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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Heron Books (1982), Paperback, 222 pages
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML: The striking seventh novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sj�wall and Per Wahl��, finds Beck facing one of the greatest challenges in his professional career. The gruesome murder of a police captain in his hospital room reveals the unsavory history of a man who spent forty years practicing a horrible blend of strong-arm police work and shear brutality. Martin Beck and his colleagues feverishly comb Stockholm for the murderer, a demented and deadly rifleman, who has plans for even more chaos. As the tension builds and a feeling of imminent danger grips Beck, his investigation unearths evidence of police corruption. That's when an even stronger sense of responsibility and something like shame urge him into taking a series of drastic steps, which lead to a shocking disaster. From the Trade Paperback edition..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member CBJames
In a ten-part detective series characterized by its social critiques it's inevitable that one volume must address the police force itself. Who will protect society from those charged with protecting society? If the police force is corrupt, what is the citizenry to do?
This questions is unfortunatley
As bad as both these examples are, the current situation is much better than it was in 1972 when police officers, at least in Sweden as it's depicted in Sjowall and Wahloo's novels, did not have to account for their actions to anyone. Anyone that mattered at least.
This is the setting for The Abominable Man, volume seven in The Story of Crime, the Martin Beck mysteries.
The story opens with the murder of a police officer who lays dying in a hospital bed. Now retired, former Chief Inspector Nyman was never a beloved police officer. Few of his coworkers knew anything about his private life; his family knew nothing of his police work. It's not until he is found knifed to death that anyone takes a serious look at his career. The detectives working the case have no evidence to go on. (This has been the case at the start of every Martin Beck novel so far.) All they know is that Nyman used to be a police, when they force themselves to face facts they know that Nyman was a bad police officer.
They soon determine their prime suspect to be former detective, Ericksson, who long held a grudge against Nyman. Ten years ago, Nyman arrested Ericksson's wife thinking she was under the influence of narcotics and left her chained in a cell unattended. She later died, a result of her diabeties and the officers who failed to get her the medical attention she needed. What they carelessly mistook for narcotic intoxication was actually the need for insulin. Ericksson, forced to continue working alongside the officers who caused his wife's death, along with many others, eventually lost his job as his life spiraled out of control. He goes on a killing spree once he finally loses custody of his daughter to the state.
Even with the presence of Sjowall and Wahloo's cast of good police officers, Martin Beck is far from the only one, The Abominable Man is a stinging indictment of a system that left the public unprotected from bad police officers as it encouraged good ones to turn a blind eye whenever they saw a colleague violating the law even in the most extreme circumstances. It's unfortunate that this story is still so pertinent, but it drives home the point that detective novels need not go to extremes to find subject matter. There is plenty to be dealt with in the work and lives of the detectives themselves. Real police work, done in the real world, is fascinating stuff. Something great mystery writers have always known.
This questions is unfortunatley
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as relevant today as it was in 1972 when The Abominable Man was first published, at least in the United States. There is a very good chance that the state of Georgia has just executed an innocent man after the Supreme Court refused to issue a stay last Wednesday and President Obama refused to intervene in any way. Meanwhile, in Fullerton, California bystanders recently filmed police officers beating a homeless man so severely that he later died.As bad as both these examples are, the current situation is much better than it was in 1972 when police officers, at least in Sweden as it's depicted in Sjowall and Wahloo's novels, did not have to account for their actions to anyone. Anyone that mattered at least.
This is the setting for The Abominable Man, volume seven in The Story of Crime, the Martin Beck mysteries.
The story opens with the murder of a police officer who lays dying in a hospital bed. Now retired, former Chief Inspector Nyman was never a beloved police officer. Few of his coworkers knew anything about his private life; his family knew nothing of his police work. It's not until he is found knifed to death that anyone takes a serious look at his career. The detectives working the case have no evidence to go on. (This has been the case at the start of every Martin Beck novel so far.) All they know is that Nyman used to be a police, when they force themselves to face facts they know that Nyman was a bad police officer.
They soon determine their prime suspect to be former detective, Ericksson, who long held a grudge against Nyman. Ten years ago, Nyman arrested Ericksson's wife thinking she was under the influence of narcotics and left her chained in a cell unattended. She later died, a result of her diabeties and the officers who failed to get her the medical attention she needed. What they carelessly mistook for narcotic intoxication was actually the need for insulin. Ericksson, forced to continue working alongside the officers who caused his wife's death, along with many others, eventually lost his job as his life spiraled out of control. He goes on a killing spree once he finally loses custody of his daughter to the state.
