Per Wahloo's Books

The Fire Engine that Disappeared

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (5)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Fire Engine that Disappeared

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (5)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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"?

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744299

ISBN 13

9780307744296

Cop Killer

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (9)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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Cop Killer

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (9)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The shocking ninth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö finds Beck investigating parallel cases that have shocked a small rural community. In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband. Meanwhile, on a quiet suburban street a midnight shootout takes place between three cops and two teenage boys. Dead, one cop and one kid. Wounded, two cops. Escaped, one kid. Martin Beck and his partner Lenart Kollberg are called in to investigate. As Beck digs deeper into the murky waters of the young girl’s murder, Kollberg scours the town for the teenager, and together they are forced to examine the changing face of crime.

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Page Count

321

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744329

ISBN 13

9780307744326

The Laughing Policeman

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (4)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Laughing Policeman

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (4)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The incredible fourth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Martin Beck heading a major manhunt in pursuit of a mass-murderer. With a new introduction by Jonathan Franzen: "I've read The Laughing Policeman six or eight times. Each time I reach the final twist on the final page, I shiver afresh." On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by a mysterious assassin. The press portrays it as a freak attack and dubs the killer a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck thinks otherwise—one of his most ambitious young detectives was among those killed—and he suspects it was more than coincidence. Working on a hunch, Beck seeks out the girlfriend of the murdered detective, and with her help Beck reconstructs the steps that led to his murder. The police comb the country for the killer, only to find that this attack may be connected to a case that has been unsolved for years.

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307390500

ISBN 13

9780307390509

Roseanna

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (1)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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Roseanna

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (1)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

With a New Introduction by Henning Mankell. The masterful first novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö ("the best writers of police procedurals in the world"), finds Beck hunting for the murderer of a lonely traveler. On a July afternoon, a young woman's body is dredged from Sweden's beautiful Lake Vattern. With no clues Beck begins an investigation not only to uncover a murderer but also to discover who the victim was. Three months later, all Beck knows is that her name was Roseanna and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people on a cruise. As the melancholic Beck narrows the list of suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for casual sex, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive--indeed, terrifying--sense of propriety.

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307772810

ISBN 13

9780307772817

The Terrorists

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (10)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Terrorists

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (10)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The final novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö is a masterful, all consuming tale that rushes toward a thrilling, unexpected climax. With a new introduction by Dennis Lehane: "Tension so thick the reader could crack a tooth." An American senator is visiting Stockholm and Martin Beck must lead a team to protect him from an international gang of terrorists. However, in the midst of the fervor created by the diplomatic visit, a young, peace-loving woman is accused of robbing a bank. Beck is determined to prove her innocence, but gets trapped in the maze of police bureaucracy. To complicate matters a millionaire pornographer has been bludgeoned to death in his own bathtub. Filled with the twists and turns and the pulse pounding excitement that are the hallmarks of the Martin Beck novels, The Terrorists is the stunning conclusion to the incredible series that changed crime fiction forever.

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Page Count

305

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307390888

ISBN 13

9780307390882

The Abominable Man

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (7)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Abominable Man

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (7)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The striking seventh novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck facing one of the greatest challenges in his professional career. The gruesome murder of a police captain in his hospital room reveals the unsavory history of a man who spent forty years practicing a horrible blend of strong-arm police work and shear brutality. Martin Beck and his colleagues feverishly comb Stockholm for the murderer, a demented and deadly rifleman, who has plans for even more chaos. As the tension builds and a feeling of imminent danger grips Beck, his investigation unearths evidence of police corruption. That’s when an even stronger sense of responsibility and something like shame urge him into taking a series of drastic steps, which lead to a shocking disaster.

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Page Count

241

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

030739090X

ISBN 13

9780307390905

The Man on the Balcony

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (3)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Man on the Balcony

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (3)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

In this chilling installment of “the first great series of police thrillers” (Michael Ondaatje, national bestselling author of Warlight) by an internationally renowned crime duo, superintendent Martin Beck investigates a string of child murders. 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.

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Page Count

194

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744272

ISBN 13

9780307744272

Murder on the the Thirty-first Floor

By: Per Wahloo

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Murder on the the Thirty-first Floor

By: Per Wahloo

In an unnamed country, in an unnamed year sometime in the future, Chief Inspector Jensen of the Sixteenth Division is called in after the publishers controlling the entire country's newspapers and magazines receive a threat to blow up their building, in retaliation for a murder they are accused of committing. The building is evacuated, but the bomb fails to explode and Jensen is given seven days in which to track down the letter writer. Jensen has never had a case he could not solve before, but as his investigation into the identity of the letter writer begins it soon becomes clear that the directors of the publishers have their own secrets, not least the identity of the 'Special Department' on the thirty first floor; the only department not permitted to be evacuated after the bomb threat.

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Page Count

227

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744450

ISBN 13

9780307744456

The Generals

By: Per Wahloo

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The Generals

By: Per Wahloo

From Per Wahlöö—co-author with his wife, Maj Sjöwall, of the internationally bestselling Martin Beck series of mysteries—comes a political satire, told as a court transcript, about the court-martial of a general gone rogue. Time: the not too distant future. Place: a small island in the temperate zone. Scene: air-force headquarters. Corporal Edwin Velder is on trial for his life--accused of acts against the military, government, and society. As the proceedings unfold, we learn of a country's descent into political tyranny--a civil war erupted in the face of a secret armed force bringing the current generals to power. The military tribunal forces Velder to reconstruct the events, battles, and final defeat of the island rebellion. As the inevitable verdict is pronounced, Velder's testimony just might bring to bear yet another political revolution.

