A review by marco5599
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö

3.5

If you want to visit Budapest, but you are pretty sure you will never ever actually go there, give The Man Who Went Up in Smoke a try. Martin Beck's second case is again a slow one, so what does a sleuth do when he has nothing to sleuth? Right. He enjoys the scenery. Quite a bit of couleur locale in the first half of the book, with a sunny vibe and an atmosphere one could describe as the melancholy of a born detective. You really don't want to be this guy's wife. The case does make some progress, but really picks up speed when Martin Beck is back on home soil. Not a nerve-racking finale though, not this time, this time silence is key. Sometimes that's all it takes to make a suspect crack. Brilliant.