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lou1sb's review against another edition
5.0
This book made me want to do three things: 1. Go back to Budapest, 2. Drink a lot of beer and smoke a lot of bad Hungarian cigarettes and 3. Buy the next book in the series. Oh and it also made me want to watch Hitchcock films and not study for my mid-semester tomorrow.
mlafaive's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
The Man Who Went up in Smoke is the second novel by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö in the Martin Beck series. In this one, Martin--a policeman through and through--gives up his summer holiday with his family to try and track down a missing journalist and avoid an international incident. He finds himself leaving his island off the coast of Sweden to head to Hungary to search for Alf Matsson who has vanished without a trace from his hotel in Budapest. Matsson checked into the hotel, spent a whole half hour in his room, and walked out of the hotel never to be seen again. Martin follows up clues that lead him through the Eastern underworld and finds him in contact with some very shady journalists. Officials in Hungary seem to want to believe that Matsson is just playing tourist. But Martin refuses to believe that the journalist would have walked off without his passport and the large sum of money hidden in his luggage. But has Matsson disappeared by his own design or has he met foul play? That's what Martin must discover.
This is an interesting story about a detective out of his comfort zone. Martin has to operate in another country--without the resources of his police colleagues to help in the immediate action. He does contact his department to follow up what leads they can back in Sweden, but he is on his own in Hungary. At least until he wins the trust of the local officials. I enjoyed this story in a different way from the other Martin Beck novels I've read so far. It was interesting to see him on his own and to read the descriptions of Hungary and the comparisons to Sweden. It was a nice one-off story. But I have to say that given the choice--I prefer the interactions between Martin and his colleagues to Martin on his own and I wouldn't want to read an entire series that focused on Martin by himself.
The mystery sets Martin a fine little puzzle and it's interesting to watch him follow the leads. There were a couple of leaps in deduction that caught me unawares and it took me a bit to catch up with our detective--but overall, a good solid story. Three stars.
This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
This is an interesting story about a detective out of his comfort zone. Martin has to operate in another country--without the resources of his police colleagues to help in the immediate action. He does contact his department to follow up what leads they can back in Sweden, but he is on his own in Hungary. At least until he wins the trust of the local officials. I enjoyed this story in a different way from the other Martin Beck novels I've read so far. It was interesting to see him on his own and to read the descriptions of Hungary and the comparisons to Sweden. It was a nice one-off story. But I have to say that given the choice--I prefer the interactions between Martin and his colleagues to Martin on his own and I wouldn't want to read an entire series that focused on Martin by himself.
The mystery sets Martin a fine little puzzle and it's interesting to watch him follow the leads. There were a couple of leaps in deduction that caught me unawares and it took me a bit to catch up with our detective--but overall, a good solid story. Three stars.
This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
lawyergobblesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this — I was lukewarm on the first Beck and now I’m beginning to see why these are so beloved. Start here if you find Roseanna a bit slow.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Dang it! I really did not need another mystery series to get into.
A few years ago, I read Roseanna, which is book one in Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s famed Martin Beck detective series. I liked it fine as a procedural but I’m not much of a fan of procedurals in general. Many complimented the series for the social justice aspect; it was an outsized influence for Henning Mankell in his popular Wallander series. But it just didn’t grab me. The case was interesting enough but it was interspersed with details about Beck’s cold and his troublesome home life, neither of which I cared in the way the writers wanted me to care.
So I cast the series aside, thinking I’d never revisit it but in conversation with a journalist I like who also enjoys crime novels, they mentioned this series as the best detective series they’d read in years. Seeing as how book two, The Man Who Went Up In Smoke, clocked in at a reasonable 188 pages, I figured it was worth a shot.
And it was. This is still a procedural but aside from the details of Beck’s ruined vacation, there are fewer personal notes and more detective work. The case was legitimately clever and resolved in a good way. There was a serendipitous moment that led to the break in the case but overall, this is quality craftsmanship from the duo.
It almost functions as some of Ross Macdonald’s better Lew Archer works do: the character of Archer is not central, instead working on the margins of the story in order for the reader to see what’s going on. I appreciated that.
Alas, my unwieldy TBR pile is about to grow bigger.
