The Martin Beck Mysteries

The Laughing Policeman

Published by G K Hall & Co

Publication date: July 1993

ISBN: 0816157677

This is one of only two Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö that my library has. It is a large print book. This is the first time I have ever read a large print book. It's not unpleasant or impractical to have something in large print. However, if the standard of copyediting is as bad on all large print editions as it was on this one, I feel sorry for people who need to read the large print editions.

I immediately warmed up to the authors' talent for characterization. They do not show perfect people. They really humanize the Stockholm cops. In chapter 3, we meet Kristiansson and Kvant, Solna patrolmen just trying to make it through the last hour of their shift. I loved the way Kristiansson tries to avoid hassle by escorting a drunk to his home and putting him to bed, rather than taking him down to the drunk tank. Kvant tries to take a route back to the station house that skirts eventful neighborhoods. These aren't portrayed as evil traits, just lazy - just human.

I sort of dreaded reading the book because I just don't dig mysteries, however it was this consistent humanization of the many actors that contributed to my enjoyment of this book. I also like the fact that we don't have one "star" detective. Although Martin Beck's name is blazoned on the cover, he actually shares the detective chores with a number of characters at the Kungsholmen Police Headquarters. The story hops from viewpoint to viewpoint. Some might find this omniscient third-person narration impersonal, but I found that by not sticking with one character, the reader can get to know, and sympathize with, many characters.

The book starts with a mass murder of 9 people aboard a double-decker bus in Stockholm. This would be noteworthy in the U.S. but is incredibly shocking in Sweden. Martin Beck and his co-workers are in charge of finding out who the killer is, keeping the press at bay, and reassuring the public that they aren't in danger of being shot down any time they take public transit. They have an even greater motive for finding out who the culprit is - one of the victims was an off-duty police officer, one of the younger men on the force.

I got a better sense of how class works in Sweden as a result of reading this book. Of course, I will check it out with Swedes and people who have lived there for a while, but it sure blew a hole in my utopian view of Sweden. I also liked the very healthy, non-fetishistic treatment of sex in this book. American mysteries would be so much more likely to highlight the sex, make it steamy and kinky and noirish. Not that there's anything really wrong with that...it's just so much more refreshing to see it treated as a healthy activity and a way that one has fun and expresses love for another. It's not commercialized here.

If the logic and mystery is the main thing you read mysteries for, this book probably isn't for you. If you like seeing real people act in human ways, laced with foibles and fortes, pick up The Laughing Policeman. I especially recommend it to anyone interested in Swedish culture.

One recommendation for those who read this book - if you aren't a native Stockholmer, have a map of Stockholm ready. Since I chose to read this book so that I could get a better handle on Swedish society, I wanted to be aware of the different places they went to and which were considered good neighborhoods and which were considered bad (at least in 1968).

More information on Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö , albeit in Swedish.

Last modified on 6/26/98