With its wonderfully observed lawmen (including the inimitable Martin Beck), its brilliantly rendered felons and their murky Stockholm underworld, and its deftly engineered plot, The Laughing Policeman is a classic of the police procedural and "must reading for anyone who claims to be [a student] of the best detective fiction" (Saturday Review).
The Laughing Policeman (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
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In this classic police procedural, the ever-dyspeptic Martin Beck has nothing to be amused about, even though it's Christmastime. Åke Stenstrom, a young detective in Beck's squad, has just been killed in an unprecedented mass murder aboard a Stockholm city bus. Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or did he push a murderer too far in his efforts to make a name for himself on the force? Realizing that Stenstrom's presence on the bus was no mere coincidence, his compatriots retrace his steps and chase years-old clues to a crime long thought unsolvable. Along with Roseanna, this is one of the best of Sjöwall and Wahlöö's ten Martin Beck mysteries.
Review
“I've read The Laughing Policeman six or eight times. Each time I reach the final twist on the final page, I shiver afresh.”
—Jonathan Franzen
"A tantalizing, intricate tale."
—The New York Times Book Review
“Sjöwall and Wahlöö write unsparingly and unswervingly. . . . Their plots are second to none.”
—Val McDermid
“Lively and stylistically taut. . . . Sjöwall and Wahlöö changed the genre.”
—Henning Mankell
—Jonathan Franzen
"A tantalizing, intricate tale."
—The New York Times Book Review
“Sjöwall and Wahlöö write unsparingly and unswervingly. . . . Their plots are second to none.”
—Val McDermid
“Lively and stylistically taut. . . . Sjöwall and Wahlöö changed the genre.”
—Henning Mankell
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Erin Hubbard
Format:Paperback
Sweden meets "NYPD Blue" in this non-action-packed police detective mystery by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. All of the action of "The Laughing Policeman" seems to take place before the book even begins. At the start of the book we learn that a terrible crime has been committed, nine passengers have been shot dead on a public bus in the streets of Stockholm. In light of the current events that have recently taken place in the U.S., it is ironic that the Swedish detectives on the case speak of how strange the crime is, stating that such a crime would more likely be seen on U.S. soil. The reader gains a good knowledge of the city of Stockholm, its streets, its people, its dark side, as the detectives leave no stone unturned in their search for the killer. Yet, while the characters are busy searching all over the city, we, the readers, are busy exploring the depths of the characters themselves. Each character has many interesting distinctions and, much like the way the details of the crime are slowly unraveled, different facets of the characters involved are revealed as the novel progresses. It almost seems, at times, that the novel is more about the detectives and their lives than it is about solving the crime at hand. It comes across as a kind of police detective television show where there is always a crime to be solved, but people really watch the show just to see what will happen in the characters' personal lives. Overall, a good mystery, with an exciting conclusion, but perhaps more for the "NYPD Blue" fan, than the "Murder She Wrote" type.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The 1960?s were riotous and pivotal years in both the United States and Europe. This police procedural starring Martin Beck, the notable detective and superintendent of the Stockholm Homicide Squad, captures the political and social unrest of a nation and the world at a time of both great loss and possibility.
The scene is Stockholm, Sweden. ?The time was three minutes past eleven on the evening of the thirteenth of November, 1967? (8). And while hundreds of demonstrators and policemen were finally breaking up outside the American embassy in response to the War in Vietnam, on the other side of town, ?eight murders and one attempted murder were committed in Stockholm? (5).
With their straightforward, frank approach to the detective novel, Sjowall and Wahloo launch the reader into the thick of the homicide squad?s tangled investigation of the worst mass murder in Sweden?s history. The detectives, led by Superintendent Martin Beck, involve themselves in the painstaking and tedious tasks of detection in their concerted attempt to discover the perpetrator of such a heinous act. In doing so, the reader glimpses the emotional predicament that such a life and line of work at this contentious time in history created for these men. They match the brute strength of the police force against the mob of the underworld, straining to preserve humanity in the face of the awful charge of solving a terrible crime.
Though in the end, intelligence and a rough justice do prevail, the final twist of the novel does not come until the final pages. Anyone fan of detective fiction will find themselves entranced by the unique combination of detective procedure and dry, black humor that resonates throughout the pages of this engrossing detective thriller.
By Dave and Joe
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
In this fourth Martin Beck mystery book, he laughs. The Laughing Policeman in the perfect mystery thriller. You are kept guessing right until the last page. A spectacular crime. No clues. I found myself working hard to try and figure out who amongst the victims was 'the' victim. Man, did this was more fun that those 'brain game' books. Have fun, it's a great ride.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe It's Me..........
but this book just didn't float my boat. I like my books hard-boiled and/or noir and The Laughing Policeman failed on both counts; in fact to be honest I didn't even finish it... Read more
Published on Jan 10 2004 by POP
3.0 out of 5 stars
Comfort Food
I picked up "The Laughing Policeman" after seeing it recommended by both the Washington Post's very reliable Michael Dirda and by "The Corrections" author... Read more
Published on Nov 21 2002 by "theloniousb"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome
The fourth book in the Martin Beck series of novels, and one of the best. This is the first one that really begins to lay on the social and political commentary, but never loses... Read more
Published on Sep 27 2002 by daveklein222
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compassionate glimpse into dehumanized officers
The Laughing Policeman will satisfy anyone searching for a classic crime novel with a truly original and engaging storyline, but the most satisfaction comes in its subtle social... Read more
Published on April 11 2002 by Jason Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Laughing Policeman
While "The Laughing Policeman" ostensibly focuses on Sjowall and Wahloo's protagonist Martin Beck, the book truly gains its appeal not solely through the depiction of... Read more
Published on April 9 2002 by Mike Tarasovic
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gruesome Murder
Welcome to Stockholm Sweden the home of vicious murder. The Laughing Policeman begins similarly to a James Patterson novel with a gruesome act of terror and human sacrifice as a... Read more
Published on April 8 2002 by Albert Chou
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Swedish Mistake
The Laughing Policeman, written by Swedish authors May Sjowall and Per Wahloo, is a fascinating journey into the minds and actions of a society built upon an idealist social... Read more
Published on Mar 26 2002 by Leya Speasmaker
4.0 out of 5 stars
A routine police investigation?
Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo's 1968 novel gives readers an insider's view on a group of Stockholm detectives working to uncover the mystery behind an abandoned bus with gunned-down... Read more
Published on Mar 21 2002 by Lottie L. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars
A complicated police procedural
Set against the backdrop of 1960s Socialist Sweden, a gruesome mass killing on a bus shatters the peace of Stockholm. Read more
Published on Mar 8 2002 by Kerry McNabb
4.0 out of 5 stars
Utopia Unraveled
In the traditionally peaceful city of Stockholm around the late 1960's, there occurs an event so shocking that it would grab headlines in the American papers of today. Read more
Published on Mar 7 2002 by Pat
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