A few years ago, I read Roseanna, which is book one in Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s famed Martin Beck detective series. I liked it fine as a procedural but I’m not much of a fan of procedurals in general. Many complimented the series for the social justice aspect; it was an outsized influence for Henning Mankell in his popular Wallander series. But it just didn’t grab me. The case was interesting enough but it was interspersed with details about Beck’s cold and his troublesome home life, neither of which I cared in the way the writers wanted me to care.
So I cast the series aside, thinking I’d never revisit it but in conversation with a journalist I like who also enjoys crime novels, they mentioned this series as the best detective series they’d read in years. Seeing as how book two, The Man Who Went Up In Smoke, clocked in at a reasonable 188 pages, I figured it was worth a shot.
And it was. This is still a procedural but aside from the details of Beck’s ruined vacation, there are fewer personal notes and more detective work. The case was legitimately clever and resolved in a good way. There was a serendipitous moment that led to the break in the case but overall, this is quality craftsmanship from the duo.
It almost functions as some of Ross Macdonald’s better Lew Archer works do: the character of Archer is not central, instead working on the margins of the story in order for the reader to see what’s going on. I appreciated that.
Alas, my unwieldy TBR pile is about to grow bigger.
mrbarrington's review against another edition
3.0
The Vintage editions have the best covers I've seen, with great introductions form a host of interesting writers. But the translations seem to be a bit lacking. I need to try another translation to compare, but not been impressed with the two Vintage translated Beck mysteries I've read so far.
an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition
4.0
Martin Beck's melancholy and wry sense of humor, along with his impeachable manner, make for a fully-realized, mature main character--the reluctant husband, the prototypical detective. These crime novels are really good.
myfrogmonster's review against another edition
4.0
A good police detective novel. Beach blanket worthy.
plantbirdwoman's review
4.0
Poor Martin Beck. He just can't catch a break. He has just started his month-long summer vacation with his family on a small island off the coast of Sweden when he receives a call to return to duty.
It seems that a Swedish journalist has gone missing in Hungary and Beck's superiors want him to go to Budapest to act as liaison to the investigation. He's told that he can refuse the assignment since he is technically on vacation. But, of course, he can't. Not really. So he packs his bag and heads off to Budapest.
These books were written in the 1960s and so we find a very different Eastern Europe described here to what we would read in a novel set in the present day. But Beck is struck with the beauty of Budapest and we learn a little bit about its history and the layout of the city.
Beck's investigation proceeds slowly at first, but then he meets his local counterpart and is very impressed with the organization and efficiency of the Budapest police. He finds that he is being followed by someone and at first suspects that it is the police, but finally learns that it is some associates of the journalist he is looking for. Indeed, the police save him from an attack by these associates.
He learns that the missing journalist is a misogynistic boor and bully and he is not much liked by anybody. In fact his disappearance is not a cause for sorrow for anyone, except perhaps his employer. Beck and the local police uncover the fact that the man had been involved in the trading of hashish from Turkey. Some of his associates would smuggle the drugs from Turkey and the journalist would pick them up in Budapest or some other Eastern European city and then take them back to Sweden where he would sell them at great profit.
The mystery is that none of his associates will admit to having seen him when he was supposed to have last been in Budapest in June. In May, yes, but not in June. Beck begins to suspect that they are telling the truth and that the journalist did not actually travel to Budapest in June, even though he shows to have been registered at a couple of hotels then. He suspects that the solution to the puzzle will be found back in Sweden.
What great fun this book was to read! And the fun begins right up front with Val McDermid's wonderful introduction. Martin Beck is aptly described as "not some solo maverick who operates with flagrant disregard for the rules and thinly disguised contempt for the lesser mortals who surround him. Nor is he a phenomenal genius blessed with so extraordinary a talent that mere mortals can only stand back in amazement as he leads them unerringly to the solution to the baffling mystery." No, indeed, Martin Beck is an ordinary man, a middle-aged hypochondriac whose marriage and family life is slowly disintegrating under the pressure of his obsession with his job.
Moreover, Beck works as a part of a team and we get to know the members of that team and learn how their strengths and weaknesses balance each other. This seems a truthful representation of the real nitty-gritty world of police work. At the time that Sjowall/Wahloo were writing these books, that seems to have been a new concept.
One of the great pleasures of reading this book was the descriptions - both of people and of places. Another pleasure was the sly humor which underlay so many of those descriptions and the conversations between Beck and his colleagues. As an example, here's a brief description of a man and woman that Beck saw in a hotel in Budapest.
