The Thirty-First Floor by Peter Wahlöö (a.k.a. Per Wahlöö)

(pb; 1966, a.k.a. Murder on the 31^st Floor. First book in the Inspector Jensen duology.)

From the back cover

“In a chill Northern country, the welfare state has crushed the population’s spirit, eradicated its individuality. Rebellion is unknown. Suddenly, a tremor of unfamiliar terror is felt when a bomb is announced to explode in the skyscraper office of a powerful, mind-polluting publisher. Chief Inspector Jensen is directed to apprehend the terrorist within a week. Following a series of misleading trails and false confessions, he, himself, is forced to become a cold-blooded murderer. His crime reveals the truth about the thirty-first floor.”

Review

Thirty-First reads like George Orwell’s 1984 structured as a police procedural, with prose that is as bareboned as Richard Stark’s twenty-four-book Parker series. Its protagonist, Chief Inspector Jensen is a cipher─unemotional, hyper-focused and efficient as a robot─as he investigates a bomb threat to an influential and groupthink-pushing publishing company. Every suspect he talks to brings him closer to disturbing truths that shatter up his automaton-like existence, even as the deadline for his investigation wrap-up looms closer and closer. All of these elements─sketched-out characters, waste-no-words writing, fast pacing, etc., slowly ratchet up the tension to a stunning end-line that made me want to re-read Thirty-First in the near future, with the knowledge gleaned from having read it before. This is a great, chilling and classic (in the good sense, not just older) read, one of the few books that I intend to keep in my collection.

Followed by The Steel Spring.

Jar City, by Arnaldur Indriđason

(hb; 2000, 2004: third* book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder. . . *The first two books, Sons of Dust [1997] and Silent Kill [1998], haven't been translated from the Icelandic to English yet.)


From the inside flap:

"When a lonely old man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur, who heads the investigation team, discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of an unsolved crime. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him?

"As the team of detectives reopen this very cold case, Inspector Erlendur uncovers secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man - secrets that have been carefully guarded by many people for many years. As he follows a fascinating trail of unusual forensic evidence, Erlendur also confronts stubborn personal conflicts that reveal his own depth and complexity of character."


Review:

Jar City is an excellent, focused police procedural with engaging (and succinctly drawn) characters, riveting action and equally riveting case-based revelations.

Comparisons between Indriđason's Reykjavik Thrillers and the ten-book Martin Beck Mysteries have been repeatedly made, and rightly so: both are reader-grabbing-from-the-git-go, character-progressive and humane reads.

Worth owning, this.

Followed by Silence of the Grave.

#

The first film version was released in Iceland on October 20, 2006.

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðson, billed as Ingvar E. Sigurðson, played Erlendur. Áugústa Eva Erlendóttir played Eva Lind. Björn Hlynir Haraldsson played Sigurður Óli. Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir played Elínborg. Þorstenn Gunnarsson played Holberg. Theodór Júlíusson played Elliði. Kristbjörg Kjeld played Katrín. Þórunn Magnea Magnúsdóttir played Elín. Guðmunda Elíasdóttir played Theodóra.

Baltasar Komákur directed and scripted the film.

#

An American remake is scheduled to hit theatrical screens sometime in 2012. Michael Ross is set to script the film.

When more remake information becomes available, I'll update this book review.

The Terrorists, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(pb; 1975, 1976: tenth/final book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Joan Tate.)

From the back cover:

"First Detective Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm National Police is in charge of security for a visiting U.S. senator whom a group of international terrorists is determined to assassinate. At the same time he becomes involved with the murder of a millionaire porno filmmaker and the misadventures of a young Swedish girl caught in the toils of bureaucratic red tape. As the terrorists move closer to their goal. . . Beck himself is faced with what appears to be imminent death."

Review:

One year after the investigations of Cop Killer, Martin Beck is faced with an unfamiliar task: protecting a visiting, highly unpopular American Senator from being assassinated, as well as investigate the murder of a pornographer.

