The Locked Room

Rating:
Summary: Martin Beck is Still a Winner
Review: The Locked Room by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo is not quite as strong as their wonderful The Laughing Policeman but will be a delight to any of their fans. The premise is classic murder mystery but the development is unique. The authors cut from one chararcter's perspective to another quickly and often, including many of the criminals, in a way that can be sometimes disconcerting but frequently fascinating. Their creation, Martin Beck, is the star and the book is dazzling when he is centre stage (which is not often enough, in my opinion). This is not the typical mystery nor the typical police procedural but its examination of personality and crime in seventies Sweden is captivating. This sense of time and place is so strong it becomes the core of this novel. An interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: Martin Beck is Still a Winner
Review: The Locked Room by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo is not quite as strong as their wonderful The Laughing Policeman but will be a delight to any of their fans. The premise is classic murder mystery but the development is unique. The authors cut from one chararcter's perspective to another quickly and often, including many of the criminals, in a way that can be sometimes disconcerting but frequently fascinating. Their creation, Martin Beck, is the star and the book is dazzling when he is centre stage (which is not often enough, in my opinion). This is not the typical mystery nor the typical police procedural but its examination of personality and crime in seventies Sweden is captivating. This sense of time and place is so strong it becomes the core of this novel. An interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: The seventh Martin Beck novel. Recovering from his misadventures in "The Abominable Man", Beck takes up a seemingly unsolvable case: a friendless, elderly miser, shot one time in the head in a one-bedroom apartment, with locked doors and locked windows, and no gun in sight. Meanwhile, his colleagues are investigating the high-profile shooting of a security guard during a daring bank robbery conducted, apparently, by a beautiful blonde woman.

Although the authors begin to get a little too heavy-handed in their social commentary, this is still one of the better Beck novels (in fact it is regarded by many as the best, though I think its predecessor is better.) The dual plot structure and the improbable connection between the crimes make for a great thriller. The characters are engaging, and the ending is wonderful. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: an exellent police novell
Review: this is a very good book. If you like the other martin beck books you will enjoy this one as well. This book is one the books that hasn't been made into a film wich is good I think. No fillm really does the characters justice.