I would recognize those people if they walked into my room right now! Especially that woman with her "high insteps." It must be said that Beck seems to have a bit of a foot fetish going because one of the things that he always notices about women is their feet.
Well, I could go on, but let me just sum this up by saying that I loved this book and I look forward with eager anticipation to reading the next eight in the ten book series. And while I'm reading, I'll be looking for the ways in which Sjowall/Wahloo's Martin Beck was the forerunner of so many other popular dour, dyspeptic Scandinavian policemen of modern-day fiction.
It seems that a Swedish journalist has gone missing in Hungary and Beck's superiors want him to go to Budapest to act as liaison to the investigation. He's told that he can refuse the assignment since he is technically on vacation. But, of course, he can't. Not really. So he packs his bag and heads off to Budapest.
These books were written in the 1960s and so we find a very different Eastern Europe described here to what we would read in a novel set in the present day. But Beck is struck with the beauty of Budapest and we learn a little bit about its history and the layout of the city.
Beck's investigation proceeds slowly at first, but then he meets his local counterpart and is very impressed with the organization and efficiency of the Budapest police. He finds that he is being followed by someone and at first suspects that it is the police, but finally learns that it is some associates of the journalist he is looking for. Indeed, the police save him from an attack by these associates.
He learns that the missing journalist is a misogynistic boor and bully and he is not much liked by anybody. In fact his disappearance is not a cause for sorrow for anyone, except perhaps his employer. Beck and the local police uncover the fact that the man had been involved in the trading of hashish from Turkey. Some of his associates would smuggle the drugs from Turkey and the journalist would pick them up in Budapest or some other Eastern European city and then take them back to Sweden where he would sell them at great profit.
The mystery is that none of his associates will admit to having seen him when he was supposed to have last been in Budapest in June. In May, yes, but not in June. Beck begins to suspect that they are telling the truth and that the journalist did not actually travel to Budapest in June, even though he shows to have been registered at a couple of hotels then. He suspects that the solution to the puzzle will be found back in Sweden.
What great fun this book was to read! And the fun begins right up front with Val McDermid's wonderful introduction. Martin Beck is aptly described as "not some solo maverick who operates with flagrant disregard for the rules and thinly disguised contempt for the lesser mortals who surround him. Nor is he a phenomenal genius blessed with so extraordinary a talent that mere mortals can only stand back in amazement as he leads them unerringly to the solution to the baffling mystery." No, indeed, Martin Beck is an ordinary man, a middle-aged hypochondriac whose marriage and family life is slowly disintegrating under the pressure of his obsession with his job.
Moreover, Beck works as a part of a team and we get to know the members of that team and learn how their strengths and weaknesses balance each other. This seems a truthful representation of the real nitty-gritty world of police work. At the time that Sjowall/Wahloo were writing these books, that seems to have been a new concept.
One of the great pleasures of reading this book was the descriptions - both of people and of places. Another pleasure was the sly humor which underlay so many of those descriptions and the conversations between Beck and his colleagues. As an example, here's a brief description of a man and woman that Beck saw in a hotel in Budapest.
Martin Beck turned his head and saw a person staring at him: a sunburned man of his own age, with graying hair, straight nose, brown eyes, gray suit, black shoes, white shirt and gray tie. He had a large signet ring on the little finger of his right hand and beside him on the table lay a speckled green hat with a narrow brim and a fluffy little feather in the band. The man returned to his double espresso.
Martin Beck moved his eyes and saw a woman staring at him. She was African and young and very beautiful, with clean features, large brilliant eyes, white teeth, long slim legs and high insteps. Silver sandals and a tight-fitting light-blue dress of some shiny material.
Presumably they were both staring at Martin Beck - the man with envy, the woman will ill-concealed desire - because he was so handsome.
I would recognize those people if they walked into my room right now! Especially that woman with her "high insteps." It must be said that Beck seems to have a bit of a foot fetish going because one of the things that he always notices about women is their feet.
Well, I could go on, but let me just sum this up by saying that I loved this book and I look forward with eager anticipation to reading the next eight in the ten book series. And while I'm reading, I'll be looking for the ways in which Sjowall/Wahloo's Martin Beck was the forerunner of so many other popular dour, dyspeptic Scandinavian policemen of modern-day fiction.