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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (2009), Edition: 2nd ed., 212 pages
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. The lightning-paced fifth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sj�wall and Per Wahl��, finds Beck investigating one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career.The 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 because somehow a regulation fire-truck 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 46-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: "Martin Beck"?… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bfister
First published in 1969 in Swedish, 1970 in English, this classic holds up well. A man not known to the police commits suicide and the only words on the note he leaves behind are 'Martin Beck.' Then a detective conducting surveillance on an apartment building sees it go up in flames; he rescues
Two factors about the story made me think about the genre and the debt current crime fiction owes to this series: the handling of character development and pacing. Very little page time is spent on the lives and thoughts of the detectives, yet somehow by the end one knows them well; they've taken on three-dimensional identities. Second, what's the hurry? The story is not driven by fast paced thrills and moments of peril; it meanders and takes detours and the pieces eventually join up, thanks to quiet persistence. In a couple of scenes the authors' political stance comes through when, in the background, police are battling Vietnam War protesters and once when a very genial and sensible detective from Malmo avoids being an officious, bossy jerk at a crime scene. At times the authors use understated sarcasm to describe the state of their nation: 'Walpurgis Eve is an important day in Sweden, a day when people put on their spring clothes and get drunk and dance and are happy and eat food and look forward to the summer. In Dkane, the roadsides are in bloom, and the leaves are coming out . . . Students put on their white caps and trade union leaders get out their red flags from their moth-bags and try to remember the text of Sons of Labor. It will soon be May Daay and time to pretend to be socialist for a short while again, and during the symbolic demonstration march even the police stand to attention when the brass bands play the Internationale. For the only tasks the police have are the redirection of traffic and ensuring that no one who really wants to say anything has got in among the demonstrators.' You can see the roots of contemporary Scandinavian crime fiction in this story, particularly the broad social canvas of which the crimes are just a piece. But it's certainly not gloomy, introspective, or overly dramatic, and there's none of the psychological analysis of people's lives and motivations which tend to play a large role today. All in all, a well-plotted, cool-handed and often extraordinarily funny procedural with a large cast of characters who aren't given to introspection or angst who you want to meet again.
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several people, but not the man under surveillance. The police suspect foul play and slowly begin to piece things together. Two factors about the story made me think about the genre and the debt current crime fiction owes to this series: the handling of character development and pacing. Very little page time is spent on the lives and thoughts of the detectives, yet somehow by the end one knows them well; they've taken on three-dimensional identities. Second, what's the hurry? The story is not driven by fast paced thrills and moments of peril; it meanders and takes detours and the pieces eventually join up, thanks to quiet persistence. In a couple of scenes the authors' political stance comes through when, in the background, police are battling Vietnam War protesters and once when a very genial and sensible detective from Malmo avoids being an officious, bossy jerk at a crime scene. At times the authors use understated sarcasm to describe the state of their nation: 'Walpurgis Eve is an important day in Sweden, a day when people put on their spring clothes and get drunk and dance and are happy and eat food and look forward to the summer. In Dkane, the roadsides are in bloom, and the leaves are coming out . . . Students put on their white caps and trade union leaders get out their red flags from their moth-bags and try to remember the text of Sons of Labor. It will soon be May Daay and time to pretend to be socialist for a short while again, and during the symbolic demonstration march even the police stand to attention when the brass bands play the Internationale. For the only tasks the police have are the redirection of traffic and ensuring that no one who really wants to say anything has got in among the demonstrators.' You can see the roots of contemporary Scandinavian crime fiction in this story, particularly the broad social canvas of which the crimes are just a piece. But it's certainly not gloomy, introspective, or overly dramatic, and there's none of the psychological analysis of people's lives and motivations which tend to play a large role today. All in all, a well-plotted, cool-handed and often extraordinarily funny procedural with a large cast of characters who aren't given to introspection or angst who you want to meet again.
