Beck is handed an impossible crime to solve. The body of Karl Edvin Svard was found shot to death (after several weeks) behind the quadruple-locked door of his apartment. All the windows were shaded, unbroken, and locked as well. The local officers quickly filed it under suicide--but the case is handed over to Beck because things don't quite add up. For one thing, if the man shot himself, where is the gun? In an odd little twist, it's found in the most interesting place...Beck will, of course, figure it all out. But will he be able to prove it? And what about those bank robberies?
I'm having a difficult time deciding what I think of this one. It is both entertaining (in a Keystone Cops kind of way) to read about the absolutely inept handling of the bank robbery investigations by Bulldozer and his special team and depressing to see how little justice and correct police procedure ultimately figure in this story.
Seriously, if you can read the scene where Larsson and Kollberg and company bust into the room where they believe two of the bank robbers are holed up and Larsson winds up hanging out the window, one of the nervous uniformed officers shoots the lights out (literally) as well as hitting a hot water pipe (insert image of spraying hot water pipe), the police attack dog bites one of the officers and refuses to let go, and--as a grand finale--one of them tosses in some tear gas...and you don't laugh, then I guess you just don't like physical humor. It's slapstick straight from the era of silent film. And, of course, the bad guys aren't even there anymore. And the crackerjack band hot on the trail of the bank robbers don't get any better. Just wait till they screw up the intelligence they receive on the upcoming BIG bank job.
So, entertaining? Yes, indeed. And the locked room mystery is pretty good as well. Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö use an old trick to good effect and there's enough going on to distract most readers from seeing it until Beck finds the answer.
But...then there's the actual police investigations--breaking and entering for evidence; the whole Bulldozer fiasco; Beck not being sure his taping equipment is working properly (though--Beck comes through the best in this book). And there's all sorts of shady goings-on among the police. Not to mention that at the end of the book, Beck's superiors decide not to promote him (there had been rumors) and why? Because they think he's unbalanced. Now--just to be clear, Beck doesn't want to be promoted. He wants to keep on investigating crimes and not be kicked up to a desk job. [And he's definitely not unbalanced--he's probably the best detective they've got.] But, let's just suppose that Beck really is unbalanced. His superiors think it's better to keep an unbalanced Beck where he is--investigating crimes and dealing with the public?! There's some fine bureaucratic thinking for you... I know that this sort of thing happens in real life--but I'm not all that keen on my fiction being so realistic. I like the wheels of justice to run smooth in my detective stories.
On balance, this is a solid story. I enjoyed the mystery and I especially enjoyed the slapstick antics and Martin Beck's portion of the plot. If it hadn't been for the (to me) depressing realism of how justice (and the police) really works, I would probably rate it higher.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
July 5, 2022
Это был бы отличный шведский детектив от Вале и Шеваль, с интересной криминальной линией (даже с двумя, титульное убийство в запертой комнате + ограбление банка со стрельбой), с живыми персонажами, с жесткой критикой еврокапитализма...
...но авторы в этот раз почему-то решили буквально всю фабулу романа построить на совпадениях и случайностях.
В результате всю книгу герои, фигурально выражаясь, на бегу сталкиваются лбами и падают друг на друга. Все персонажи романа со всеми случайно знакомы, все случайно живут в соседних домах, все случайно встречаются в самых неподходящих местах. Случайно срываются сложные планы сыщиков, бандиты случайно попадаются в лапы правосудия, арестованные случайно избегают наказания за совершенные убийства (но случайно попадают на пожизненное за то, чего не совершали). Убийство в запертой комнате тоже объясняется длинной последовательностью невероятных случайностей.
Не знаю, чего Вале и Шеваль хотели добиться таким странным литературным экспериментом, но я от их книг ожидал совсем другого. Впрочем, пишут они отлично, и ниже 4* им поставить просто рука не поднимается. Будем считать, что роман получает 3* за детектив и еще 1* за невероятно умилительную романтическую линию в исполнении (кого бы вы думали?) старого ипохондрика Матрина Бека.
...но авторы в этот раз почему-то решили буквально всю фабулу романа построить на совпадениях и случайностях.
В результате всю книгу герои, фигурально выражаясь, на бегу сталкиваются лбами и падают друг на друга. Все персонажи романа со всеми случайно знакомы, все случайно живут в соседних домах, все случайно встречаются в самых неподходящих местах. Случайно срываются сложные планы сыщиков, бандиты случайно попадаются в лапы правосудия, арестованные случайно избегают наказания за совершенные убийства (но случайно попадают на пожизненное за то, чего не совершали). Убийство в запертой комнате тоже объясняется длинной последовательностью невероятных случайностей.
Не знаю, чего Вале и Шеваль хотели добиться таким странным литературным экспериментом, но я от их книг ожидал совсем другого. Впрочем, пишут они отлично, и ниже 4* им поставить просто рука не поднимается. Будем считать, что роман получает 3* за детектив и еще 1* за невероятно умилительную романтическую линию в исполнении (кого бы вы думали?) старого ипохондрика Матрина Бека.
August 29, 2020
"The Locked Room" is the eighth novel in the Martin Beck series that is generally recognized to have inaugurated the modern crime novel of Sweden of which realism and a concern with sociological issues are the dominant traits. Possibly aware that the end of their series was near, Sjöwall and Wahlöö seem to have decided to poke some fun at themselves and at crime-writing in general. Their lack of seriousness is quite clear from their decision to write a locked-room mystery. Having chosen a higly trite genre, Sjöwall and Wahlöö proceed to fill their novel with a host of comical Runyonesque characters. As entertainment, it works well enough although it does finish in a regrettable tsunami of irony. Fans of Sjöwall and Wahlöö should enjoy this bonbon. Being a born churl, I can give it no more than a single star.
January 27, 2022
Điểm nổi bật của cuốn này là những yếu tố chính trị mà tác giả đưa vào, có thể nói là nó nhiều hơn tất cả những cuốn trước trong series cộng lại 🤣. Nhưng về khía cạnh trinh thám thì khá là thất vọng, mối liên hệ giữa vụ cướp nhà băng và vụ giết người trong phòng kín lỏng lẻo và mờ nhạt. Phần Beck điều tra phá án vẫn tốt, nhưng dung lượng không nhiều. Còn phần vụ cướp nhà băng thì thôi khỏi nói, phần này chủ yếu phục vụ mục đích dìm hàng lực lượng cảnh sát và thể hiện quan điểm chính trị của tác giả. 3⭐
September 8, 2018
Excellent detective story. Very funny look at some incompetent police. Scathing critic of the Swedish welfare state from inside. I never expected that.
April 27, 2022
This is the only book in the series I've read so far, more because I never happened upon them in the used book stores. (I have "The Laughing Policeman", given to me a couple of years back when someone was clearing out his stuff, so I'll be able to add that.) This was my first experience with Scandanavian police novels and I remember liking it very much - in fact, I still remember the ending!
I look forward to more, especially now that I've begun reading so much from that part of the world.
I look forward to more, especially now that I've begun reading so much from that part of the world.
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