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Page Count

290

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744795

ISBN 13

9780307744791

The Man Who Went Up in Smoke

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (2)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Man Who Went Up in Smoke

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (2)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The masterful second novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck searching Budapest for a well-known Swedish journalist who has disappeared without a trace. With an introduction by Val McDermid: "So many of the elements that have become integral...in the police procedural subgenre started life in these ten novels....Their plots are second to none." Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad has his summer vacation abruptly terminated when the top brass at the foreign office pack him off to Budapest to search for Alf Matsson, a well-known Swedish journalist who has vanished. Beck investigates viperous Eastern European underworld figures and--at the risk of his life--stumbles upon the international racket in which Matsson was involved. With the coolly efficient local police on his side and a predatory nymphet on his tail, Beck pursues a case whose international implications grow with each new clue.

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Page Count

210

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744264

ISBN 13

9780307744265

Murder at the Savoy

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (6)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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Murder at the Savoy

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (6)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The shocking sixth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck investigating a brutal assassination. With an introduction by Arne Dahl. When Viktor Palmgren, a powerful Swedish industrialist is shot during his after-dinner speech in the luxurious Hotel Savoy, it sends a shiver down the spine of the international money markets and terrifies the tiny town of Malmo. No one in the restaurant can identify the gunman, and local police are sheepishly baffled. That's when Beck takes over the scene and quickly picks through Palmgren's background. What he finds is a web of vice so despicable that it's hard for him to imagine who wouldn't want Palmgren dead, but that doesn't stop him and his team of dedicated detectives from tackling one of their most intriguing cases yet.

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Page Count

242

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744302

ISBN 13

9780307744302

The Steel Spring

By: Per Wahloo

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The Steel Spring

By: Per Wahloo

Chief Inspector Jensen is a policeman in an unnamed European country where the government has criminalized being drunk, where newspapers are designed for reassurance, and where the city centers have been demolished to devote more space to gleaming new highways. Recovering in a hospital room abroad after a liver transplant, Jensen receives a note instructing him to return home immediately, but when he reaches the airport he discovers that all flights home have been cancelled and all communication from within his homeland has ceased. One of the last messages sent requested urgent medical help from abroad. But what has happen? Has an epidemic taken hold? And why has the government fled the capital? To penetrate the silence and mystery that has fallen over the country and its people, Jensen returns only to discover the unthinkable.

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Page Count

210

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744485

ISBN 13

9780307744487

The Locked Room

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (8)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

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The Locked Room

A Martin Beck Police Mystery (8)

By: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

The stunning eighth installment in the Martin Beck mystery series by the renowned Swedish crime writing duo is a masterful take on a classic locked room mystery. With an introduction by Michael Connelly: "One of the most authentic, gripping, and profound collections of police procedurals ever accomplished." A young blonde in sunglasses robs a bank and kills a hapless citizen. Across town, a corpse with a bullet shot through its heart is found in a locked room–with no gun at the scene. The crimes seem disparate, but to Martin Beck they are two pieces of the same puzzle, and solving it becomes the one way he can escape the pains of his failed marriage and the lingering effects of a near-fatal bullet wound. Exploring the ramifications of egotism and intellect, luck and accident, this tour de force of detection bears the unmistakable substance and gravity of real life.

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Page Count

338

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307772837

ISBN 13

9780307772831

Swedish Marxist Noir

The Dark Wave of Crime Writers and the Influence of Raymond Chandler

By: Per Hellgren

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Swedish Marxist Noir

The Dark Wave of Crime Writers and the Influence of Raymond Chandler

By: Per Hellgren

Marxist theories have had a profound influence on crime fiction, beginning with the works of the American writers of the 1930s. This study explores the development of a Swedish Marxist noir subgenre after the 1990s through a Marxist reading of central works, from the Marlowe novels of Raymond Chandler to the 1960s social crime fiction of Sjowall-Wahloo to modern bestselling authors such as Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson, Roslund & Hellstrom, Jens Lapidus, Arne Dahl and others. The works of these writers show a common thread of Marxist worldview in their portrayal of a modern world gone wrong.

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Page Count

266

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476634157

ISBN 13

9781476634159

The Assignment

By: Per Wahloo

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The Assignment

By: Per Wahloo

From Per Wahlöö—co-author with his wife, Maj Sjöwall, of the internationally bestselling Martin Beck series of mysteries—comes a novel about a political assassination in South America, and unassuming diplomat is chosen to take his place. The Provincial Resident of a desolate province in a South America has been assassinated. When Manuel Ortega, a minor diplomat, accepts the appointment as the dead man's successor, it seems a foolhardy decision. From the day he assumes his post he is plunged into a violent, corrupt world, where two extremist political factions are at odds. Ortega is caught in the middle, surrounded by people he's not sure he can trust--his alluring secretary, the cynical chief of police, and the sullen bodyguards who try to keep the Resident alive. As the tension rises, Ortega must take action, but the question remains: what will he do?

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Page Count

258

Publisher

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307744760

ISBN 13

9780307744760

A Necessary Action

By: Per Wahloo

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A Necessary Action

By: Per Wahloo

From Per Wahlöö—co-author with his wife, Maj Sjöwall, of the internationally bestselling Martin Beck series of mysteries—comes a suspense novel about a former German soldier wanted for questioning about a murder in Spain. Willi Mohr--former German soldier, starving artist, enigmatic drifter--is arrested by the police and subjected to a lengthy and perplexing interrogation. Unwillingly, he is drawn back to the previous year he spent in Spain, the mysterious death of a Norwegian couple he shared a house with and his tireless attempts to discover how they died. As the interrogation intensifies, Mohr realizes that his own secret activities have implicated him in a dangerous political situation. Exhausted, at the end of his money, worn down by the police, he takes decisive action that leads to a profound personal release.

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