Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
Sverige, Stockholm, 1985
En amerikansk journalist John P. Krassner fra 15 juli 1953 dratter ned på et svensk fortov. Ordensbetjentene politiassistenterne Oredsson og Stridh tager rapport. Inkompetent politi som Wiijnbladh og Bäckström tåger rundt. En hæderlig konstitueret chef for
Vi springer også lidt tilbage i tiden og følger en gren af de hemmelige tjenester. Den er ledet af en Erik Berg og en Claes Waltin og de har fået et praj fra en gammel pensioneret matematikprofessor Johan Forselius om at Krassner har interesseret sig for noget, der måske er interessant for tjenesten. Waltin etablerer overvågning af Krassner og får en pensioneret chefkriminaltekniker Hedberg til at bryde ind. Overvågningen af Krassner kikser og han kommer hjem kort efter at teknikeren er forsvundet og kort efter begår han selvmord ved at hoppe ud af vinduet. Vi følger med i både Bergs og Waltins tanker. Waltin beskæftiger sig mest med at komme i bukserne på diverse kvindfolk, fx politikollegaen Jeanette Louise Eriksson, som han introducerer for SM sex i en grad, så hun dårligt kan sidde ned. Jeanette er 27, men i Waltins fantasiverden er hun kun 13. Waltin er bag en pæn overflade faktisk en klam psykopat. Berg er ikke interesseret i kvinder i samme grad og er helt almindeligt gift. En særlig rådgiver til statsministeren interesserer sig også for Krassner sagen. Waltin morer sig med at forføre og mishandle en kvinde, som han så finder ud af er Wiijnbladhs kone, hvilket kun gør spøgen endnu sjovere (for ham). Wiijnbladh er træt af kones utroskab, men gør gode miner til slet spil samtidig med at han spekulerer på ondskabsfulde måder at slå hende ihjel på.
Berg og Johansson undersøger på hver sin måde Krassner-sagen og trådene trækker tilbage til den nuværende socialdemokratiske statsminister, som alle regner med er russisk agent. Johansson morer sig med at drille den særlige rådgiver (som for resten var Forselius elev i sin tid) med at han snarere tror at statsministeren var agent for CIA i sin tid. Johanssons teori er at nogen i sikkerhedstjenesten har dummet sig og at Krassner er blevet myrdet af vedkommende, selv om alt ligner et selvmord. Under et ophold ved sin bror læser Johansson det manuskript han har fået af Judith og det bekræfter hans teori. Krassners onkel, oberst John Buchanan var føringsofficer for Pilgrim og ikke begejstret for at denne siden skiftede side og endda fik en anden af Buchanans folk, Salomon "Sal" Tannenbaum, kodenavn Raven, myrdet.
Johansson er nu helt sikker på at Krassner blev myrdet og han skriver et kort memorandum og giver det hele videre til den særlige rådgiver. Han er ikke så overrasket og drøfter lidt flere detaljer med Forselius. Forselius dør kort efter og den særlige rådgiver er nu alene om at spekulere over sagen.
Imens er Berg udsat for lidt hård behandling af justitsministeren og forresten også den særlige rådgiver, for deres plan er at nedlægge den del af Bergs afdeling, som Waltin står for. Berg kommer senere til at røbe for Waltin at statsministeren har planer for at gå i biografen og har sagt sine bodyguards fra. Waltin fortæller det videre til Hedberg og lader også lige en storkalibret revolver ligge til ham. Hedberg har heldet med sig og skyder statsministeren uden at blive pågrebet endsige opdaget. Kaos bryder løs.
Stockholms politimester er en nar, der mener at kunne deducere sig frem til løsninger uden at skulle bruge tid på "almindelige spor". Han er faktisk heller ikke til at få fat på, da statsministeren bliver dræbt. Imens tager Hedberg uhindret tilbage til Palma på Mallorca. Waltin rydder op i hans lejlighed og tager revolveren med tilbage til teknisk afdeling og lægger den på en bænk. Det morer ham enormt, lige som den gang han skubbede sin fulde mor ud foran et tog. Johansson har taget orlov fra sit job som kontorchef i rigspolitiledelsen og det er han svært tilfreds med, da han hører om drabet på statsministeren.
