The Fire Engine That Disappeared (Martin Beck #5) - SPOILER Thread - (Nov/Dec 23)

[Susan]

Welcome to our Nov/Dec 23 buddy read of The Fire Engine That Disappeared . The fifth book in the Martin Beck series, this was originally published in 1969.

The cunning incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building's eleven occupants. And if one of Martin Beck's colleagues hadn't been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe since-for reasons nobody could satisfactorily explain-a regulation firetruck has vanished. Was it terrorism, suicide, or simply a gas leak? And what, if anything, did the explosion have to do with the peculiar death earlier that day of a forty-six-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: 'Martin Beck' ?

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Judy]

I really enjoyed the way the plot developed with all the overlapping investigations and dead ends. It was a bit hard to keep track of the explanations at the end, but still a 5-star read for me.

[Pamela]

Judy wrote: "I really enjoyed the way the plot developed with all the overlapping investigations and dead ends. It was a bit hard to keep track of the explanations at the end, but still a 5-star read for me."

I agree Judy. I thought the suicide explanations were a bit weak, but I liked the way the criminal enterprise was uncovered. And I liked the dramatic ending too, showing how a moment’s inattention or misunderstanding can have such huge consequences.