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LibraryThing member Larou
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are not only the grandparents of the Scandinavian crime novel, but there 10-volume series of novels (known in English, somewhat misleadingly as the “Martin Beck” series) pretty much (with some influence from Ed McBains 87th Precinct series) defined the shape of
What the series basically does is to combine social realism with the mystery novel – it takes an unflinching look at Swedish society from the early sixties to the early seventies, a look that becomes increasingly tinged with bitterness as a supposedly welfare state lets go more and more of its promise to build a better future for everyone, and instead continues to privilege the rich and powerful. Which would be very depressing stuff, if it wasn’t made readable, enjoyable even (to some degree at least) by the mystery plot that keeps readers turning the pages even as they are confronted with a sheer endless parade of human misery and mean-spiritedness. Formally considered, this is very 19th century, as Sjöwall / Wahlöö use mystery in very much the same way as Dickens or Zola used melodrama, and I would not be at all surprised if that was a tradition they intentionally decided to place themselves in.
The Fire Engine that Disappeared is the fifth volume in the series, and it continues its general trend to become increasingly focused on the character’s private lives and on giving a picture of Swedish society at the time. There is more space given to the character’s concerns outside of their police job than before, and the narrative is even more de-centralized, Martin Beck becoming almost a minor figure as the novel follows his colleagues Larsson and Kollberg as well as Mansson from Malmö and newcomer Skane. That emphasizes one of the distinguishing features of this series, the utter ordinariness of its protagonists which are not only not outstandingly good-looking or intelligent, but frequently not even particularly good policemen, but just civil servants that do their job without any particular enthusiasm and who get results not so much by brilliant deduction than by luck or sheer dogged persistence.
The latter is particularly ironic if one considers how many of the cases could just as well have occurred in a classical mystery novel. While the puzzle element is not as strong here as in the previous novel, the investigators find themselves confronted by the corpse of someone who apparently committed suicide as well as being murdered. The Fire Engine that Disappeared takes its time in solving the crime, both in that the investigations span several months and in that the novel is not what anyone would call a page-turner. It’s not slow either, however, but moves along at a steady, comfortable speed, giving readers the chance to take in the scenery along that way, as bleak as that proves to be. And it’s precisely this view of the scenery that will likely linger longest with the reader, Sjöwall/Wahlöö’s hard and uncompromising perspective on a welfare state coming apart (a perspective which I’m convinced they developed not in spite of but because of their Marxist views – something I might return to in a post on a later volume) will remain in most readers’ memory even when the details of the crime plot have faded.
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contemporary police procedurals.What the series basically does is to combine social realism with the mystery novel – it takes an unflinching look at Swedish society from the early sixties to the early seventies, a look that becomes increasingly tinged with bitterness as a supposedly welfare state lets go more and more of its promise to build a better future for everyone, and instead continues to privilege the rich and powerful. Which would be very depressing stuff, if it wasn’t made readable, enjoyable even (to some degree at least) by the mystery plot that keeps readers turning the pages even as they are confronted with a sheer endless parade of human misery and mean-spiritedness. Formally considered, this is very 19th century, as Sjöwall / Wahlöö use mystery in very much the same way as Dickens or Zola used melodrama, and I would not be at all surprised if that was a tradition they intentionally decided to place themselves in.
The Fire Engine that Disappeared is the fifth volume in the series, and it continues its general trend to become increasingly focused on the character’s private lives and on giving a picture of Swedish society at the time. There is more space given to the character’s concerns outside of their police job than before, and the narrative is even more de-centralized, Martin Beck becoming almost a minor figure as the novel follows his colleagues Larsson and Kollberg as well as Mansson from Malmö and newcomer Skane. That emphasizes one of the distinguishing features of this series, the utter ordinariness of its protagonists which are not only not outstandingly good-looking or intelligent, but frequently not even particularly good policemen, but just civil servants that do their job without any particular enthusiasm and who get results not so much by brilliant deduction than by luck or sheer dogged persistence.
