The Man on the Balcony (Martin Beck #3)

Feb 09, 2012 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who loves good characters

Shelves: audio-book, swedish-lit, mystery, police-procedural, political, serial-killer

I am a big fan of multi-multi-part series. Series that follow the same character(s) for eight, nine, ten or even dozens of books have an ability to play with characters and let them grow and breathe that one shots or even trilogies don't.

The best, like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey Maturin Series, do such a fine job that their characters become members of the family. People you know intimately and love despite all their flaws. The worst, like most of the Fantasy and Sci-Fi series that have multiple a...more I am a big fan of multi-multi-part series. Series that follow the same character(s) for eight, nine, ten or even dozens of books have an ability to play with characters and let them grow and breathe that one shots or even trilogies don't.

The best, like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey Maturin Series, do such a fine job that their characters become members of the family. People you know intimately and love despite all their flaws. The worst, like most of the Fantasy and Sci-Fi series that have multiple authors, remain a fascinating way to examine how different authors present their different takes on the characters they're writing about. They're often worth reading despite the contradictions and lapses in authorial judgement.

The mystery genre is probably the most prolific producer of multi-volume sets -- especially when it comes to the police procedural. It makes perfect sense to follow a cop or forensic examiner or whatever else over the length of his/her career, and their stories have the easy crime hooks that land our attention. Fans of crime novels all have a favourite detective -- mine is Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander (I am setting aside Mr. Holmes for this discussion) -- and we all have plenty that do nothing for us. But the one thing that can be said for all the "big" characters of the genre, whatever the skill of their creators, is that the more books that are written about them, the more they come to life.

This is, of course, also true of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's exceptional Martin Beck series -- only more so.

Beck and his colleagues -- Kollberg, Melander, Larrson, Rönn -- exist in Sjöwall and Wahlöö's sixties Sweden with an ease that seems entirely unreasonable. The Beck books are short (at least the three I've read so far), yet these characters, in tiny, almost imperceptible ways, achieve depths that other characters can't and don't. They don't seem like characters anymore. They feel real, as though these books are a chronicle of men who once existed.

Perhaps this has most to do with a peculiarity of Sjöwall and Wahlöö's books that popped up in The Man on the Balcony. It struck me that there books are unique in one very important way. Unlike every other multi-part series I've ever read -- and there've been quite a few -- the Martin Beck books are not really multiple parts. Sjöwall and Wahlöö weren't writing ten Martin Beck stories, they were writing ONE Martin Beck story, and each "part" was really just a chapter in the greater whole.

That, more than anything else, allows Sjöwall and Wahlöö to breathe life into their policemen. References in The Man on the Balcony to the first part of their story, Roseanna, aren't simple reminders of some action that happened in the past, they are experiences that shaped their characters' personalities and altered the way the men are now reacting and behaving. Everything about these men is built as if they are real. Not just characters on a page, but men whom Sjöwall and Wahlöö can bring into existence through sheer force of will.

It's no wonder this series is seen as a seminal work of the genre. Its influence should be tremendous for anyone writing about cops. Hell, I don't write about cops, and its already influencing me. (less)

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Nov 11, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Bettie, Carey

Shelves: audio-books, nordic-noir, read-2012, scandinavian-literature

From BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Drama:
Someone is assaulting and killing young girls in the parks of Stockholm. With only a brutal mugger and a three year-old boy for witnesses, the investigation is stalling. It's only a tiny detail surfacing in Beck's mind that puts the murder squad on the trail of the killer, but will they get him before he strikes again?

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Feb 16, 2013 Durdles rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

There's nothing quite like finding a new series of crime novels to read. This one had been on the shelf for a few weeks and when its turn came to be read I'd already spent some time wondering about Martin Beck (always referred to by his full name for no obvious reason) and the fact that the books were written by a husband and wife team - in my mind a sort of Swedish Nina and Frederick. Apparently they wrote alternate chapters after putting the kids to bed and I was anticipating some impossible c...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Man on the Balcony is the third instalment of the Martin Beck series of police procedurals written by the husband and wife team of Sjowall and Wahloo between 1965-75. The books are characterised by an understated social realism. Beck and his colleagues are normal, everyday people with differing egos, foibles, frailties, talents and opinions, trying to balance work with their home lives. The investigation unfolds in fits and starts, with painstaking footwork, frustrating interviews, and littl...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Drayton Bird rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the second in a series of ten books which are generally agreed - by those who have written them - to be have inspired of the current wave of Scandinavian crime novels.