Bäckström forsøger at hænge en dartspillende sjuft op på mordet og i USA morer CIA sig over at høre deres agent Sarah J. Weissman fortælle om Johansson og hvordan han har slugt både madding og krog. Men CIA har heller ikke nogen ide om hvem der har skudt den svenske statsminister og henlægger hele baduljen.
Fantastisk velkomponeret krimi, der ikke har den helt store handling, men et væld af bipersoner og småplot, der flettes kompetent sammen.
En amerikansk journalist John P. Krassner fra 15 juli 1953 dratter ned på et svensk fortov. Ordensbetjentene politiassistenterne Oredsson og Stridh tager rapport. Inkompetent politi som Wiijnbladh og Bäckström tåger rundt. En hæderlig konstitueret chef for
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Rigskriminalpolitiet Lars Martin Johansson og hans gamle ven kriminalinspektør Bo Jarnebring finder et digt om sommerens længsel og vinterens kulde i ligets ene sko hvor der også er en seddel med Johanssons navn, en bemærkning om at han er hæderlig og endnu mere underligt, hans adresse, for den er kun kendt af få og de plejer ikke at give den videre til nogen. Johansson skal til USA på et kursus på Quantico, så han benytter lejligheden til at besøge Krassners gamle kæreste, Sarah Weissman. Hun fortæller at Krassner var fuld af fup og løgn. Faktisk minder han om den joke med matematikeren, der altid inden en potentielt farlig rejse skrev til en ven at han havde fundet et vidunderligt bevis for en bestemt sætning. På samme måde har Krassner efterladt et brev til Johansson om at Krassner frygtede at blive dræbt af svensk eller russisk sikkerhedstjeneste. Judith ser også på digtet og kan fortælle at Krassner aldrig ville have skrevet det og også var alt for selvglad til at begå selvmord.Vi springer også lidt tilbage i tiden og følger en gren af de hemmelige tjenester. Den er ledet af en Erik Berg og en Claes Waltin og de har fået et praj fra en gammel pensioneret matematikprofessor Johan Forselius om at Krassner har interesseret sig for noget, der måske er interessant for tjenesten. Waltin etablerer overvågning af Krassner og får en pensioneret chefkriminaltekniker Hedberg til at bryde ind. Overvågningen af Krassner kikser og han kommer hjem kort efter at teknikeren er forsvundet og kort efter begår han selvmord ved at hoppe ud af vinduet. Vi følger med i både Bergs og Waltins tanker. Waltin beskæftiger sig mest med at komme i bukserne på diverse kvindfolk, fx politikollegaen Jeanette Louise Eriksson, som han introducerer for SM sex i en grad, så hun dårligt kan sidde ned. Jeanette er 27, men i Waltins fantasiverden er hun kun 13. Waltin er bag en pæn overflade faktisk en klam psykopat. Berg er ikke interesseret i kvinder i samme grad og er helt almindeligt gift. En særlig rådgiver til statsministeren interesserer sig også for Krassner sagen. Waltin morer sig med at forføre og mishandle en kvinde, som han så finder ud af er Wiijnbladhs kone, hvilket kun gør spøgen endnu sjovere (for ham). Wiijnbladh er træt af kones utroskab, men gør gode miner til slet spil samtidig med at han spekulerer på ondskabsfulde måder at slå hende ihjel på.
Berg og Johansson undersøger på hver sin måde Krassner-sagen og trådene trækker tilbage til den nuværende socialdemokratiske statsminister, som alle regner med er russisk agent. Johansson morer sig med at drille den særlige rådgiver (som for resten var Forselius elev i sin tid) med at han snarere tror at statsministeren var agent for CIA i sin tid. Johanssons teori er at nogen i sikkerhedstjenesten har dummet sig og at Krassner er blevet myrdet af vedkommende, selv om alt ligner et selvmord. Under et ophold ved sin bror læser Johansson det manuskript han har fået af Judith og det bekræfter hans teori. Krassners onkel, oberst John Buchanan var føringsofficer for Pilgrim og ikke begejstret for at denne siden skiftede side og endda fik en anden af Buchanans folk, Salomon "Sal" Tannenbaum, kodenavn Raven, myrdet.