The latter is particularly ironic if one considers how many of the cases could just as well have occurred in a classical mystery novel. While the puzzle element is not as strong here as in the previous novel, the investigators find themselves confronted by the corpse of someone who apparently committed suicide as well as being murdered. The Fire Engine that Disappeared takes its time in solving the crime, both in that the investigations span several months and in that the novel is not what anyone would call a page-turner. It’s not slow either, however, but moves along at a steady, comfortable speed, giving readers the chance to take in the scenery along that way, as bleak as that proves to be. And it’s precisely this view of the scenery that will likely linger longest with the reader, Sjöwall/Wahlöö’s hard and uncompromising perspective on a welfare state coming apart (a perspective which I’m convinced they developed not in spite of but because of their Marxist views – something I might return to in a post on a later volume) will remain in most readers’ memory even when the details of the crime plot have faded.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Another short but dragged out investigation from Martin beck and the team.
It's quiet in the late autimn and Gunvald is transferred to shadow (did police forces ever do this?) a suspect. When the house he is in burns down Gunvar rescues some people but not the suspect whose remains are later found
Didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous offereings, though it isn't clear why. There plot lacked some of the drama and there was once a gain a preponderance of unnecessary though non-graphic sex. There contrasts between the various families seem to exist solely for the sake of contrast. The disconnection between the various plot lines was confusing although ultimately resolved it was hard to keep track of who was important to whom on whic investigation. Stockholm only appears to have two radio officers. Highly unlikely that they'd have been involved (badly) in the last three adventures.
And to round it all off it's a preposterous and badly contrived ending.
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It's quiet in the late autimn and Gunvald is transferred to shadow (did police forces ever do this?) a suspect. When the house he is in burns down Gunvar rescues some people but not the suspect whose remains are later found
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in the house. Case closed. Until the forensics deptment discover some anomolous evidence. Meanwhile a man is found shot in a flat. And some car is later found in a harbour. Is there any connection between these events? Different members of the team are investigating them so it isn't clear. Didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous offereings, though it isn't clear why. There plot lacked some of the drama and there was once a gain a preponderance of unnecessary though non-graphic sex. There contrasts between the various families seem to exist solely for the sake of contrast. The disconnection between the various plot lines was confusing although ultimately resolved it was hard to keep track of who was important to whom on whic investigation. Stockholm only appears to have two radio officers. Highly unlikely that they'd have been involved (badly) in the last three adventures.
And to round it all off it's a preposterous and badly contrived ending.
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LibraryThing member tixylix
This is the 5th in the Martin Beck series and although I enjoyed it, it didn't keep me reading. I picked it up and put it down a lot so I always had to remind myself what was going on and who was who. Not such a page-turner as some of the earlier books The fact that it took me 2 months to read a
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250 page book is testament to this! That said, I am really enjoying getting to know the policeman - the authors have been very clever to drop in tiny facts about Martin Beck's family life, for example, and this has enriched my reading of all the books so far. Show Less
LibraryThing member ten_floors_up
'The fire engine that disappeared' is the first of the Martin Beck series that I've read, though it's the fifth in the series. I've been meaning to try one for a while, and I'm not disappointed.
Though a book recognisably 'of its time', it's none the worse for it and I can understand why Henning
Though a book recognisably 'of its time', it's none the worse for it and I can understand why Henning
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Mankell was influenced by these authors. The style is concise and direct, has dry humour, and an almost perverse delight in detail and character foibles. Best of all is the way that the crucial conclusions come from gradually discerning a pattern where none seemed to exist before, rather than fiendish sleuthing or the obvious. Very enjoyable. Show Less
LibraryThing member CBJames
The fifth book in the Martin Beck series, The Fire Engine that Disappeared, lives up to the standards set by the previous novels. Ms. Sjowall and Mr. Wahloo are among the best at what they do, no question about it. However, I still felt something of a slump, a sense of going through the motions,
There's nothing remarkable this time around. The story begins with a mass murder just like The Laughing Policeman, book four, did. There is a hint that a police officer might be involved when Martin Beck's name is found written on a note pad in one victim's room, just as a police officer was one of the victims in book four. At first there are no clues, just like in all the previous books. A handful of capable police detectives work the case among the usual assortment of blunderers. There is another young officer looking for his chance to shine.