Like the rest of the books in the Martin Beck Mysteries, The Terrorists deftly balances multiple, returning characters - including Åsa Torrell (first seen in The Laughing Policeman) - and multiple storylines that may or may not be connected.

Sjöwall and Wahlöö's balancing act also extends to the pacing of The Terrorists, as well as the plot-twisty moods of it: edge-o'-your-seat suspense, familiar-character warmth, Keystone Kop-esque quirkiness, gripping action, and tight writing-plotting.

The Martin Beck Mysteries are worth owning. This police procedural series is easily one of my all-time favorite series - mystery and otherwise - and I'm sad to have finished reading them.

•

The resulting direct-to-video film, Stockholm Marathon, was released in Sweden on July 1, 1994.

Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Benny Skacke. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Malm.

Corinna Harfouch played Monica Lundin. Mats Huddén played Hellström. Thomas Anders played Ypsilon. Kjell Lennartsson played Walter Petrus. Anna Godenius played Mrs. Petrus.

An uncredited Maj Sjöwall, who also co-wrote the novel and the screenplay, played the uncredited role of "Woman with starting pistol".

Peter Keglevic directed the film, from a screenplay by the aforementioned Maj Sjöwall, Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.

Cop Killer, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1974, 1975: ninth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal.)

Review:

Warning: possible series spoilers in this review.

The year: 1973.

Martin Beck, now a happy boyfriend to Rhea Nielsen (first seen in The Locked Room), has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of a thirty-something divorcée, Sigbrid Mård, in a border town (Domme).

Beck's boss (the ineffectual Malm) gives Beck this case because its main suspect is familiar to many cops in Beck's Stockholm unit - Folke Bengtsson.

It's been nine years since Beck and his men arrested Bengtsson for the murder of Roseanna McGraw, and it looks like Bengtsson, who spent seven and a half years in prison, may have kidnapped - probably killed - Sigbrit Mård.

With the help of Herrgott Allwright, an easy-going local cop, Åke Gunnarson (now working under the name Åke Boman, and last seen in The Fire Engine That Disappeared), and his home-based Stockholm unit, Beck begins the tedious process of sussing out who made the divorcée disappear.

Authors Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö inject, as they often do, a second storyline into this work: a cop has been shot, and another inadvertantly killed, by two suspects, one of whom escaped.

Malm (Beck's PR-obsessed, pompous boss) heads up a task force to find these killers, a task force that includes Lennart Kollberg (Beck's best friend and fellow cop), who's having a crisis of conscience about his job.

All the dynamics that make this police procedural series rock - timely politics, involving/evolving characters and situations, lean yet warm writing, and underlying philosophical/morality issues -- are present in this work, imbuing this Martin Beck entry not only with charm and smarts, but series-changing events.

Worth owning, this, as is the whole series.

Followed by The Terrorists.

•

The resulting direct-to-video film, The Police Murderer, was released in Sweden on January 12, 1994.

Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Malm.

Tomas Norström played Herrgott Nöjd (the film equivalent of Herrgott Allwright?). Johan Widerberg played Kaspar. Anica Dobra played Kia. Heinz Hoenig played Captain Mård. Agneta Ekmanner played Greta Hjelm. Stig Engström played Kaj Sundström. Anne-Li Norberg played Sigbrit Mård. Pia Green played Cecilia Sundström.

An uncredited Maj Sjöwall, who also co-wrote the novel and the screenplay, made a cameo in the film, though the IMDB link doesn't name her role.

Peter Keglevic directed the film, from a screenplay by the aforementioned Maj Sjöwall, Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.

The Locked Room, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1972, 1973: eighth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Paul Britten Austin.)

Review:

Fifteen months after the events of The Abominable Man, Martin Beck and his team encounter two strange cases.

Their first case involves Karl Edvin Svärd, an elderly man whose moldering corpse is found in a triple-locked room with a bullet lodged in his chest - initially thought to be an odd suicide, it now seems to be more than that.