No heroics; a lot of very dry humour; a fair amount of squalor; remarkable detailed descriptions of people's looks and mannerisms quite reminiscent of writers like Tolstoy. Inspired by the Ed McBain books, apparently. I have now read three of them and am working my way through the lot, rather as I did with Patrick O'Brian y...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stieg Larsson (The Girl With Dragon Tattoo trilogy) was inspired by Henning Mankell, who is nearly as famous as Larsson. And Mankell was inspired by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, or rather, Martin Beck, the detective they created. And Sjöwall and Wahlöö were inspired by Simenon's Maigret...
The books in this series were published in the 1960s-1970s, and now one would have to define these stories as vintage police procedurals. Martin Beck was apparently Maigret for the Scandinavian crime. The Man on...more

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May 10, 2011 Bev Hankins rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bev by: Ivan Kreilkamp

Shelves: mystery, police-procedural

The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö starts out with what seems to be a crank call. An elderly woman phones the police to complaining about a "nasty" man who stands on his own balcony for hours at a time--just staring at the traffic and the children at play in the streets below. Before long that call is forgotten as the Stockholm police are confronted with a child-killer. Someone is stalking young girls (average age of ten) and then molesting and killing them in the city's parks....more The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö starts out with what seems to be a crank call. An elderly woman phones the police to complaining about a "nasty" man who stands on his own balcony for hours at a time--just staring at the traffic and the children at play in the streets below. Before long that call is forgotten as the Stockholm police are confronted with a child-killer. Someone is stalking young girls (average age of ten) and then molesting and killing them in the city's parks. There are few clues to be had for Superintendent Martin Beck and his colleagues and soon the city's residents are putting together civil guards to watch their children at play. Everyone is on edge with the undercurrent of fear affecting even the police. Beck has two witnesses: a mugger who doesn't really want to cooperate and a three-year-old boy who can't tell all he knows. But will they tell the police enough to lead them to the killer?

This was a really difficult read for me. Not difficult like my previous book, Intruder in the Dust, was difficult--thankfully, there is no stream of consciousness here. And not difficult in the writing style--I sailed right through the the story. It wasn't over my head. No, what was hard was the subject matter. I have a very difficult time reading stories that involve children being murdered, abused, or harmed in any way. The only thing that helped me overcome the subject was the deft manner in which it was handled. The writing is clear and simple and it carries the reader straight through the action. The deaths are described in such a way that you feel the horror of the situation without being immersed in it. It also helps that Sjöwalll and Wahlöö write such a good policie procedural. You are concentrating on the policmen and their methods far more than on horrible crimes--which for me is a good thing.

Overall, my enjoyment of the writing, the characters, and the story itself far outweighed any squemishness on my part to read about child-murder.(less)

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May 26, 2009 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-audio-books, 2009-mysteries

The Man on the Balcony: a Martin Beck mystery, by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö, narrated by Tom Weiner, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

This book begins with what the police first believe to be a crank call from an old woman who claims that she, when she uses binoculars, can see a youngish man across the street who stands on his balcony for hours at a time, day or night, and seems to be watching the street and the children playing there. The police write her off as a crank....more

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Jul 13, 2012 AC rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-spy-mystery

This music somehow suits this book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWFYSj...

