The fourth book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s - the
novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime writing. Hugely acclaimed,
the Martin Beck series were the original Scandinavian crime novels and have insp
ired the writings of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo. Written in the
1960s, 10 books completed in 10 years, they are the work of Maj Sjowall and Per
Wahloo - a husband and wife team from Sweden.
They follow the fortunes of th
e detective Martin Beck, whose enigmatic, taciturn character has inspired countl
ess other policemen in crime fiction; without his creation Ian Rankin's John Reb
us or Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander may never have been conceived. The novels
can be read separately, but are best read in chronological order, so the reader
can follow the characters' development and get drawn into the series as a whole
. On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unk
nown assassin.
The press, anxious for an explanation for the seemingly random
crime, quickly dubs him a madman. But Martin Beck of the Homicide Squad suspect
s otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck
's best detectives - and he, surely, would not have been riding that lethal bus
without a reason. With its wonderfully observed lawmen, its brilliantly rendered
felons and their murky Stockholm underworld, and its deftly engineered plot, 'T
he Laughing Policeman' has long been recognised as a classic of the police proce
dural.