Their second case involves a bank robbery (and subsequent murder) that appears to been have committed by memorable woman (who may've been a man in disguise). This robbery, and Svärd's murder, which may or may not be linked, both foreshadow equally notable crimes, in a season where Vietnam War protests and a depressed economy are birthing an upswing in crime, especially bank robberies.

The Locked Room is as excellent, twist-pretzeled and personable as the other Martin Beck Mysteries.

Worth owning, this.

Followed by Cop Killer.

•

The film version of The Locked Room was released in the Netherlands on September 2, 1993.

Jan Decleir played Martin Beck. Els Dottermans played Monita. Warre Borgmans played "Winter / Waterman". Jakob Beks played Fisher. Geert de Jong played Roza Moreels. Josse De Pauw played Gilles. Sien Eggers, billed as Stien Eggers, played Ella.

Jacob Bijl directed and scripted the film.

The Abominable Man, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1971, 1972: seventh book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal.)


From the inside flap:

"The bloody murder of a police captain in his hospital room exposes the particularly unsavory history of a man who spent forty years practicing brutality and force. As this story unfolds, Martin Beck and his colleagues scour Stockholm for the murderer, a demented and deadly rifleman, who finally stages a terrifying scene of chaos and revenge against the police. As the tension builds and a feeling of impending danger and doom settles on Martin Beck, an even stronger sense of responsibility and something like shame urge him into taking drastic steps on his own which lead to shocking disaster."

Review:

Sjöwall and Wahlöö vary the pace of the series with The Abominable Man, a novel that favors action over time-consuming police investigations. Thankfully, the husband-and-wife writing team don't sacrifice any of the pathos, humor or other interactions of Beck and his men to do so.

This is a riveting, charming read. Worth owning, too - as are the preceding Martin Beck novels.

Followed by The Locked Room.

•

The resulting film, titled Man on the Roof, was released in Sweden on October 1, 1976. It was released stateside in April 1977.

Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt, billed as Carl Gustaf Lindstedt, played Martin Beck. Sven Wollter played Lenart Kollberg. Thomas Hellberg played Gunvald Larsson. Håkan Serner played Einar Rönn.

Torgny Anderberg (who also appeared in Roseanna, as a different character) played Malm. Folke Hjort played Melander.

Birgitta Valberg played Mrs. Nyman. Harald Hamrell played Stefan Nyman. Carl-Axel Heiknert, billed as Carl Axel Heiknert, played Palmon Harald Hult. Ingvar Hirdwall, billed as Ingvar Hirdvall, played Åke Eriksson. Bellan Roos played Mrs. Eriksson. Gus Dahlström played Mr. Eriksson.

Bo Widerberg scripted and directed the film.

Murder at the Savoy, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1971: sixth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Amy & Ken Knoespel.)

From the inside flap:

"Accustomed as he was to public speaking, powerful Swedish industrialist Viktor Palmgren had no idea that his after-dinner speech in elegant Hotel Savoy would be so rudely interrupted that warm summer evening. Suddenly, in the midst of Palmgren's entertaining remarks, an uninvited guest pulled a blue-steel object from his pocket, shot the speaker in the head, and disappeared through an open window. No one in the restaurant was able to identify the gunman, and local police were sheepishly baffled. Enter: Chief Inspector Martin Beck, of the National Homicide Squad. . . and his dogged fellow detectives of Sweden's National Police."

Review:

Another excellent, taut mystery from the Martin Beck series, sporting all the charm, quirkiness and cleverness of the preceding novels.

Worth owning, this.

Followed by The Abominable Man.

•

The video film was released on October 6, 1993 in Sweden.

Per Berglund directed the film, from a script by Rainer Berg, Jonas Cornell, Pelle Berglund (aka Per Berglund, the director), Beate Langmaack and book co-author Maj Sjöwall.

Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised his role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Malm.

Ingvar Andersson played Per Månsson. Lena Nilsson played Åsa Thorell. Birger Österberg reprised his role of Kvant. P.G. Hylén reprised his role of Kristiansson.