Johansson er nu helt sikker på at Krassner blev myrdet og han skriver et kort memorandum og giver det hele videre til den særlige rådgiver. Han er ikke så overrasket og drøfter lidt flere detaljer med Forselius. Forselius dør kort efter og den særlige rådgiver er nu alene om at spekulere over sagen.
Imens er Berg udsat for lidt hård behandling af justitsministeren og forresten også den særlige rådgiver, for deres plan er at nedlægge den del af Bergs afdeling, som Waltin står for. Berg kommer senere til at røbe for Waltin at statsministeren har planer for at gå i biografen og har sagt sine bodyguards fra. Waltin fortæller det videre til Hedberg og lader også lige en storkalibret revolver ligge til ham. Hedberg har heldet med sig og skyder statsministeren uden at blive pågrebet endsige opdaget. Kaos bryder løs.
Stockholms politimester er en nar, der mener at kunne deducere sig frem til løsninger uden at skulle bruge tid på "almindelige spor". Han er faktisk heller ikke til at få fat på, da statsministeren bliver dræbt. Imens tager Hedberg uhindret tilbage til Palma på Mallorca. Waltin rydder op i hans lejlighed og tager revolveren med tilbage til teknisk afdeling og lægger den på en bænk. Det morer ham enormt, lige som den gang han skubbede sin fulde mor ud foran et tog. Johansson har taget orlov fra sit job som kontorchef i rigspolitiledelsen og det er han svært tilfreds med, da han hører om drabet på statsministeren.
Bäckström forsøger at hænge en dartspillende sjuft op på mordet og i USA morer CIA sig over at høre deres agent Sarah J. Weissman fortælle om Johansson og hvordan han har slugt både madding og krog. Men CIA har heller ikke nogen ide om hvem der har skudt den svenske statsminister og henlægger hele baduljen.
Fantastisk velkomponeret krimi, der ikke har den helt store handling, men et væld af bipersoner og småplot, der flettes kompetent sammen.
Show Less
Genres
Publication
Århus : Modtryk, 2003.
Description
The first entry in a trilogy inspired by the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme traces an investigation into an unknown American's death in Stockholm that reveals a complex web of espionage and intelligence failures.
User reviews
LibraryThing member austcrimefiction
As Leif G.W. Persson is a new author for me, I was interested to read the bio in this book:
"Leif Persson is the Grand Master of Scandinavian crime fiction. Over three decades, he has taken a scalpel to the political and social mores of Swedish society in dark, complex and satirical crime novels.
Whatever that means..... More importantly, the blurb eventually goes on to note that he is the author of nine novels, with BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING and WINTER'S END being the first translated into English.
This is a massive door stopper of a book at 551 pages, and I will confess to being more than a little concerned about how much of that could possibly be filled by the story of a doubtful suicide of an unknown American in Stockholm. But this book has one of the all-time great opening sequences. One of those "right, let's get into this!" sort of opening sequences which just grabbed interest and seemed to set things off at a snorting pace. From there, well things got ... odd. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I suspect that's going to be the best explanation I can come up with. Before things got very odd. Profoundly odd really. The plot is dense to the point of condensed treacle. It seems to head off in all sorts of directions in short, sharp bursts of viewpoints, snippets, back story, future stories and around in circles and back down laneways and into blind alleys to the point where, frankly, I wasn't sure which book I was still reading about half-way through.
