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

Maj Sjöwall,

Per Wahlöö

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Jan 23, 2020 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-noir

I've been working through the Matin Beck series, and have been thoroughly enjoying the ride. The Fire Engine that Disappeared is probably, so far, by favorite entry so far (excepting the first outstanding book in the series, Roseanna).

The Fire Engine that Disappeared opens with the mysterious explosion at a small Stockholm apartment building. Eleven people are inside. Fortunately, Detective Gunvald Larson, who is staking out the building (though he's not sure why), is able to save several (but I've been working through the Matin Beck series, and have been thoroughly enjoying the ride. The Fire Engine that Disappeared is probably, so far, by favorite entry so far (excepting the first outstanding book in the series, Roseanna).

The Fire Engine that Disappeared opens with the mysterious explosion at a small Stockholm apartment building. Eleven people are inside. Fortunately, Detective Gunvald Larson, who is staking out the building (though he's not sure why), is able to save several (but not all) of the people in the building. Larson is often ugly tempered, prejudiced, sometimes violent, and close-minded. He's also rather fastidious, as he worries (before and after the explosion) about his pajamas and new slippers. (Throughout the book the authors are brilliant with these kinds of character revealing details.) Larson is also dutiful and persistent, as is revealed a few pages later, in his coarse (but effective) interrogation of a young prostitute who survived the fire, starts questioning whether the explosion was something more than just an accident.

But Larson (who reminds me of Fat Ollie from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct) is only part of a team of detectives, each distinctly different in personality (Martin Beck, Kolberg, Melander, etc.), with lives and troubles that extend beyond their cases. And each of them (and others) will bring something to this particular investigation. It is in this book where I feel for the first time the full depth of these characters, which the authors have been carefully developing for the four previous novels. The authors have also followed a historical trajectory as well, as Vietnam protests, the sexual revolution, divorce, drugs, and the differences between the Rolling Stones and Beatles are all deftly introduced. If you're old enough, you will be struck by the authenticity of the historical layering. Still, I was taken aback when Martin Beck conceded that his 16 year old daughter (soon to be 17), was probably old enough and mature enough to move out on her own. I don't know if that was just a sixties thing, or a Swedish sixties thing.

I haven't talked too much about the plot, but to say too much would be to reveal too much. Then again, the real fun here is how it all unfolds in real time, week by week, month by month, complete with many frustrating vacations by key witnesses or detectives. That said, there is a shocking ending. But there's nothing cheap about it. It's well earned in a book of remarkable balance and pacing. ...more

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