It's all very well done, there's just this nagging sense that it has been done just as well before .
Repetition and formula are part of the pleasure readers get from a mystery series. That you know what to expect and that you get what you expect are both part of the deal. The previous novels kept this part of the bargain, then delivered the extras that made them stand out as better than average. The Fire Engine that Disappeared attempts this by making Martin Beck a minor character in favor of other detectives. While these other characters are all well done, they didn't push the series to new heights. I fear a plateau has been reached. A high plateau, but a plateau none-the-less.
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that I did not feel in any of the earlier books. There's nothing remarkable this time around. The story begins with a mass murder just like The Laughing Policeman, book four, did. There is a hint that a police officer might be involved when Martin Beck's name is found written on a note pad in one victim's room, just as a police officer was one of the victims in book four. At first there are no clues, just like in all the previous books. A handful of capable police detectives work the case among the usual assortment of blunderers. There is another young officer looking for his chance to shine.
It's all very well done, there's just this nagging sense that it has been done just as well before .
Repetition and formula are part of the pleasure readers get from a mystery series. That you know what to expect and that you get what you expect are both part of the deal. The previous novels kept this part of the bargain, then delivered the extras that made them stand out as better than average. The Fire Engine that Disappeared attempts this by making Martin Beck a minor character in favor of other detectives. While these other characters are all well done, they didn't push the series to new heights. I fear a plateau has been reached. A high plateau, but a plateau none-the-less.
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LibraryThing member smik
THE FIRE ENGINE THAT DISAPPEARED is a perfect illustration of the concept that solving homicide cases is a mixture of accumulating evidence through painstaking and methodical sleuthing with flashes of intuition. In any investigative team the role of some will be the sleuthing, but it will often be
One of the things that this novel clearly shows too is that each of the team has a private life. In THE FIRE ENGINE THAT DISAPPEARED Martin Beck's marriage appears to be on the point of collapse. This seems to be something so common to the modern detective that we almost take it for granted.
The Martin Beck series was written in the late 1960s and now five decades later we can still appreciate how cleverly they were constructed.
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the intuition that solves the case. The problem is that without the painstaking sleuthing little intuition is possible, and the accumulation of evidence is often necessary to both break the perpetrator and for for successful prosecution to take place. There is also often a problem in getting all the essential information into one brain. It takes all kinds to form a good team of detectives: plods, cynics, workaholics, as well as those who carefully compartmentalise their lives. Successful resolution requires testing theories, discarding those that don't fit, following the occasional red herring, and often, as in this case a long passage of time. The threads that make up a case often first present separately but as the plot develops they begin to converge.One of the things that this novel clearly shows too is that each of the team has a private life. In THE FIRE ENGINE THAT DISAPPEARED Martin Beck's marriage appears to be on the point of collapse. This seems to be something so common to the modern detective that we almost take it for granted.
The Martin Beck series was written in the late 1960s and now five decades later we can still appreciate how cleverly they were constructed.
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LibraryThing member DekeDastardly
I bought two books of the Martin Beck series, The Man On The Balcony (TMOTB) and The Fire Engine That Disappeared (TFETD), and read them one after the other. Although many of the involved characters are the same the style of the books could hardly be more different.
The Man On The Balcony burns on a
Each has its merits, though as a matter of preference and enjoyment TMOTB had the edge for me.
Each book is set in 60s Stockholm and any reader who imagines paedophilia, hard core drugs, promiscuity, street crime, and the like are recent phenomenon in society may be somewhat suprised to read just how prevalent they are in 60s city life, which makes the books seems very contemporary.