Claes Sylwander played Viktor Palmgren. Görel Crona played Charlotte Palmgren. Marie Richardson played Helena Hansson. Arthur Brauss played Jürgen Hoffman. Reine Brynolfsson played Hampus Broberg. Anders Ekborg played Mats Linder. Lena T. Hansson, billed as Lena T. Hanson, played "Grunvald's Sister". Tommy Johnson played Bertil Svensson.

An uncredited Stellan Skarsgård played "Security manager at Palmgrens Company".

The Fire Engine That Disappeared, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1970: fifth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Joan Tate.)

From the inside flap:

"The cunning incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment house one cold winter night not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building's eleven occupants. And if one of police commissioner Martin Beck's colleagues hadn't been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe -- since, for reasons nobody could satisfactorily explain -- the fire department didn't arrive until too late.

"How could a regulation-sized ladder tuck vanish in the center of Stockholm? 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'?"

Review:

The Fire Engine That Disappeared is plot-tight, wry and thrilling as its series predecessors, with continued, almost quirky, focus on its Beck and his team of investigators' lives as they piece together, through luck and hard work, what happened the night a local man committed suicide and a fire truck vanished.

Worth owning, this.

Followed by Murder At The Savoy.

•

The video film was released on July 2, 1993 in Sweden. Hajo Gies directed the film, from a script by Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.

Gösta Ekman played Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist played Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård played Gunvald Larsson. Ing-Marie Carlsson played Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström played Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström played Skacke. Birger Österberg played Kvant. P.G. Hylén played Kristiansson.

Torgny Anderberg played Evald Hammar. Rolf Jenner played Max Karlsson. An uncredited Anita Ekström played Inga Beck.

An uncredited Maj Sjöwall, who co-authored the film's source novel, played "Woman Next To Beck on Plane".

The Laughing Policeman, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(pb; 1970: fourth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair.)

From the back cover:

"On a bitter cold and rainy night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin in Stockholm. It seems a random crime, and the press, anxious for any explanation, dubs him a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck of the Homicide Squad suspects otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck's best detectives -- and he, surely, wouldn't have been on that lethal bus without a reason."

Review:

Plot- and writing-taut, unpredictable and thrilling as its series predecessors, The Laughing Policeman is my favorite Martin Beck Mystery thus far, largely because of the strangeness of the crime, and an equally-strange mystery: why was one of Beck's detectives -- who normally didn't take public transport -- on that particular bus?

Worth owning, this.

Followed by The Fire Engine That Disappeared.

•

The Laughing Policeman, the film, was released stateside on December 20, 1973.

Walter Matthau played Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD. Bruce Dern played Insp. Leo Larsen SFPD. Louis Gossett Jr., billed as Lou Gossett, played Insp. James Larrimore. Anthony Zerbe played Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD. Val Avery played Insp. John Pappas SFPD.

Cathy Lee Crosby played Kay Butler. Joanna Cassidy played "Monica, Beth's Roommate". Paul Koslo played "Duane Haygood, Drug Pusher".

Stuart Rosenberg directed the film, from a script by Thomas Rickman.

The Man On The Balcony, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(pb; 1967: third book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair.)

From the back cover:

"In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing of their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendant, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three-year-old boy. The police force works night and day, but their efforts have offered little insight into the whereabouts of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck's mind, and he finally may have the break he needs."

Review:

This is an especially vicious, high-profile case for Beck and his crew: a child rapist-murder is on the loose, accruing victims at an increasingly acelerated rate. Of course, the media is having a field day reporting the crimes, and the public is demanding that the rapist-murderer get caught, pronto.

There are few revelations in this disquieting, hard to put down read, but Balcony doesn't need any revelations. Balcony is solid, logical, character-rich and -expansive, its action and pseudo-twists revolving around many of its core/series characters.

Another excellent entry in the Martin Beck Mysteries.

