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macloo's review against another edition
3.0
This is notably less interesting than the four preceding books. The worst thing about it is there is a long explanation at the end of all the missing pieces that (up until then) we didn't have, and they are really not worth it. We have a detective from Malmo who comes to Stockholm and contributes most of that, so it wasn't even our usual bunch of detectives who solved it. (That wasn't as bad as the length of the explanation, though.) There's also a creepy bit concerning his interview with a woman who knew one of the victims — it left me with a bad impression of the Malmo cop.
The ending has a sudden bit of action, and the story concludes even more abruptly than a few of the others.
Here we have a dead man, and later, another dead man, and the detectives can't figure out who killed either of them. As usual, they keep working on the case in spite of the lack of leads. I appreciate the intense sifting of every possible piece of evidence, but it simply goes nowhere until the door-to-door knocking and questioning finally yields one tiny clue. It's still not enough to point to the killer. The worst thing is, I wasn't all that invested in the search because the two dead men are petty criminals, lacking any human connections that would make me yearn to see their killer brought to justice.
The only personal-life parts for Martin Beck involved his older-teen daughter, with whom he has a couple of conversations. I liked those. I also like Benny Skacke, a much younger detective whom the others all regard dismissively, but we see him dogging away at the work, devoted, single-minded, while he dreams of one day being chief of police. He's good, but none of the others will acknowledge that.
The ending has a sudden bit of action, and the story concludes even more abruptly than a few of the others.
Here we have a dead man, and later, another dead man, and the detectives can't figure out who killed either of them. As usual, they keep working on the case in spite of the lack of leads. I appreciate the intense sifting of every possible piece of evidence, but it simply goes nowhere until the door-to-door knocking and questioning finally yields one tiny clue. It's still not enough to point to the killer. The worst thing is, I wasn't all that invested in the search because the two dead men are petty criminals, lacking any human connections that would make me yearn to see their killer brought to justice.
The only personal-life parts for Martin Beck involved his older-teen daughter, with whom he has a couple of conversations. I liked those. I also like Benny Skacke, a much younger detective whom the others all regard dismissively, but we see him dogging away at the work, devoted, single-minded, while he dreams of one day being chief of police. He's good, but none of the others will acknowledge that.
jmeschia's review against another edition
3.0
A solid detective story that I enjoyed. I feel like it was a bit closed off, as in you couldnt piece it together as the book went on like other detective stories. It was very much a “watch it unfold” type deal.
marko68's review against another edition
4.0
“As usual, he was standing to one side, fairly near the door, leaning with his right elbow against a filing cabinet.” p23
The Fire Engine that Disappeared… 5th in the Martin Beck series by dynamic Swedish duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, pioneers of the Scandinavian Noir genre. This is one of my favourite series of all times and curling up with this book is like ‘coming home’, cozy, inviting and immensely satisfying.
While Martin Beck is the name against the series, he takes a back seat for much of this one, allowing a number of other characters to take centre stage. In some ways even the plot takes a back seat to the characters in this one. At the centre of the plot is the unexpected explosion of a set of units on Sköldgatan (or is it Ringvägen 37?), witnessed by police officer, Gunvald Larsson, surveilling the units for possible sighting of notorious Bertil Olofsson. Larsson, who by the way is a cranky and insufferable, quickly becomes the hero of the hour, single-handedly rescuing a number of occupants from the burning building while waiting for the fire engine that seems to be taking forever.
What follows is a manhunt for the above mentioned, in connection with organised theft syndicates, unpacking what caused the explosion, and resolving what happened that the fire engine seemingly disappeared when it should have been on the scene.
This fifth instalment to the series brings Larsson and fellow policeman, Lennart Kollberg to the fore, antagonistic and sarcastic, always ready to trade insults with each other. We continue to get to know Martin Beck, unhappy at home, always seeming to have a cold and upset stomach, generally depressive, everything that I love about a Scandi Noir detective character.
And in the midst of everything, Sjöwall and Wahlöö, still manage to make social comment about America and Vietnam as per… “instead, they were handled by people who thought Rhodesia was somewhere near Tasmania and that it was illegal to burn the American flag but positively praiseworthy to blow your nose on the Vietnamese.” P167 and the Greek military junta and political prisoners.. I love this about this series. A social commentary on the day and age through Sjöwall and Wahlöö’s socialist Marxist lens.
This is a 5 star series.. this one a 4 star read.
The Fire Engine that Disappeared… 5th in the Martin Beck series by dynamic Swedish duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, pioneers of the Scandinavian Noir genre. This is one of my favourite series of all times and curling up with this book is like ‘coming home’, cozy, inviting and immensely satisfying.
While Martin Beck is the name against the series, he takes a back seat for much of this one, allowing a number of other characters to take centre stage. In some ways even the plot takes a back seat to the characters in this one. At the centre of the plot is the unexpected explosion of a set of units on Sköldgatan (or is it Ringvägen 37?), witnessed by police officer, Gunvald Larsson, surveilling the units for possible sighting of notorious Bertil Olofsson. Larsson, who by the way is a cranky and insufferable, quickly becomes the hero of the hour, single-handedly rescuing a number of occupants from the burning building while waiting for the fire engine that seems to be taking forever.
What follows is a manhunt for the above mentioned, in connection with organised theft syndicates, unpacking what caused the explosion, and resolving what happened that the fire engine seemingly disappeared when it should have been on the scene.