The problem with mysteries is that they are normally written in series, and one kinda has to start at the beginning..., not only because characters are introduced there, but because character development itself occurs more over the course of the series than over the course of the individual story. On the other hand, many of these writers take several books before they learn... *really* learn... to write. Even Ross Macdon...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Seth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: police-procedural

Start reading Man on the Balcony and then just try to put down this breakthrough murder-mystery by the author couple Maj Sjövall and Per Wahlöö. With masterful pacing, noir atmosphere, and a minimalist writing style, they relate the story of how detective Martin Beck and his colleagues confront an excruciatingly difficult investigative challenge. As the stakes grow, so does the tension not only for the police but also for the reader. Social cohesion itself is in jeopardy as the number of victims...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Reenie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a curious book - there were things I quite liked about it, but I end up with the feeling that I'm missing some of the rules of Swedish crime novels, while this definitely fails to conform to some of the established Anglo rules of the genre.

e.g. endings need to provide more closure than simply the capture of the bad guy (in this case, someone going around raping and killing young girls). Some other policeman stumbling across him while going to have a pee, and being conversationally confessed...more

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May 17, 2010 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, novel, read-2010

It's the Swedish version of "Law & Order," friends. I've read now several reviews that describe Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo's Martin Beck mystery series as both the birth place of the Swedish crime book and also as a staple and perfection of the police procedural (even the back cover brags of this last). That's actually a perfect encapsulation. The pace is slower than the vaunted TV reference, but otherwise, this is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect to see in re-runs on TNT: a summer crime...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Ben Loory rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ben by: some lady on npr

i am confused because the edition i have clearly says this is the second in the series, not the third. but hey, who gives a shit? it was really good. not as good as Roseanna, which made me cry for a long time afterward, but still, what they're doing here is pretty amazing. somehow, by limiting themselves to very simple actions, and very little insight into the minds of the characters, they are creating very real and believable people that i am quite fond of and invested in. there are ten books i...more

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Aug 24, 2009 TBML rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mark-picks, mystery-and-suspense

One of the pioneering Inspector Martin Beck series, this is my favorite so far (I have read 6 of the 9 titles.) In it, Beck and his team have to stop a man who is sexually assaulting and then killing little girls in Stockholm's parks.They also have a string of unnecessarily brutal muggings to deal with and the two sprees may be linked.

Beck's creators and Georges Simenon (his detective in Inspector Maigret of the paris police)wrote in the 1960s and 1970s and to a large degree invented the modern...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Maria João Fernandes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-in-english, own, sjöwall-wahlöö, favorites

"This isn't an investigation, it's a guessing game."

Em "The Man On The Balcony" Maj Sjöwall e Per Wahlöö agem de uma forma subtil e é com muita habilidade que, desde a primeira frase, plantam no subconsciente do leitor, um conjunto de informações que irá persistir no seu subconsciente ao longo da leitura. Esta permanecerá adormecida (mas não esquecida), como o casal bem planeou e só será despertada no momento definido. O incómodo que sentimos é o mesmo de Martin Beck e só iremos descobrir o que...more "This isn't an investigation, it's a guessing game."

Em "The Man On The Balcony" Maj Sjöwall e Per Wahlöö agem de uma forma subtil e é com muita habilidade que, desde a primeira frase, plantam no subconsciente do leitor, um conjunto de informações que irá persistir no seu subconsciente ao longo da leitura. Esta permanecerá adormecida (mas não esquecida), como o casal bem planeou e só será despertada no momento definido. O incómodo que sentimos é o mesmo de Martin Beck e só iremos descobrir o que nos atormenta ao mesmo tempo que o inspector, experimentando o mesmo alivio e entusiasmo perante as revelações. Este nível de envolvimento profundo é apenas uma das maravilhas desta série policial sueca.

A promessa de um verão tranquilo em Estocolmo não se concretizou, nem para Martin Beck e os seus colegas, nem para os cidadãos da cidade sueca. Uma série de assaltos violentos e bem planeados atormenta os habitantes mais indefesos. Os esforços da policia para apanhar o culpado são em vão e a situação é agravada quando uma criança de nove anos é encontrada morta num parque. O seu pequeno corpo estrangulado e violado representa tudo aquilo que de mau pode haver no mundo. Uma tragédia nunca vem só e à medida que a investigação avança o medo entre as pessoas aumenta e o sentimento de desespero e impotência por parte dos policias atinge o seu limite.

À medida que os acontecimentos se desenrolam, Martin Beck apercebe-se que apenas dispõe de duas testemunhas: o assaltante que ainda não conseguiram apanhar e um rapaz de três anos, cuja inteligência não corresponde à sua idade, o que torna a comunicação complexa e dotada de significados escondidos.