I suspect that the author has a tremendous sense of humour though, and there's a great deal of laugh out loud dark, satirical humour here. That's not to say that the point is humorous - far from it really. It's alternatively funny, shocking, thought-provoking and quite confrontational. There also seems to be a cast of thousands. There were people popping in and out of the story all over the place, and threads wandering in and out of the narrative like they'd got lost in the post somewhere. Combine that jack-in-a-box behaviour with the humour and I did develop a sneaking feeling that we were actually playing some sort of written form of "Whack a Mole". I understand this is book one in a trilogy however, and it could be that a lot of the ins and outs of CIA operatives, secret papers, code names, secret police, corrupt and incompetent governments, Cold War complications and whatever else I've forgotten was going on, will be clarified in the later books once they are released. And here's a quiet plea to please translate the things in order - without too long a delay - so that readers who are interested have got a hope of clinging to the threads!
To be perfectly honest, I finished this book with absolutely NO idea what I was supposed to take away from it. I'm still profoundly confused about what was going on. But if part of the destination is the journey, then this was a ride no doubt about that. I loved the satirical tone, and I didn't mind the odd madcap sort of style. I can live with the idea that I've finished the book with very little idea of what it was all about. Whilst I will be waiting for the following two books, this isn't necessarily a book I'd recommend with no reservations. I think that a reader of BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING AND WINTER'S END who enjoys it, is going to be somebody that is open to something very different, happy with a rollercoaster of a ride to more questions than answers, and keen to try something that, to be perfectly frank, is completely and utterly different. And just that little bit odd.
"Leif Persson is the Grand Master of Scandinavian crime fiction. Over three decades, he has taken a scalpel to the political and social mores of Swedish society in dark, complex and satirical crime novels.
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His work melds the social realism of a Balzac or a Dickens with the hard-boiled street smarts of a James Ellroy."Whatever that means..... More importantly, the blurb eventually goes on to note that he is the author of nine novels, with BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING and WINTER'S END being the first translated into English.
This is a massive door stopper of a book at 551 pages, and I will confess to being more than a little concerned about how much of that could possibly be filled by the story of a doubtful suicide of an unknown American in Stockholm. But this book has one of the all-time great opening sequences. One of those "right, let's get into this!" sort of opening sequences which just grabbed interest and seemed to set things off at a snorting pace. From there, well things got ... odd. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I suspect that's going to be the best explanation I can come up with. Before things got very odd. Profoundly odd really. The plot is dense to the point of condensed treacle. It seems to head off in all sorts of directions in short, sharp bursts of viewpoints, snippets, back story, future stories and around in circles and back down laneways and into blind alleys to the point where, frankly, I wasn't sure which book I was still reading about half-way through.
I suspect that the author has a tremendous sense of humour though, and there's a great deal of laugh out loud dark, satirical humour here. That's not to say that the point is humorous - far from it really. It's alternatively funny, shocking, thought-provoking and quite confrontational. There also seems to be a cast of thousands. There were people popping in and out of the story all over the place, and threads wandering in and out of the narrative like they'd got lost in the post somewhere. Combine that jack-in-a-box behaviour with the humour and I did develop a sneaking feeling that we were actually playing some sort of written form of "Whack a Mole". I understand this is book one in a trilogy however, and it could be that a lot of the ins and outs of CIA operatives, secret papers, code names, secret police, corrupt and incompetent governments, Cold War complications and whatever else I've forgotten was going on, will be clarified in the later books once they are released. And here's a quiet plea to please translate the things in order - without too long a delay - so that readers who are interested have got a hope of clinging to the threads!
To be perfectly honest, I finished this book with absolutely NO idea what I was supposed to take away from it. I'm still profoundly confused about what was going on. But if part of the destination is the journey, then this was a ride no doubt about that. I loved the satirical tone, and I didn't mind the odd madcap sort of style. I can live with the idea that I've finished the book with very little idea of what it was all about. Whilst I will be waiting for the following two books, this isn't necessarily a book I'd recommend with no reservations. I think that a reader of BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING AND WINTER'S END who enjoys it, is going to be somebody that is open to something very different, happy with a rollercoaster of a ride to more questions than answers, and keen to try something that, to be perfectly frank, is completely and utterly different. And just that little bit odd.
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LibraryThing member bfister
A long, involved, deeply cynical conspiracy theory that just didn't work for me. I couldn't bring myself to keep the enormous cast straight or care about any of them.