Even with the presence of Sjowall and Wahloo's cast of good police officers, Martin Beck is far from the only one, The Abominable Man is a stinging indictment of a system that left the public unprotected from bad police officers as it encouraged good ones to turn a blind eye whenever they saw a colleague violating the law even in the most extreme circumstances. It's unfortunate that this story is still so pertinent, but it drives home the point that detective novels need not go to extremes to find subject matter. There is plenty to be dealt with in the work and lives of the detectives themselves. Real police work, done in the real world, is fascinating stuff. Something great mystery writers have always known.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Perhaps the first time that as a reader up feel the 10 Martin beck novels have been written as a coherant series of 300 chapters rather than as 10 descrete books, inasmuch as that this book is very short and barely stands up on it's own. However as an exert of the types of crimes police were facing
A desperado has a sudden passion for killing policemen. When former chief inspector Nymes is found brutally stabbed in a hospital ward one of the Serious Crimes unit's first thoughts is thta it might be revenge from some criminal who disliked Nymes' particular methods of police treatment.
What follows is short, ugly, tour round some of Stockholm's less salubrious policing practises. How true or accurate it was at the time, or indeed remains today is up for debate - but it's very likely that it was based at least in part on true incidents, and magnified to create suitable dramatic tension. However it's not totaly without it's humour as a coin ladden bum attempts to pass a pickled pig's led to our intrepid radio car team of ordinary constables. Last time the bum was arrested he had over 3000 coins in his pockets which took 7 hous to inventory. I wonder if his tactic has ever been used for real?
The social commentry is much darker - citizens venting their anger at the police for percieved injustices at the turbulent changes in their lives that multicultiural, multinational living is introducing, and the police venting their resentment upon the victims who require them to spend som any hours on overtime (unpaid) and away from their families.
it is the frist time in the series that there is no description of naked females.
Readable, but only as part of the continuing struggles of Beck and co.
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in Stockholm it is a fitting chapter in the lives of Martin Beck and team.A desperado has a sudden passion for killing policemen. When former chief inspector Nymes is found brutally stabbed in a hospital ward one of the Serious Crimes unit's first thoughts is thta it might be revenge from some criminal who disliked Nymes' particular methods of police treatment.
What follows is short, ugly, tour round some of Stockholm's less salubrious policing practises. How true or accurate it was at the time, or indeed remains today is up for debate - but it's very likely that it was based at least in part on true incidents, and magnified to create suitable dramatic tension. However it's not totaly without it's humour as a coin ladden bum attempts to pass a pickled pig's led to our intrepid radio car team of ordinary constables. Last time the bum was arrested he had over 3000 coins in his pockets which took 7 hous to inventory. I wonder if his tactic has ever been used for real?
The social commentry is much darker - citizens venting their anger at the police for percieved injustices at the turbulent changes in their lives that multicultiural, multinational living is introducing, and the police venting their resentment upon the victims who require them to spend som any hours on overtime (unpaid) and away from their families.
it is the frist time in the series that there is no description of naked females.
Readable, but only as part of the continuing struggles of Beck and co.
................................................................................................................
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LibraryThing member tixylix
One of the best in the Martin Beck series in my opinion - gripping throughout and a real page turner. Beck is called in to investigate a particularly gruesome murder of a policeman and so begins the chase for the killer.
LibraryThing member smik
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. It both analyses what makes people commit horrendous crimes, and what constitutes good policing.
We learn early on that the high ranking police officer killed was not a good policeman. Martin Beck's colleague Kollberg says "he was a barbaric son of a bitch of
As the blurb indicates, there is no shortage of people who would be glad to see this person dead, but just one has reached the point of no return, deprived of both his wife and his daughter by this man.
The authors also make some interesting commentary on what happened to the city of Stockholm in the 1960s when 90% of the old city was demolished to make way for "modern" development.
This series follows the changes in Martin Beck's personal life as he rises in the force. He is now the chief of the National Murder Squad, his marriage has collapsed and he unashamedly lives for his work.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of these novels is the amount of descriptive detail included, and small nuances in relationships between the men who make up Beck's team. Beck is very demanding, but he does not demand any more from them than he does of himself.
We learn early on that the high ranking police officer killed was not a good policeman. Martin Beck's colleague Kollberg says "he was a barbaric son of a bitch of
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the very worst sort." His name was never discredited, and complaints against him never got past the submission stage. And many of the current personnel in the Stockholm Police force were incredibly loyal to him because he had trained them.As the blurb indicates, there is no shortage of people who would be glad to see this person dead, but just one has reached the point of no return, deprived of both his wife and his daughter by this man.