Though TFETD ventures further afield with significant references to France and Denmark especially and a plot which embraces the beginnings of cross border terrorism and gang warfare, the evocative scenes and action of TMOTB are concentrated in well defined districts of the city and the book is highly personalised and quietly emotive in documenting the hunt for a predatory child killer.
In TMOTB, Beck and his motley crew of detective colleagues languish over the evidence having already dismissed unknowingly a crucial lead. The bad luck is almost repeated at the end only for chance to play a part in resolving the case, though painstaking research ensured this time the chance was not passed up. TMOTB is a comfortable though melancholy read which is extremely believable.
TFETD picks up the Beck series a little further down the line and the first notable aspect is the changed relationships between the various detectives, being more fractious and weary with each other. The plot is a complicated and convoluted one and in the end I found I was confused as to quite who was who and where the pieces fitted. I finished the book not really able to recall the various criminal intrigues which lead to a house fire in which a seemingly petty criminal was killed, and then to the finale and fate of the mastermind.
So, very different writing styles, each worthy, each thoroughly researched and well crafted, I enjoyed TMOTB and was a little less enamoured with TFETD but would understand how another reader may take an opposite view.
The Man On The Balcony burns on a
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slow, consistent, fuse, a Catherine Wheel of a book, whereas The Fire Engine That Disappeared fizzes like a Jumping Jack never sure of which way it will go next.Each has its merits, though as a matter of preference and enjoyment TMOTB had the edge for me.
Each book is set in 60s Stockholm and any reader who imagines paedophilia, hard core drugs, promiscuity, street crime, and the like are recent phenomenon in society may be somewhat suprised to read just how prevalent they are in 60s city life, which makes the books seems very contemporary.
Though TFETD ventures further afield with significant references to France and Denmark especially and a plot which embraces the beginnings of cross border terrorism and gang warfare, the evocative scenes and action of TMOTB are concentrated in well defined districts of the city and the book is highly personalised and quietly emotive in documenting the hunt for a predatory child killer.
In TMOTB, Beck and his motley crew of detective colleagues languish over the evidence having already dismissed unknowingly a crucial lead. The bad luck is almost repeated at the end only for chance to play a part in resolving the case, though painstaking research ensured this time the chance was not passed up. TMOTB is a comfortable though melancholy read which is extremely believable.
TFETD picks up the Beck series a little further down the line and the first notable aspect is the changed relationships between the various detectives, being more fractious and weary with each other. The plot is a complicated and convoluted one and in the end I found I was confused as to quite who was who and where the pieces fitted. I finished the book not really able to recall the various criminal intrigues which lead to a house fire in which a seemingly petty criminal was killed, and then to the finale and fate of the mastermind.
So, very different writing styles, each worthy, each thoroughly researched and well crafted, I enjoyed TMOTB and was a little less enamoured with TFETD but would understand how another reader may take an opposite view.
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LibraryThing member KeishonT
Okay story. Not my favorite.
LibraryThing member thorold
This fifth novel in the series continues the gradual process of building up a bleak, composite view of the failures of 60s/70s Swedish society whilst deglamourising police work, and at the same time pokes a little fun at one of the favourite tricks of technically sophisticated detective fiction,
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the death that looks as though it could equally well have been murder, suicide or accident. Sjöwall and Wahlöö take it a step further by providing us with deaths that seem to fall into more than one of these categories at once. And a title that looks like a complete red herring but might not be... Show Less
LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
The fifth in the Martin Beck series sees the Chief Inspector take much more of a back-seat role as the latest investigation unfolds. Gunvald Larsson decides to check on a surveillance mission he's in charge of and offers temporary relief to the young policeman on watch. So not even supposed to be
This instalment focuses more on the team around Martin Beck and offers glimpses into their personal lives and motivations as well as the social commentary of Sweden at the time these books are set (late sixties/early seventies) that this series has become known for. Again it is the painstaking work of the detectives involved that help to progress the investigation, following all of the clues even if they're heading nowhere. There is no quick fix or momentary flashes of brilliance that help solve the case. Instead it's the knocking on doors, finding the right people, asking the right question and sifting through the clues that will get them to the right outcome. If you want your crime fix to be thrill a minute then you should look elsewhere but if you like a well plotted police procedural then you could do a lot worse than picking up this series.