Esta situação de dificil resolução é um teste às capacidades e perseverança de todos os investigadores envolvidos. É uma batalha de simples seres humanos que são confrontados com o crime mais cruel de todos. A brutalidade e a violência têm lugar para além das páginas. Martin Beck e os seus colegas fazem o seu melhor, apesar das suas vidas pessoais serem tudo menos perfeitas.

"The Man On The Balcony" retrata os procedimentos policiais na perfeição, com um conjunto de personagens únicas, dotadas tanto de habilidades, como defeitos. O enredo é tão bem delineado que evoca várias emoções durante a leitura.

Desde Gunvald Larsson, o chefe arrogante mas sempre presente; a Melander, o sempre calmo detective que fuma cachimbo e tem uma memória de elefante legendária na esquadra; a Kollberg que abomina a violência, mas que não deixa de a usar quando se trata de se defender; a Kristiansson e Kvant, um par de policias inseparável, cuja incompetência e trabalho desleixado não conhece limites até ao indomável Martin Beck, que é o coração e alma deste série, todas as personagens são magnificas. Cada uma destas personalidades é distinta, contudo todas são unidas pelo desejo de ver a justiça prevalecer. Cada um tem as suas falhas, afinal são apenas humanos, mas todos juntos são uma força sem igual.

O casal sueco, através da sua escrita perspicaz e talentosa, consegue criar uma atmosfera palpável de tensão e desespero. Logo no inicio, quando as provas são quase inexistentes, consegui sentir o sentimento de incapacidade de dar um rumo à investigação e o desamparo sentido pelos policias.

O sentimento de desânimo é, principalmente, destacado nas contemplações de Beck e Kollberg. No final, é a fé na humanidade, aliada às capacidades policiais, que mantém estes dois homens motivados o suficiente para resolver o caso que têm em mãos.

Em contraste com esta atmosfera sombria, o livro proporciona-nos diálogos excepcionais. Entre autênticas batalhas verbais, brincadeiras afectuosas e trocas de observações pertinentes destacam-se as conversas entre Martin Beck e o chefe Gunvald Larsson. Estas vão subindo de tom ao longo do livro, antevendo uma explosão final inesquecível.

Mais uma vez, a importância do papel da intuição é evidenciada. A paixão dos detectives pelo seu trabalho, a intervenção da sorte, a ajuda do destino e a ajuda do público são sempre essenciais para a resolução das investigações. Neste livro em particular, onde as decisões dos detectives e conclusões se revelam, na sua maioria, erradas e incompletas, é o acaso que vem em seu salvamento.

"The Man On The Balcony" é um policial que nos apresenta um enredo magistral, um conjunto de personagens brilhantemente delineadas que interagem com cumplicidade entre si e uma narração caracterizada pela inteligência, originalidade e humor de Maj Sjöwall e Per Wahlöö. Tal como os livros que o antecederam, também o terceiro livro da série reúne todos os detalhes essenciais a um bom policial. Apesar de ter sido escrito em 1967, este livro não podia ser mais actual.(less)

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Jan 14, 2012 Marco rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, thriller

De Man op het Balkon is het derde deel in de zeer vermakelijke Martin Beck serie van Maj Sjöwall en Per Wahlöö. In mijn ogen is dit boek ook de beste van de eerste drie. De plot zelf is in lijn met de voorgaande twee boeken, maar het is allemaal net even wat meeslepender en de introductie van een nieuw karakter was een erg goede keuze.

Al snel in het verhaal stapt namelijk Gunvald Larsson binnen. Een bonkige reus met botte mariniershumor die als tegenpool gezien kan worden van Martin Beck, de hoo...more De Man op het Balkon is het derde deel in de zeer vermakelijke Martin Beck serie van Maj Sjöwall en Per Wahlöö. In mijn ogen is dit boek ook de beste van de eerste drie. De plot zelf is in lijn met de voorgaande twee boeken, maar het is allemaal net even wat meeslepender en de introductie van een nieuw karakter was een erg goede keuze.

