Welcome to Litsy!

My second to last #ChristmasCrimeChallenge completed.

These Martin Beck police procedurals from 60s-70s Sweden are well deserved classics of crime fiction. In this one, a child rapist and murderer is terrorizing Stockholm and police resources, already stretched thin, are under extreme pressure to prevent the next brutal crime. It takes hard work (little forensics and limited technology) and sharp patrolmen and detectives to succeed.

This story was of its time. There was casual sexism, misogyny, and racism. The mystery was slow and had a noir feel to it. The characters were not complex and were somewhat unlikable. I won‘t read anymore but the mystery and whodunnit kept me reading when I was contemplating a dnf.

YES! After recently finishing this awesome book, I discovered they also made a film version released in 1973. I couldn't find it streaming anywhere or available to check out from my local library, so I purchased the Blu-ray. I'm looking forward to watching it this weekend!

This was a fantastic book! At only 211 pages, it is still a fabulous slow burn, rich in character development. I was literally guessing what the ending would be up to the very last paragraph, it was that good! First published in 1968, it stands the test of time; the crime and how it was investigated is still relevant today. My only regret is that I didn't keep a log of the characters. There were so many and I'm not familiar w/Swedish names.

CHAPTER 28 - "It was Christmas and Martin Beck's daughter, Ingrid, gave him a flat package, watching him expectantly as he unwrapped the paper. Inside was a 45 r.p.m. EP record."

CHAPTER 26 - "Ronn took out a pack of Prince and shook out a cigarette for Bjork, who lighted it after nipping off the filter."

"What sort of car did he have?" Detective Nordin inquired.

"Good car. Volvo Amazon. White," said Dieke.

"Mass murders seem to be an American specialty."

The tagged Swedish crime novel was published in 1970, and it starts out by describing a mass murder that takes place on a city bus. The fact that this book was written over 50 years ago and they mention America and mass murders tells me that nothing has really changed about American society. If anything, I think our tendency towards mass murder has only gotten worse. ?

CHAPTER 15 - "An icy gust of wind whipped a shower of needle-sharp grains of snow against Martin Beck, making him gasp for breath."

CHAPTER 10 - "The scene of the crime looked as if a herd of hippopotamuses had been trotting about there for hours."