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there, it's just his luck that the house converted into apartments suddenly explodes. Larsson manages to save several people from the property that is readily becoming engulfed in flame but there are three that don't manage to escape the inferno. One of which is the petty criminal that was the object of the surveillance in the first place. Initial investigations suggest a suicide by this very man much to Larsson's consternation who, after a short spell in hospital due to concussion, decides to take matters into his own hands and pursue enquiries on his own.This instalment focuses more on the team around Martin Beck and offers glimpses into their personal lives and motivations as well as the social commentary of Sweden at the time these books are set (late sixties/early seventies) that this series has become known for. Again it is the painstaking work of the detectives involved that help to progress the investigation, following all of the clues even if they're heading nowhere. There is no quick fix or momentary flashes of brilliance that help solve the case. Instead it's the knocking on doors, finding the right people, asking the right question and sifting through the clues that will get them to the right outcome. If you want your crime fix to be thrill a minute then you should look elsewhere but if you like a well plotted police procedural then you could do a lot worse than picking up this series.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
This was my least favorite in the Martin Beck series so far. This storyline was more disjointed than usual. The mystery was all over the place and the ending did not match my expectations for this series. As a mystery/police procedural this story fell through for me. However, this story did develop
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a lot of the characters in the story. And, even though the series revolves around Martin Beck, he was more a peripheral character in this one. This story revolved around Gunvald Larsson, a character that I am learning to like a lot. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
Karlsson was a typical small-timer, the one who finally delivered the narcotics to schoolchildren in their lunch breaks in exchange for their pocket money and what they could steal from their parents, or from breaking into phone booths and vending machines. How many middlemen the goods had been
The police are staking out a flat occupied by a suspected car smuggler when it suddenly explodes, setting the whole block on fire. Gunvald Larson helps half a dozen people escape the blaze but there are several fatalities and another person dies in hospital later.
This is my least favourite of the series so far. The story rambles along and the strands of the mystery eventually tie up, but it’s all quite unsatisfactory really.
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through before they reached him, he certainly would have no idea, and between him and the root of the evil lay an enormous complex of political miscalculations and failed social philosophy.The police are staking out a flat occupied by a suspected car smuggler when it suddenly explodes, setting the whole block on fire. Gunvald Larson helps half a dozen people escape the blaze but there are several fatalities and another person dies in hospital later.
This is my least favourite of the series so far. The story rambles along and the strands of the mystery eventually tie up, but it’s all quite unsatisfactory really.
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LibraryThing member datrappert
By this point, the series is not only not any fun, but the authors' plotting has begun to annoy me. The only really worthwhile part of this book is the continued development of the characters, although Martin Beck has become almost a secondary character in the series by this point. And here, most
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of the crime is ultimately solved by a detective in Malmo, not even one of the Stockholm murder squad. And he solves it by basically having a witness tell him the entire story from beginning to end (after he takes a break to sleep with her). Also, why do the writers have to describe the size and shape of the breasts of just about every woman in the book and add the color of their pubic hair as well? I would say this series is seriously overrated, although by this point it has succeeded in making Sweden seem like one of the worst places on earth. Still, there is a certain fascination to see what happens to the characters and to see just how much further the authors go in their attempt to discover everything sordid there is to discover. Show Less
LibraryThing member dresdon
Well-written, well paced, good character development and a story that keeps you engaged. One star missing because I thought the ending was anti-climatic.
LibraryThing member Ling.Lass
While reading this, I was noting down that it was a well captured snapshot of workplace camaraderie and boredom. But then that ending! This is the best one so far.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1969
1970 (English translation)
Physical description
212 p.; 7.98 inches
ISBN
0307390926 / 9780307390929
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