Al snel in het verhaal stapt namelijk Gunvald Larsson binnen. Een bonkige reus met botte mariniershumor die als tegenpool gezien kan worden van Martin Beck, de hoofdpersoon in deze tiendelige reeks. Zijn eerste telefoongesprek is al direct hilarisch en is typerend voor de inspecteur die een beetje het buitenbeentje van het korps is, maar dat op zijn eigenzinnige manier toch weet te verbloemen. Het zorgt al snel voor wat frictie tussen Beck en Larsson wat vaak op een humoristische manier gebracht wordt. Larsson kan maar zo mijn favoriete personage in de serie gaan worden.
Ook Lennart Kollberg en Fredrik Melander zijn uiteraard weer aanwezig. In dit boek wordt ook over hen wat meer informatie vrijgegeven; Melander blijkt bijvoorbeeld bijzonder vaak op de wc te zitten. Aan de andere kant leunt Beck met regelmaat op de archiefkast en wrijft hij met zijn knokkels over zijn neuswortel. Je moet er maar opkomen. Het gaat eigenlijk helemaal nergens over, maar het maakt de serie wel tot wat het is. Heerlijk luchtig en vaak met geweldige droge humor.
Wat betreft maatschappijkritiek komt de serie hier ook enigszins op gang. Vooral computers moeten het ontgelden; Larsson opteert zelfs om die ondingen te gebruiken als er een deur geforceerd moet worden. Ook de jeugd wordt niet al te positief neergezet. Jonge kinderen belanden al in de prostitutie en snuiven en slikken allerlei troep. Het is wat stereotiep allemaal, maar wel vermakelijk en regelmatig worden er leuke zaken ter discussie gesteld. Ook bepaalde lichaamsdelen worden met regelmaat wel erg uitgebreid omschreven, soms zelfs op het bizarre af. Dat mag best wel iets minder.

Het verhaal zelf eist uiteraard nog steeds verreweg de meeste aandacht op. Opnieuw is er een moordenaar die gepakt dient te worden door Beck en consorten. Dit keer is die zoektocht net iets meeslepender; er loopt immers een kindermoordenaar die weerloze kleintjes van het leven berooft. De frustraties van het slepende onderzoek zijn weer aanwezig, net als de gebruikelijke verhoren en het degelijke speurwerk. De kans op meer slachtoffers stijgt met de dag, wat alleen maar een verhogend effect heeft op de toch al aanwezige druk die het korps in Stockholm voelt. De getuigen die ze vinden zijn niet ideaal en vereenvoudigen de zoektocht geenszins.
Ik was dan ook erg benieuwd naar het einde, maar dat was wel een kleine tegenvaller. Enerzijds was het wel heel typisch dat het op deze manier moest gebeuren; anderzijds was het wel erg toevallig en uiteindelijk vond ik het allemaal net wat te simpel. Een smetje op een verder prima verhaal. De introductie van Kvist en Kristiansson op het eind, ook weer met de nodige humor, was dan wel weer geslaagd.

Ook het derde deel in de Martin Beck serie is weer een subliem verhaal. Ik begin onderhand al wel te begrijpen waar de serie zijn status als klassieker vandaan heeft en waarom Sjöwall en Wahlöö inspiratie vormen voor zoveel hedendaagse schrijvers. Leuk overigens dat in dit boek het Zweedse eiland Öland ook nog even wordt genoemd; daar las ik onlangs nog twee boeken over. De Man op het Balkon speelt zich echter af in Stockholm en is weer erg sterk. De introductie van Gunvald Larsson is een gouden zet; de humor en de maatschappijkritiek zijn inmiddels ook onlosmakelijk verbonden met de serie en houden het luchtig. Het einde viel me wat tegen, maar dat zal me er absoluut niet van weerhouden om binnenkort het vierde deel erbij te pakken.