LibraryThing member callmecayce
A different sort of Scandinavian mystery. Though compared to Mankell and Larsson, it is not like those at all. Instead of following just one or two characters, Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End has at least 10 more. Some are bit parts, while others are more main characters. The plot is less
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mystery than political thriller. Though the novel is sort of about the assassination of the Swedish prime minster in the 80s, it's more about the build up and a suicide. The novel is not fast paced, it sometimes drifts off into history (which is one similarity with Stieg Larsson's series) of Swedish's police force or secret police. But overall, it was an enjoyable read and the end was surprisingly satisfying, if not super creepy. Show Less
LibraryThing member WinstonDog
Swedish author. Very different style- not quite Hemmingway but very wordy. 300 pages into a 549 novel and just now getting an inkling what might be happening. I'll report back when I am finished.
LibraryThing member jkdavies
Well, an interesting book... very multi-perspectived which wasn't always easy to keep track of but suited the multi-layered story... Because of the multiple perspectives, it kept you guessing who was hero, who was villain in the book, and of course with the realistic ambiguity in life, sometimes a
Overall interesting, I probably would read other books by him, although only Another Time, Another Life is translated into English as far as I can tell... and that sounds interesting too, dealing with Baader Meinhof & Stockholm syndrome
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character is a bit of both. Overall interesting, I probably would read other books by him, although only Another Time, Another Life is translated into English as far as I can tell... and that sounds interesting too, dealing with Baader Meinhof & Stockholm syndrome
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LibraryThing member RowingRabbit
This is the first of a trilogy that traces the the history of Swedish politics from post WWII social democrats to the present day rise of far right groups.
Book #1 is a biting political satire that follows a whack of characters who all have ties to the country’s police & secret security services.
Just as in real life, multiple theories are presented as to who pulled the trigger. The police are depicted as a bloated organization with incompetents ruling individual fiefdoms. There is little coordination which results in different departments stepping all over each others’ investigations as they rush to make it to the nearest bar for last call.
Overlooking this mess is the “secret” police, a type of big brother organization that isn’t much better. It has multiple levels with ridiculous names that spend more time spying on each other than civilians. At times I couldn’t help thinking it was like something out of Monty Python with secret police, very secret police & really, really secret police. Almost to a man, these are despicable people engaged in a constant game of “he who collects the most dirt on everyone else” wins.
There are also characters from all the factions that have been suspected of killing Palme. They include Kurds, South Africans, CIA agents & traitors from within the Swedish government.
It’s a well written, intricate tale of spy vs spy & the author clearly know his stuff. But due to its dense, slow moving literary style I’d really only recommend for those with an interest in Swedish politics or the Palme case. In real life, the search for his killer is still open & is now the most expensive murder investigation in history (currently at about $45 million dollars over the last 30 years).
Book #1 is a biting political satire that follows a whack of characters who all have ties to the country’s police & secret security services.
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It culminates with the assassination of the prime minister, obviously based on the murder of Olaf Palme in 1986. Just as in real life, multiple theories are presented as to who pulled the trigger. The police are depicted as a bloated organization with incompetents ruling individual fiefdoms. There is little coordination which results in different departments stepping all over each others’ investigations as they rush to make it to the nearest bar for last call.
Overlooking this mess is the “secret” police, a type of big brother organization that isn’t much better. It has multiple levels with ridiculous names that spend more time spying on each other than civilians. At times I couldn’t help thinking it was like something out of Monty Python with secret police, very secret police & really, really secret police. Almost to a man, these are despicable people engaged in a constant game of “he who collects the most dirt on everyone else” wins.
There are also characters from all the factions that have been suspected of killing Palme. They include Kurds, South Africans, CIA agents & traitors from within the Swedish government.
It’s a well written, intricate tale of spy vs spy & the author clearly know his stuff. But due to its dense, slow moving literary style I’d really only recommend for those with an interest in Swedish politics or the Palme case. In real life, the search for his killer is still open & is now the most expensive murder investigation in history (currently at about $45 million dollars over the last 30 years).
