The eighth book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s and 7
0s - the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime writing. Hugely acc
laimed, the Martin Beck series were the original Scandinavian crime novels and h
ave inspired the writings of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo. In one
part of town, a woman robs a bank.
In another, a corpse is found shot throug
h the heart in a room locked from within, with no firearm in sight. Although the
two incidents appear unrelated, Detective Inspector Martin Beck believes otherw
ise, and solving the mystery acquires the utmost importance. Haunted by a near-f
atal bullet wound and trying to recover from the break-up of his unhappy marriag
e, Beck throws himself into the case to escape from the prison that his own life
has come to resemble.