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Jun 07, 2010 Marina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

well before the world was consumed by the famous trilogy featuring the "girl who..." a couple of writers created a revolutionary detective story series which revolutionized the mystery genre, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö created the 10 book series featuring the intriguing and anti-hero detective Martin Beck. I am going through the series & I love it!
This third book is incredible. The tension builds up & the combination of routine police work and triumph of imagination is out of sight. Beck...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Jake rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Wahoo and Sjowall are consistently good- of the four Martin Beck mysteries I've read, all have been memorable page-turners, and one (#4, "The Laughing Policeman") was one of the best I've ever read. This book doesn't quite live up to that standard, but it is an enjoyable, fast-paced procedural that you'll want to finish in one sitting. Particularly interesting here was how the authors modified the typical police novel setup, by revealing the murderer in the title and first page of the book, then...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Margaret rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-mystery-suspense

This book along with the first two in the series is an enjoyable procedural ride (and kudos to translator Alan Blair for capturing a consistent style and tone). I like the intriguing main character, police inspector (can't recall exact title) Martin Beck, as well as the ancillary characters, who the authors are starting to flesh out. Thus far each book is under 200 pages, but it feels like they pack a lot into each novel without clipping the stories short. The writing style is understated, subtl...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tyler Collison rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a quick read, so it served its purpose of being a quick in-betweener, but the conclusion of the crime itself is underwhelming, so just an OK read overall.

But I can tell the series is slowly evolving, particularly in their methods of crime-solving: Martin Beck and the gang used to wait a week for a letter regarding evidence; in Man on the Balcony, they're in the early stages of computer forensics. Some of the most interesting tension in this novel is between eras within the police departmen...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Kat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recently-read

Now that's more like it!

This is the second in the "Story of Crime" series by Sjowall and Wahloo and there is such a sense of urgency to this one that it truly is hard to put down.

The case involves a serial killer/rapist of very young girls and the police are, naturally, more than determined to catch him. There is much less plodding and far more action.

What is really fascinating, are the two main witnesses that crop up in the case: one is a rather violent mugger who was close to the scene of the...more

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Jul 29, 2012 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Martin Beck series are nice, tight, well written Nordic crime novels, so far coming in at a bit under 200 pages. I'd use the word "delightful", but it's probably not appropriate to the theme material. The books are about 40 years old, but have stayed fresh and up-to-date. Computers were just beginning to be used, and of course, no whiff of cell phones or internet.

An interesting observation: a minor character in this novel is names "Lisbet", and with her dress and demeanor could well have be...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Seth Lynch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

I read this not long after Unwanted. I didn’t realise that the themes were related until after I pulled it off the shelf and decided to read it. If I had I might have gone for something else – I can only stomach so much child killing in a month. Instead I read it over a weekend and “enjoyed” it. The first few pages sent shivers down my spine – not metaphorically but literally. I felt a surge of tingling energy as I read because I knew I was reading something special. This specialness had put me...more I read this not long after Unwanted. I didn’t realise that the themes were related until after I pulled it off the shelf and decided to read it. If I had I might have gone for something else – I can only stomach so much child killing in a month. Instead I read it over a weekend and “enjoyed” it. The first few pages sent shivers down my spine – not metaphorically but literally. I felt a surge of tingling energy as I read because I knew I was reading something special. This specialness had put me off reading this book – the first two in the series were so good I was afraid they couldn’t keep up the pace. I think I can accept that all ten are going to be in the zone even if they do vary in quality. It’s been a while since I read books one and two so I can’t remember if they did this but there were a few points in this book where the quality dropped. Not a big deal, I’m talking about three or four times where a word annoyed me (eg, he said angrily – where I’d delete angrily). Those trivial points are the only gripes I have about an excellent book.

Martin Beck seems to be in a transitional state during this book. He no longer has his old team around him – although for this case he did work with a few of them. His wife, normally a nagging influence in the background, was hardly there at all. Beck has also been promoted. There were a few pointers back to the previous two books too.

This story is about a child serial killer. The killings are unpleasant and provoke vigilantes to start beating people up in case they are the killer. You get the feel of the fear which haunts the parents of children in the city. You taste the sanctimonious recriminations when another child is killed: how could anyone let their child out when they know a killer is on the prowl? What Sjöwall and Wahlöö portray is a city in the grip of fear. The killer doesn’t is going to kill and if the kids are kept away from the parks he’ll take them from your yards.
There are a lot of other nice touches in this book. The influence of drugs on the youth – while Beck is searching for a man who sexually assaults children, a girl in her late teens offers to sell him photographs of herself naked. Beck assumes this is so she can buy drugs. There are also the people who turn up during the increasing police rides: the people who have no where else to sleep other than a park bench, the mentally ill who roam the streets, the victims outside the scope of the book: a woman found naked and tied up in a flat. These are images flashed across the page in the course of the book. Pictures of a waning society.

