The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Rating:
Summary: congratulations
Review: congratulations on stumbling onto one of the best crime/satire series of the 20th century. If you didn't like this one, read some others, especially The Locked Room. Great writing with a moderate slant (they slam liberals and conservatives) makes this a wonderful series.

Rating:
Summary: One of their weaker efforts
Review: The third book in the Martin Beck detective series. This one focuses on the mysterious disappearance of a Swedish tabloid journalism in Eastern Europe. Beck is called off his August family holiday to investigate, but is secretly glad to get away from his overbearing wife.

One of the weaker entries in the series. The story never really held my interest. However, I did appeciate the reverse intuition of the plot; though Beck gets involved with criminal underworld and international gun smugglers, things are ultimately much more simple than they first appear.

If this one doesn't capture your interst, keep reading; the series steadily improves from here.