This fifth instalment to the series brings Larsson and fellow policeman, Lennart Kollberg to the fore, antagonistic and sarcastic, always ready to trade insults with each other. We continue to get to know Martin Beck, unhappy at home, always seeming to have a cold and upset stomach, generally depressive, everything that I love about a Scandi Noir detective character.
And in the midst of everything, Sjöwall and Wahlöö, still manage to make social comment about America and Vietnam as per… “instead, they were handled by people who thought Rhodesia was somewhere near Tasmania and that it was illegal to burn the American flag but positively praiseworthy to blow your nose on the Vietnamese.” P167 and the Greek military junta and political prisoners.. I love this about this series. A social commentary on the day and age through Sjöwall and Wahlöö’s socialist Marxist lens.
This is a 5 star series.. this one a 4 star read.
eischwartz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
tfitoby's review against another edition
3.0
What a fabulous title this one has, conjuring images of a ghostlike fire engine speeding in the dark, its sirens blazing, the blue and red flashing lights reflected off of the wet tarmac suddenly no longer illuminating the night. A huge mystery is on our hands this time Mr Beck.
This is part five of the ten book sequence of The Story of a Crime and it is as fascinating and intriguing as ever. Not so much for the mystery at the heart of this one but the police procedural nature of it all, the growing insight in to the lives of the many protagonists and the statement on Swedish society at the time.
A man kills himself, Martin Beck's name is found written in his apartment, later that same night a house inhabited by a suspect in a car theft ring explodes in a ball of flames. Gunvald Larsson saves many lives and an investigation as labyrinthine as any Sjowall & Wahloo have concocted to date ensues.
This is far from an ideal starting place for this series for those of you considering jumping in, it is a very deliberate exploration of characters and situations already established in which the crime is backgrounded and not even particularly interesting as far as the series has gone to date. I very much doubt whether you would take as much pleasure in this as veterans of the sequence.
The characters are what make this one, Martin Beck may have his name on the series but once more he is a peripheral figure with his own domestic problems keeping him busy. The evolution of this character throughout the series is a major statement on the direction of Swedish society and as such he deserves to be the most famous of the group of individuals investigating murder in Stockholm. Beck aside we are treated to Gunvald Larsson as hero of the press, Kollberg not taking an interest in anything, a new recruit Skacke, a second appearance from Mansson of Malmo, Ronn more interested in spending time with his family than thinking about murder and a chief of department with his eyes firmly on retirement. No wonder this case isn't solved in the space of an episode of CSI.
As enjoyable as these characters are and as fascinating I find their slow and methodical nature of crime solving, this book does seem to suffer from missing that central core of exciting mystery that the other books in the series contain.
Part 1: Roseanna
Part 2: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke
Part 3: The Man On The Balcony
Part 4: The Laughing Policeman
This is part five of the ten book sequence of The Story of a Crime and it is as fascinating and intriguing as ever. Not so much for the mystery at the heart of this one but the police procedural nature of it all, the growing insight in to the lives of the many protagonists and the statement on Swedish society at the time.
A man kills himself, Martin Beck's name is found written in his apartment, later that same night a house inhabited by a suspect in a car theft ring explodes in a ball of flames. Gunvald Larsson saves many lives and an investigation as labyrinthine as any Sjowall & Wahloo have concocted to date ensues.
This is far from an ideal starting place for this series for those of you considering jumping in, it is a very deliberate exploration of characters and situations already established in which the crime is backgrounded and not even particularly interesting as far as the series has gone to date. I very much doubt whether you would take as much pleasure in this as veterans of the sequence.
The characters are what make this one, Martin Beck may have his name on the series but once more he is a peripheral figure with his own domestic problems keeping him busy. The evolution of this character throughout the series is a major statement on the direction of Swedish society and as such he deserves to be the most famous of the group of individuals investigating murder in Stockholm. Beck aside we are treated to Gunvald Larsson as hero of the press, Kollberg not taking an interest in anything, a new recruit Skacke, a second appearance from Mansson of Malmo, Ronn more interested in spending time with his family than thinking about murder and a chief of department with his eyes firmly on retirement. No wonder this case isn't solved in the space of an episode of CSI.
As enjoyable as these characters are and as fascinating I find their slow and methodical nature of crime solving, this book does seem to suffer from missing that central core of exciting mystery that the other books in the series contain.
Part 1: Roseanna
Part 2: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke
Part 3: The Man On The Balcony
Part 4: The Laughing Policeman
beckybosshart's review against another edition
5.0
I love these books so much. I feel like something is wrong with everyone else in the world who have not binge read Sjowall and Wahloo.
tanjis's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
freemti's review against another edition
More Nordic crime drama, more quality plots, more well developed characters each with their own styles and enough plot surprises to keep you interested. Clear no fuss writing style that still carries a occasional taste of sardonic humor and cynicism.
kris_mccracken's review against another edition
5.0
Christ, I love the Martin Beck books. I'm rationing myself knowing that there only a few left in the series to go.
This one - like the others - is a pearler. Perhaps funnier than the earlier series, it's still a cold, dark place there in late-60s Stockholm.
Magnificent.
This one - like the others - is a pearler. Perhaps funnier than the earlier series, it's still a cold, dark place there in late-60s Stockholm.
Magnificent.
yurgle's review against another edition
4.0
A Swedish police procedural featuring Martin Beck. Very detailed and steadily paced. I enjoyed it.