If you haven’t read the Martin Beck books yet – start today.(less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: BBC listeners

Shelves: radio-4, series, sweden, fradio, autumn-2012, published-1967, mystery-thriller

Saturday Drama: 3. The Man on the Balcony

Translated by Alan Blair
Dramatised by Katie Hims

blurb - Someone is assaulting and killing young girls in the parks of Stockholm. With only a brutal mugger and a three year-old boy for witnesses, the investigation is stalling. It's only a tiny detail surfacing in Beck's mind that puts the murder squad on the trail of the killer, but will they get him before he strikes again? The Martin Beck Series, by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. 3/10. The Man on the Balc...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-and-or-evil, scandinavia

This reprint of the 1968 novel has an interesting introduction by Jo Nesbo. The book does not read like a period piece - the story could nave happened last week as easily as 40 years ago. The tone is deadpan - the narration, just the facts, but it reveals a lot about the characters, and about the contemporary Swedish society and about the slog that is most police work. It is by a combination of slogging and sheer luck that the killer is finally arrested.

This is not an action story - no chases or...more

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Jun 28, 2011 Christer Karlsson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel was first published in 1968, and I must say it holds up pretty well. It is the better of three first novels about Martin Beck. Sjöwall & Wahlöö manage to not only capture the police procedures but also move you to city of Stockholm, Sweden for a week or so of high anxiety in the early summertime of 1967. The opening scene is a beautiful description of a city waking up in the morning and sets the backdrop for the rest of the story. The story is loosely built up a real case happenin...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Tfitoby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-as-night, translation, whodunnit

Part three of The Story of a Crime sequence sees the series really take off.

Martin Beck is back in Stockholm and has been promoted to Detective Inspector, a year after the events in The Man Who Went Up In Smoke and it is The Summer of Love as seen through the eyes of a tired and stressed Homicide Department.

This time Beck and his colleagues are trying catch two criminals, a mugger and a murderer who preys on very young girls, violating and then killing them. With the summer sun baking the city a...more Part three of The Story of a Crime sequence sees the series really take off.

Martin Beck is back in Stockholm and has been promoted to Detective Inspector, a year after the events in The Man Who Went Up In Smoke and it is The Summer of Love as seen through the eyes of a tired and stressed Homicide Department.

This time Beck and his colleagues are trying catch two criminals, a mugger and a murderer who preys on very young girls, violating and then killing them. With the summer sun baking the city and causing tempers and passions to flare, the police desperately struggle to track down the killer before another young victim is sacrificed. They have two possible witnesses, but neither is particularly reliable. One is a three year old boy and the other is the mugger.

That's the plot, they must catch the mugger to catch the child killer but what it doesn't tell you is that Beck's city appears to be collapsing around him in a haze of vice and debauchery. Stockholm, and as an extension Sweden, has taken the hippie ideals of free love et al and boiled them down to sexual encounters without feeling. It is a theme that runs throughout, from a teenage girl selling naked photos of herself at a train station to a peeping tom witnessing a brisk encounter in a park, a woman comfortable with her naked body to the extent that she doesn't even consider putting on clothes whilst being interviewed by the detectives and the disturbing behaviour of the sexual predator they are trying to catch. Then there's the casual mention of recreational drugs, the teeming masses of homeless people apparently let down by the inefficient and bungling welfare state and the overworked and underpaid nature of being a police officer. This is definitely not a warm and fuzzy picture of Sweden that Sjowall & Wahloo are painting.

This is a pretty intense read thanks to some excellent plotting and pacing, the reader is presented with a vital clue right at the beginning which is dismissed by an overworked and rude detective as irrelevant and a waste of police resources and is the dangled in a teasing manner throughout as Beck scratches the itch in his brain to remember "that vital something" he'd witnessed. There is an oppressive atmosphere throughout as every available officer is put on the case with seemingly no time off to sleep and a only cigarettes to smoke for sustenance, washed down by cold coffee. The fear in the minds and on the faces of the detectives adds an edge to every conversation and every wasted minute that they don't catch the killer is another minute in which another innocent girl could have been murdered on their watch.

