The sixth book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s – the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime writing.

Hugely acclaimed, the Martin Beck series were the original Scandinavian crime novels and have inspired the writings of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo.

Written in the 1960s, 10 books completed in 10 years, they are the work of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö – a husband and wife team from Sweden. They follow the fortunes of the detective Martin Beck, whose enigmatic, taciturn character has inspired countless other policemen in crime fiction. The novels can be read separately, but are best read in chronological order, so the reader can follow the characters’ development and get drawn into the series as a whole. Each book has a new introduction in order to help bring these books to a new audience.

Book blurb

When Viktor Palmgren, a powerful industrialist, is casually shot during an after-dinner speech, the repercussions – both on the international money markets and on the residents of the small coastal town of Malmö – are widespread. Chief Inspector Martin Beck is called in to help catch a killer nobody, not even the victim, was able to identify. He begins a systemic search for the friends, enemies, business associates and call girls who may have wanted Palmgren dead – but in the process he finds to his dismay that he has nothing but contempt for the victim and sympathy for the murderer…

My thoughts

A man walks into a restaurant in the Savoy hotel takes out a gun shoots a man and exits through an open window. It all happens so quickly that nobody is able to describe the shooter other than in very general terms. The victim, Viktor Palmgren, dies later in hospital.

The Savoy Hotel is in Malmö a coastal city in southern Sweden it is closer to Copenhagen, ferries frequently travel between them, than it is to Stockholm. The (in)famous bridge was not yet built.

Detective Inspector Månsson is not on duty nevertheless he is called out to the scene where first assistant Detective Bucklund had already arrived. The scene is full of uniformed officers, staff and customers milling around the lobby whilst Bucklund is questioning witnesses. The ambulance had arrived before the police and was taking Palmgren to hospital.

Månsson takes charge, the case had got off to a bad start. When Benny Skacke, assistant Detective, arrives he is put to work questioning and releasing witnesses along with Bucklund. Most of the uniformed officers are released to other work.

Palmgren is a well connected, rich businessman and with little to go on the case is a slow one. Palmgren dies and it’s now a murder investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Beck from Stockholm is brought in with a remit to get the case resolved quickly. Not sure how he will do that any better than the Malmö police still as directed he joins the investigation.

This is a very good example police procedural and investigation. The authors, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, are known for being the founders, if you will, of Nordic Noir crime fiction in Sweden. The Martin Beck series consists of ten books written from 1960 to 1969 and published from the mid sixties until the tenth book in 1975. The Murder at the Savoy was originally published in 1970.

The authors Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö – a husband and wife team – had the idea of writing one book and then splitting it into ten sections or individual books each having thirty chapters and they would write alternate chapters. This work would reflect a modern Sweden with all its faults in society including the police. They were both left wing in their political leanings and set out deliberately to use the detective novel as a work for social criticism, abuses of power and the systematic use of propaganda in society.

In The Murder at the Savoy it is certainly clear that Sjöwall and Wahlöö are using the characters and situations to make their point however, perhaps because I’m reading it some fifty plus years after it was written when it is not so unusual to have such observations in books of this genre (crime fiction as a whole), it did not stand out as much as it must have done when published. Indeed what stood out more and placed the book absolutely in the late 1960s were things like smoking inside and the inability to make and receive calls since commercial mobile phones would not be available until the mid 1980s. I also noticed that, even with a female co-author, the language and assumptions around the female characters especially Helen Hansson – at the time this wouldn’t be unique/unusual – now stands out. It’s interesting that whilst the language used about women and women characters these days has become a little less sexist the way women are treated, the assumptions around women hasn’t changed quite so much as we see from the constant stream of news items on abuse, misogyny and so on.

This is the first Martin Beck book that I have read and I enjoyed reading Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s The Murder at the Savoy. Even though it is the sixth in the series it was fine to read. Of course, regarding the journey of the continuing characters it’s always good to start with the first in a series.