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LibraryThing member johnwbeha
"What a peculiar man" - this phrase opens the last paragraph of the book, but could easily be the book's title (substituting the plural for the singular. Can Swedish law enforcement (which we know is a haven for depressives) really have contained so many drunks, sociopaths and neo-Nazis and in such
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senior positions as well? The book is at least two hundred pages too long and, apparently, is the first on a trilogy. Well I can tell you I will not be finding out! Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Glass Key Award (Nominee — 2003)
Language
Original language
Swedish
Original publication date
2002
Physical description
589 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
8773948071 / 9788773948071
Local notes
Omslag: Johannes Molin / Atljén
Omslaget viser en snedækket park og en enkelt rose liggende ovenpå sneen
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Mellan sommarens Längtan och vinterns köld" af Bjarne Nielsen
Undertitel: En roman om en forbrydelse
Velfærdsstatens undergang, bind 1
Johansson og Jarnebring, bind 4
En roman om en forbrydelse, bind 4
Side 5: Den bedste meddeler er den, der ikke forstår betydningen af det, han fortæller.
Side 59: Hovedet knust, tredive andre frakturer. Vi mennesker kan ikke flyve.
Side 70: Jeg har levet mit liv mellem sommerens længsel og vinterens kulde. Da jeg var yngre, plejede jeg at tro, at når sommeren kommer, bliver jeg forelsket i en, jeg kan holde meget af, og så vil jeg begynde at leve for alvor. Men da jeg havde gjort alt det, jeg var tvunget til at gøre, var sommeren allerede forbi og tilbage var kun vinterens kulde. Og det var ikke det liv, jeg havde forestillet mig.
Side 242: ... en svinemikkel der åbenbart var blottet for personlige egenskaber og interesser. Den slags bryder man sig ikke om, hvis man er politimand.
Side 235: et lugubert sted.
Side 235: amerikansk nygotik
Side 304: ... efter hans tonefald at dømme tilhørte han ikke inderkredsen af de nærmeste sørgende
Side 441: kundstkender (typo)
Side 482: gartis (typo)
Side 483: satsministeren (typo)
Side 486: Tænk hvis en rigtig forfatter havde fået lov at sætte tænderne i Krassners materiale, sukkede Johansson. Sikken historie det kunne være blevet. Den havde ikke en gang behøvet at være sand, tænkte han.
Omslaget viser en snedækket park og en enkelt rose liggende ovenpå sneen
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Mellan sommarens Längtan och vinterns köld" af Bjarne Nielsen
Undertitel: En roman om en forbrydelse
Velfærdsstatens undergang, bind 1
Johansson og Jarnebring, bind 4
En roman om en forbrydelse, bind 4
Side 5: Den bedste meddeler er den, der ikke forstår betydningen af det, han fortæller.
Side 59: Hovedet knust, tredive andre frakturer. Vi mennesker kan ikke flyve.
Side 70: Jeg har levet mit liv mellem sommerens længsel og vinterens kulde. Da jeg var yngre, plejede jeg at tro, at når sommeren kommer, bliver jeg forelsket i en, jeg kan holde meget af, og så vil jeg begynde at leve for alvor. Men da jeg havde gjort alt det, jeg var tvunget til at gøre, var sommeren allerede forbi og tilbage var kun vinterens kulde. Og det var ikke det liv, jeg havde forestillet mig.
Side 242: ... en svinemikkel der åbenbart var blottet for personlige egenskaber og interesser. Den slags bryder man sig ikke om, hvis man er politimand.
Side 235: et lugubert sted.
Side 235: amerikansk nygotik
Side 304: ... efter hans tonefald at dømme tilhørte han ikke inderkredsen af de nærmeste sørgende
Side 441: kundstkender (typo)
Side 482: gartis (typo)
Side 483: satsministeren (typo)
Side 486: Tænk hvis en rigtig forfatter havde fået lov at sætte tænderne i Krassners materiale, sukkede Johansson. Sikken historie det kunne være blevet. Den havde ikke en gang behøvet at være sand, tænkte han.
Similar in this library
Pages
589
DDC/MDS
| 833.914 |