It has been mentioned that the case is solved thanks to a fair amount of coincidence and there is a certain amount of 'luck' involved in solving the case I admit BUT the husband & wife author team discussed this within the text; the detectives are aware that their efforts will be seen as luck by the media but point out that this is the inevitable outcome of intelligently planned hard work on their part as the net closes on the villain. Journeying alongside the cops as they close that net you appreciate the work involved and as such the coincidence plays less like a miraculous deus ex machina photograph of a murder in progress and more as a well deserved reward.

The Man on the Balcony is very effective as a police procedural first and foremost and, as intended by the authors, from the outset it is a subtle piece of social commentary second. Three books in and I cn see why this series is so highly thought of.

Part 1: Roseanna
Part 2: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke (less)

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May 08, 2013 Ian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I bought two books of the Martin Beck series, The Man On The Balcony (TMOTB) and The Fire Engine That Disappeared (TFETD), and read them one after the other. Although many of the involved characters are the same the style of the books could hardly be more different.

The Man On The Balcony burns on a slow, consistent, fuse, a Catherine Wheel of a book, whereas The Fire Engine That Disappeared fizzes like a Jumping Jack never sure of which way it will go next.
Each has its merits, though as a matter...more I bought two books of the Martin Beck series, The Man On The Balcony (TMOTB) and The Fire Engine That Disappeared (TFETD), and read them one after the other. Although many of the involved characters are the same the style of the books could hardly be more different.

The Man On The Balcony burns on a slow, consistent, fuse, a Catherine Wheel of a book, whereas The Fire Engine That Disappeared fizzes like a Jumping Jack never sure of which way it will go next.
Each has its merits, though as a matter of preference and enjoyment TMOTB had the edge for me.

Each book is set in 60s Stockholm and any reader who imagines paedophilia, hard core drugs, promiscuity, street crime, and the like are recent phenomenon in society may be somewhat suprised to read just how prevalent they are in 60s city life, which makes the books seem very contemporary.

Though TFETD ventures further afield with significant references to France and Denmark especially and a plot which embraces the beginnings of cross border terrorism and gang warfare, the evocative scenes and action of TMOTB are concentrated in well defined districts of the city and the book is highly personalised and quietly emotive in documenting the hunt for a predatory child killer.
In TMOTB, Beck and his motley crew of detective colleagues languish over the evidence having already dismissed unknowingly a crucial lead. The bad luck is almost repeated at the end only for chance to play a part in resolving the case, though painstaking research ensured this time the chance was not passed up. TMOTB is a comfortable though melancholy read which is extremely believable.
TFETD picks up the Beck series a little further down the line and the first notable aspect is the changed relationships between the various detectives, being more fractious and weary with each other. The plot is a complicated and convoluted one and in the end I found I was confused as to quite who was who and where the pieces fitted. I finished the book not really able to recall the various criminal intrigues which lead to a house fire in which a seemingly petty criminal was killed, and then to the finale and fate of the mastermind.
So, very different writing styles, each worthy, each thoroughly researched and well crafted, I enjoyed TMOTB and was a little less enamoured with TFETD but would understand how another reader may take an opposite view.(less)

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Apr 19, 2012 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one was creepy and ends quite abruptly, but I am still fascinated with the style of writing and the sixties setting. The 'hero' Martin Beck is still a bit obscure, he is not explored in the way modern detectives are, we don't get much about his motivation or inner thought process. Neither the plot action nor the resolution is necessarily driven by him sometimes, as in this case, it is pure chance that the murderer is caught, no great intuition or clever detective work. It's probably more li...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Algernon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Every bit as powerful and disturbing as the first Martin Beck criminal investigation. "Good" is not an adjective to be used when describing a novel about a psychopat molesting and killing children. Grief, anger, despair and exhaustion are on the daily menu for the police force. Long hours of combing through irrelevant information, following misleading tips, waiting almost helpless for the killer to strike again and maybe make a mistake. But never giving up.

This series should be a model to follow...more

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BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1105466.The_Man_on_the_Balcony?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347808328l/1105466.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1105466.The_Man_on_the_Balcony?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall[/url]

The Man on the Balcony (Martin Beck #3)

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