The authors also make some interesting commentary on what happened to the city of Stockholm in the 1960s when 90% of the old city was demolished to make way for "modern" development.
This series follows the changes in Martin Beck's personal life as he rises in the force. He is now the chief of the National Murder Squad, his marriage has collapsed and he unashamedly lives for his work.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of these novels is the amount of descriptive detail included, and small nuances in relationships between the men who make up Beck's team. Beck is very demanding, but he does not demand any more from them than he does of himself.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
This 7th book in the Martin Beck series is a tad more crime fiction rather than mystery but still a great read. The look at how police corruption begins and spreads is fascinating & terrifying. Much of this could have been written recently, so it kept surprising me to remember that this book was
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first published in 1972. Show Less
LibraryThing member Larou
When I wrote in my post on Sjöwall’s & Wahlöö’s Murder at the Savoy that the authors were taking the whole of Swedish society into their analytical focus, I was not entirely correct – with all the harsh criticism there remained at least one area where things still seemed to be for the most
All of this changes with The Abominable Man. This seventh novel in the series opens with an aged policeman being murdered in his hospital room, and the ensuing investigation into his death not only reveals him to be incompetent, narrow-minded, reactionary and prone to use violence, but also makes it clear that everyone knew about this, that in fact he trained many young policemen (with rather questionable methods) to his way of thinking, and that the only reason his career in the police came to a sudden standstill is the arrival of a more liberal climate in Swedish society during the sixties – a climate which by the end of that decade (when I presume the novel takes place) has already begun to fade again. And the farther the investigations proceeds, the more heinous the things uncovered about the current state of the Swedish police service – civilians being harassed, arrested on a whim, beaten up in police cars or cells, even left to die – and all of it without the least recriminations, complaints being squished by blind solidarity among police officers or swallowed up without a trace by the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the legal system.
At the same time, this is probably the most fast-paced and action-packed volume of the series so far, taking place within a single day and ending with an extended edge-of-your-seat-tension finale (and a rather high body count). A finale that also is highly symbolic – the Swedish police is so rotten to the core that it is beyond redemption and impossible to reason with, and anyone who attempts it is in mortal danger. It is hard to pick favourites here, but this might just the be the best installment in what has been a consistently excellent series (but of course there are still three more novels to go).
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part as they should be, namely the Swedish police. Certainly, there was the occasional incompetent cop, the occasional bureaucrat who cared only for his own career, but overall the novels gave the impression that police was filled with people like Martin Beck or Lennart Kollberg – far from perfect, but hard-working and well-meaning people.All of this changes with The Abominable Man. This seventh novel in the series opens with an aged policeman being murdered in his hospital room, and the ensuing investigation into his death not only reveals him to be incompetent, narrow-minded, reactionary and prone to use violence, but also makes it clear that everyone knew about this, that in fact he trained many young policemen (with rather questionable methods) to his way of thinking, and that the only reason his career in the police came to a sudden standstill is the arrival of a more liberal climate in Swedish society during the sixties – a climate which by the end of that decade (when I presume the novel takes place) has already begun to fade again. And the farther the investigations proceeds, the more heinous the things uncovered about the current state of the Swedish police service – civilians being harassed, arrested on a whim, beaten up in police cars or cells, even left to die – and all of it without the least recriminations, complaints being squished by blind solidarity among police officers or swallowed up without a trace by the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the legal system.
At the same time, this is probably the most fast-paced and action-packed volume of the series so far, taking place within a single day and ending with an extended edge-of-your-seat-tension finale (and a rather high body count). A finale that also is highly symbolic – the Swedish police is so rotten to the core that it is beyond redemption and impossible to reason with, and anyone who attempts it is in mortal danger. It is hard to pick favourites here, but this might just the be the best installment in what has been a consistently excellent series (but of course there are still three more novels to go).