Followed by The Laughing Policeman.

•

A film version of The Man On The Balcony was released in Sweden on November 26, 1993.

Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.


Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-authored with Jonas Cornell (based on Rainer Berg's treatment-story).

The Man Who Went Up In Smoke, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(hb; 1966: second book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Joan Tate.)

From the inside flap:

"This new adventure of the dedicated Swedish policeman Martin Beck begins as a long, leisurely summer holiday is cut off by the top brass at the Foreign Office who decide to pack him off to Budapest. The mission turns out to be one of the most exasperating assignments in Beck's entire career: the search for Alf Matsson, a well-known journalist who has vanished without a trace.

"On this trail of this hard-drinking Swedish newsman, Martin Beck investigates some curious East European underworld characters and -- at the risk of his life -- stumbles upon a flourishing international racket in which Matsson was involved. Yet even after an exhaustive search along the banks of the Danube, Martin Beck still cannot produce the missing man. Gradually some remarkably efficient policemen in Budapest -- and his own hard-working colleagues at home in Stockholm -- help Martin Beck convert this wild-goose chase into a coolly systematic manhunt. .."

Review:

Lean, addictive, and word-spare as its predecessor novel, Roseanna, Smoke is a character-expansive, lighter-in-tone follow-up to that source novel.

Check it out.

Followed by The Man On The Balcony.

•

A film version of The Man Who Went Up In Smoke was released in Sweden on December 25, 1980.

Derek Jacobi played Martin Beck. Thomas Oredsson played Alf Mattson. Judy Winter played Aina Mattson. Ferenc Bács played Inspector Szluke. Lasse Strömstedt played Kollberg. Krisztina Peremartoni played Ari. Sándor Szabó played Mr. Sós.

Péter Bacsó directed the film, from a screenplay written by Wolfgang Mühlbauer.

Roseanna, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

(pb; 1965: first book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Lois Roth.)

From the back cover:

"On a July afternoon, the body of a young woman is dredged from Sweden's beautiful Lake Vättern. Three weeks later, all that Police Inspector Martin Beck knows is that her name is Roseanna, that she came from Lincoln, Nebraska, and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people. As the melancholic Beck narrows down the list of likely suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for the casual sexual encounter, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive -- indeed, terrifying -- sense of propriety."

Review:

Solid, tautly-penned police procedural that thrills with its spare descriptions of Beck and his fellow cops as they slowly piece together what happened to Roseanna McGraw, a visiting American who had a fatal encounter with a murderer. Despite the authors' acknowledgements of time passing, their writing is quick, days passing in as little as two sentences, months experienced in a paragraph.

The tone of the novel is melancholic, steeped in mundane but telling details and moods; excellent authors that they are, Sjöwall and Wahlöö make this work for their narrative, as they steadily increase the tension of the tale for an emotionally-explosive, exciting finish.

Excellent novel, this. Promising start to the Martin Beck Police Mysteries.

Followed by The Man Who Went Up In Smoke.

#

Two movies resulted from Roseanna.

The original Roseanna was released in Sweden on August 14, 1967.

Keve Hjelm played Martin Beck. Tor Isedal played Gunnar Ahlberg. Gio Petré played Roseanna. Michael Tolan played Elmer B. Kafka. Kersten Tidelius played Sonja Hansson. Leif Liljeroth played Stenström. Mona Malm played Siv Lundberg. Hans Ernback played Folke Bengtsson.

Hans Abramson scripted and directed the film.

#

The filmed-out-of-series-order remake was released on video in Sweden on October 6, 1993.

Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.

Ingvar Andersson reprised his role of Per Månsson. Lena Nilsson reprised her role of Åsa Thorell. Torgny Anderberg reprised his role of Evald Hammar. Anita Ekström, this time credited, reprised her role of Inga Beck. Birger Österberg reprised his role of Kvant. P.G. Hylén reprised his role of Kristiansson.

Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-wrote with book co-author Maj Sjöwall, Jonas Cornell, Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.