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beasley's review against another edition
5.0
I've enjoyed all of these, but this was the best one yet.
avid_d's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favourite in the series. Rather too heavy on the polictical lecturing and too light on the police procedural story.
ginkgotree's review against another edition
Quite enjoyable Swedish mystery, set in the 1970s. It was very satisfying to see how all the pieces fit together and interesting to read about Sweden during that era.
michaelnlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
The Martin Beck police procedural series of ten novels was published in Sweden during the 1960s and 1970s and fairly quickly were translated into English and sold as paperbacks. I own copies of all ten and have read all of them more than once, some of them I suspect more than a dozen times over the years. For me they are a kind of comfort reading.
In January I was on a trip and I read this one over again. I have probably read the last book in the series, The Terrorists, the most even though it is quite a bit different than the books in the rest of the series. The Locked Room has several clever plot aspects to it, including the resolution of a murder that takes place in a locked room (hence the title) which is something of an homage to the history of crime fiction. (Poe's first mystery was solving a murder in a locked room.)
I believe the entire series still reads well today. The husband-and-wife Swedish authors intended to make certain comments about Swedish society at the time they were writing with their novels and 50 years on some of that is interesting to think about in comparison to how things have turned out. The characters are good, with some featured in most if not all the novels and others who only appear for several of the novels (other than Beck, who is always at the center). If one hasn't read any of them it is probably better to read them in order, starting with Roseanna.
My public library now has the entire series available via Overdrive - it is a rare example of fiction that wasn't published in the last say 15-20 years available in this way.
In January I was on a trip and I read this one over again. I have probably read the last book in the series, The Terrorists, the most even though it is quite a bit different than the books in the rest of the series. The Locked Room has several clever plot aspects to it, including the resolution of a murder that takes place in a locked room (hence the title) which is something of an homage to the history of crime fiction. (Poe's first mystery was solving a murder in a locked room.)
I believe the entire series still reads well today. The husband-and-wife Swedish authors intended to make certain comments about Swedish society at the time they were writing with their novels and 50 years on some of that is interesting to think about in comparison to how things have turned out. The characters are good, with some featured in most if not all the novels and others who only appear for several of the novels (other than Beck, who is always at the center). If one hasn't read any of them it is probably better to read them in order, starting with Roseanna.
My public library now has the entire series available via Overdrive - it is a rare example of fiction that wasn't published in the last say 15-20 years available in this way.
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