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LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
Nothing will incur the wrath of the police force than the death of one of their own. Even if that person turns out to be less than a paragon of virtue. Chief Inspector Nyman was one such man and everyone in the force knew his methods went far beyond acceptable levels but when he is found brutally
The seventh book in this Swedish police procedural series takes a look within the police force itself and how its militaristic culture, with many recruits garnered from the armed forces, and protectionism of colleagues had an effect on Swedish society. Thematically similar to the previous book featuring a powerful man as victim who may actually deserve his fate but this instalment deals with abuse of power as opposed to wealth. The socio-commentary is still very much in evidence here no mores so than the discussions concerning the demolition of 90% of the old Stockholm to make way for a more modern city. Not because of environmental concerns but to achieve the fullest possible exploitation of the most valuable land. Although the police-work is methodical it is not as drawn out in this case and events occur at almost breakneck speed up to the final dramatic conclusion. Another excellent addition to a very good series.
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murdered in his hospital room it's still a case of all hands on deck to find his murderer. With the lengths that an officer will go to to protect another it's no wonder that somebody has taken matters into their own hands to get rid of one of the more brutal members of this fraternity. A trip to the complaints section produces a list of potential suspects much too large for a quick resolution to the case so it's up to Martin Beck and his team to find the likeliest candidate.The seventh book in this Swedish police procedural series takes a look within the police force itself and how its militaristic culture, with many recruits garnered from the armed forces, and protectionism of colleagues had an effect on Swedish society. Thematically similar to the previous book featuring a powerful man as victim who may actually deserve his fate but this instalment deals with abuse of power as opposed to wealth. The socio-commentary is still very much in evidence here no mores so than the discussions concerning the demolition of 90% of the old Stockholm to make way for a more modern city. Not because of environmental concerns but to achieve the fullest possible exploitation of the most valuable land. Although the police-work is methodical it is not as drawn out in this case and events occur at almost breakneck speed up to the final dramatic conclusion. Another excellent addition to a very good series.
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LibraryThing member datrappert
I realize that much of my liking for this series is due to the excellent audiobook narration by Tom Weiner. After seven novels, I can tell who is talking just by his tone of voice. He does a super job. This story is pretty grim, though not as bad as the child murders in an earlier book. Plotwise,
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it is pretty linear, but it gives the authors a chance to comment on unrestrained police brutality as Beck and company pursue the murderer of a police inspector with a very nasty reputation. Show Less
LibraryThing member TomDonaghey
The Abominable Man (1971) (Martin Beck #7) by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo. The title character is killed off at the beginning of the novel which sets all the following actions in motion. The murdered, older man, is killed in his hospital bed, knifed by a stranger and unseen by security. When the
But he was a cop so there has to be justice. This book differs from the previous editions in the ten part Story of Crime series in that there is a great deal of immediate action. Spanning roughly 24 hours we read from muder, through the manhunt for the “crazed” killer and finally to the confrontation with the self same. There is the usual collection of police including Martin Beck, and there are the usual political views expressed by the authors including taking on the code of silence rampant in most police departments while also belittling the out-of-date methods of the strong-arm police tactics.
This is not your standard Police Procedural tale nor is it the normal Martin Beck story. It is something more powerful than either or those. Writing this more than 50 years after it’s original publication, I am stunned to realize that the things reported in this and the other books in the 10 volume series, are to some degree or another, happening in cities and towns all around the world. Or maybe I’m not stunned at all. It is true, the more things change…
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homicide squad is alerted they are only surprised the killing took so long to happen. The dead man is a former policeman known for his bad treatment of perps, trainees, and fellow officers, lying while under oath and manufacturing evidence when it was needled. He was a hard man with hard ways for everything except his own family. He was nicknamed the Abominable Man by his coworkers and they meant it.But he was a cop so there has to be justice. This book differs from the previous editions in the ten part Story of Crime series in that there is a great deal of immediate action. Spanning roughly 24 hours we read from muder, through the manhunt for the “crazed” killer and finally to the confrontation with the self same. There is the usual collection of police including Martin Beck, and there are the usual political views expressed by the authors including taking on the code of silence rampant in most police departments while also belittling the out-of-date methods of the strong-arm police tactics.
This is not your standard Police Procedural tale nor is it the normal Martin Beck story. It is something more powerful than either or those. Writing this more than 50 years after it’s original publication, I am stunned to realize that the things reported in this and the other books in the 10 volume series, are to some degree or another, happening in cities and towns all around the world. Or maybe I’m not stunned at all. It is true, the more things change…
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1971
1972 (English ed.)
ISBN
2830202228 / 9782830202229
Local notes
In this Martin Beck mystery, a policeman is brutally murdered in his hospital room. Beck hadn’t known him well but had not heard good things about him. Others wouldn’t say much about him, so it took much digging for Martin Beck to find out that he was a monster who engaged in sadistic practices while in the military and brought them to his work as a police inspector.