All the books were made into films, TV series, Radio dramas although the 1997 BBC series can no longer be viewed other versions are available on BBC Radio, Apple, Prime Video etc.

Book: Purchased

1970 Club

Hosted by Simon at stuckinabook and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings this is a relaxing challenge simply read a book published in 1970 and share your thoughts on it wherever you usually do so and then pop your link on either Simon or Karen’s link page or simply leave your thoughts in one of their comment box. Engage as much as or want or can, read as much as you want or can over the week. You can use the hashtag #1970Club on social media should you wish to.

Information

Published: Harper Perennial (3 April 2009) ASIN: ‎B002UZ5JK4 | 242 pp

4th Estate/HarperCollins Publishers (1 September 2011) | EAN/UPC 9780007439164 | This 4th Estate edition published in 2016 | ISBN: 9780007439164 | ISBN 10: 0007439164 | 288pp

This translation first published by Random House Inc, New York, in 1971 | Originally published in Sweden by P. A. Norstedt & Söners Forlag Copyright text © Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö 1970 | Copyright introduction © Arne Dahl 2009

Buy: Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | AmazonSmileUK | Hive | HarperCollins | Your local bookshop | Your local library

The Real Story of the Bridge by Justin Parkinson (BBC News Magazine)

From bricks to bendables: 40 years of Mobile Phones (Archivesit.org.uk)

Not All Men, but Virtually All Women by Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds.

me too.movement – “global, and survivor-led, movement against sexual violence, we are dedicated to creating pathways for healing, justice, action and leadership. If your life was forever changed by sexual violence, you are not alone. Wherever you are in your healing journey, we are here to help.”

Martin Beck (BBC radio 4) | Beck (Apple TV series) | Beck (Prime Video – not all series available in U.K.) | Beck (BBC Four – no longer available) | All Martin Beck Films (IMDb)

Authors

Per Wahlöö was born August 5, 1926 in Göteborg, the son of Waldemar and Karin (Svensson) Wahlöö. After graduating from the University of Lund in 1946, he worked as a journalist, covering criminal and social issues for a number of newspapers and magazines. In the 1950s Wahlöö was engaged in radical political causes, activities that resulted in his deportation from Franco’s Spain in 1957. After returning to Sweden, he wrote a number of television and radio plays, and was managing editor of several magazines, before becoming a full-time writer. Wahloo died at the age of 49 just as their 10th book was going to press.

Per Wahlöö (authorscalender.info) | Per Wahlöö obituary (New York Times)

Maj Sjowall was a poet. Born September 25, 1935 in Stockholm, the daughter of Will Sjöwall, Margit Trobäck Sjöwall. studied journalism and graphics. She worked as a translator and art director, and as a journalist for Swedish magazines and newspapers. She did not want to continue the Beck series after Per Wahlöö died but continued to live in Sweden and to work as a writer and translator until her death in 2020.

Maj Sjowall Obituary (The Guardian) | Maj Sjowall dies (The Guardian) |Maj Sjöwall (authorscalendar.info)

Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are widely regarded as the godparents of Scandinavian crime fiction. Both left-wing journalists, they met in 1961 and together created the Martin Beck crime series, famously writing alternate chapters at night after putting their children to bed. Wahlöö died at the age of 49 just as their tenth book was going to press. Sjöwall currently lives in Sweden and continues to work as a writer and translator. They won the esteemed Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Crime Fiction Book in 1971. The Martin Beck series has gone on to sell over ten million copies and has been translated into 35 languages. (2011)

MAJ SJÖWALL AND PER WAHLÖÖ: A Crime Writers Guide to the Classics

Per Wahlöö books in order (book series’s order.com)

Books – Martin Beck series

Roseanna
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
The Man on the Balcony
The Laughing Policeman
The Fire Engine that Disappeared
The Abominable Man
The Locked Room
Cop Killer
The Terrorists