Laughing Policeman

Per Wahlöö was born in Göteborg, as the son of Waldemar and Karin (Svensson) Wahlöö. After graduating from the University of Lund in 1946, he worked as a journalist, covering criminal and social issues for a number of newspapers and magazines. In the 1950s Wahlöö was engaged in radical political causes, activities that resulted in his deportation from Franco's Spain in 1957. After returning to Sweden, he wrote a number of television and radio plays, and was managing editor of several magazines, before becoming a full-time writer. Maj Sjowall is also a poet. She lives in Sweden.

'An influential police procedural with a precision-engineered plot that can grip and shock a reader!the plotting, pacing and characterisation are all exquisite: and the halting translation and the dated, just plain weird sexual politics somehow seem only to make it more compelling.' Independent on Sunday 'For Beck, as with Maigret, each investigation is less a riddle to be answered than a human situation to be understood!it's all done with immense accomplishment. A welcome addition to the Martin Beck casebook.' Matthew Coady, Guardian 'If you haven't read Sjowall/Wahloo, start now.' Sunday Telegraph 'I've read "The Laughing Policeman" six or eight times. Each time I reach the final twist on the final page, I shiver afresh.' Jonathan Franzen 'Tantalizing!the splendid story of an apparently motiveless crime.' New York Times Book Review 'The decalogue about the Swedish Chief Inspector Martin Beck created by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo during the 1960s and 1970s are indeed classic police fiction. They changed the genre. Whoever is writing crime fiction after these novels is inspired by them in one way or another.' Henning Mankell 'Their mysteries don't just read well; they reread even better. Witness, wife, petty cop or crook -- they're all real characters even if they get just a few sentences. The plots hold, because they're ingenious but never inhuman.' New York Times