From the Bookshelf of Scandinavian Mysteries…

The Fire Engine That Disappeared (Martin Beck, #5)

Maj Sjöwall,

Per Wahlöö

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Mar 31, 2024 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“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 o “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. ...more

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