Maj Sjowall – författare

Meet the characters from the hit BBC series, Beck.The eighth book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s and 70s – the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime writing.In one part of town, a woman robs a bank. In another, a corpse is found shot through the heart in a room locked from within, with no firearm in sight. Although the two incidents appear unrelated, Detective Inspector Martin Beck believes otherwise, and solving the mystery acquires the utmost importance. Haunted by a near-fatal bullet wound and trying to recover from the break-up of his unhappy marriage, Beck throws himself into the case to escape from the prison that his own life has come to resemble.Written in the 1960s, these masterpieces are the work of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo – a husband and wife team from Sweden. The ten novels follow the fortunes of the detective Martin Beck, whose enigmatic, taciturn character has inspired countless other policemen in crime fiction. The novels can be read separately, but do follow a chronological order, so the reader can become familiar with the characters and develop a loyalty to the series. Each book will have a new introduction in order to help bring these books to a new audience.

Meet the characters from the hit BBC series, Beck.The third book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s – the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime writing.Someone is assaulting and killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm. Detective Inspector Marin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won’t say much, and a three-year-old boy who can’t say much. The killer will strike again, and the police are getting nowhere. Can Beck crack the case before time runs out?

Meet the characters from the hit BBC series, Beck.Here, in one eBook volume, are the first four books in the hugely acclaimed Martin Beck series, novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime fiction and influenced writers from Stieg Larsson to Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell to Lars Kepplar.The first four novels in the Martin Beck series, available in one eBook volume.`Roseanna’: On a July afternoon, the body of a young woman is dredged from a lake in southern Sweden. Raped and murdered, she is naked, unmarked and carries no sign of her identity. As Detective Inspector Martin Beck slowly begins to make the connections that will bring her identity to light, he uncovers a series of crimes further reaching than he ever would have imagined and a killer far more dangerous. How much will Beck be prepared to risk to catch him?`The Man Who Went Up in Smoke’: A Swedish journalist has vanished without a trace in Budapest. When Detective Inspector Martin Beck arrives in the city to investigate, he is drawn to an Eastern European underworld in search of a man nobody knows. With the aid of the coolly efficient local police, he reveals a web of crime, stretching back across Europe – a discovery that will put his own life at risk.`The Man on the Balcony’: Someone is killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm – killing them after having his own way with them. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won’t say much and a three-year-old boy who can’t say much. The dedicated work of the police seems to be leading nowhere, and with each passing day the likelihood of another murder grows. But then Beck remembers someone – or something – he overheard.`The Laughing Policeman’: On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin. The press, anxious for an explanation for the seemingly random crime, quickly dubs him a madman. But Martin Beck of the Homicide Squad suspects otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck’s best detectives – and he, surely, would not have been riding that lethal bus without a reason.

The masterful second novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck searching for a well-known Swedish journalist who has disappeared without a trace.Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad has his summer vacation abruptly terminated when the top brass at the foreign office pack him off to Budapest to search for Alf Matsson, a well-known Swedish journalist who has vanished. Beck investigates viperous Eastern European underworld figures and--at the risk of his life--stumbles upon the international racket in which Matsson was involved. With the coolly efficient local police on his side and a predatory nymphet on his tail, Beck pursues a case whose international implications grow with each new clue.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The chilling third novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Martin Beck investigating a string of child murders.In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendent, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three year old boy. With the likelihood of another murder growing as each day passes, the police force work night and day. But their efforts have offered little insight into the methodology of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck''s mind, and he may just have the break he needs.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The incredible fourth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Martin Beck heading a major manhunt in pursuit of a mass-murderer.On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by a mysterious assassin. The press portrays it as a freak attack and dubs the killer a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck thinks otherwise—one of his most ambitious young detectives was among those killed—and he suspects it was more than coincidence. Working on a hunch, Beck seeks out the girlfriend of the murdered detective, and with her help Beck reconstructs the steps that led to his murder. The police comb the country for the killer, only to find that this attack may be connected to a case that has been unsolved for years.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The lightning-paced fifth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck investigating one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career.The incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building''s eleven occupants. And if one of Martin Beck''s colleagues hadn''t been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe because somehow a regulation fire-truck has vanished. Was it terrorism, suicide, or simply a gas leak? And what if, anything, did the explosion have to do with the peculiar death earlier that day of a 46-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: "Martin Beck"?From the Trade Paperback edition.

The shocking sixth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck investigating a brutal assassination.When Viktor Palmgren, a powerful Swedish industrialist is shot during his after-dinner speech in the luxurious Hotel Savoy, it sends a shiver down the spine of the international money markets and terrifies the tiny town of Malmo. No one in the restaurant can identify the gunman, and local police are sheepishly baffled. That''s when Beck takes over the scene and quickly picks through Palmgren''s background. What he finds is a web of vice so despicable that it''s hard for him to imagine who wouldn''t want Palmgren dead, but that doesn''t stop him and his team of dedicated detectives from tackling one of their most intriguing cases yet.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The shocking ninth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö finds Beck investigating parallel cases that have shocked a small rural community. In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband. Meanwhile, on a quiet suburban street a midnight shootout takes place between three cops and two teenage boys. Dead, one cop and one kid. Wounded, two cops. Escaped, one kid. Martin Beck and his partner Lenart Kollberg are called in to investigate. As Beck digs deeper into the murky waters of the young girl’s murder, Kollberg scours the town for the teenager, and together they are forced to examine the changing face of crime.  From the Trade Paperback edition.

The final novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö is a masterful, all consuming tale that rushes toward a thrilling, unexpected climax.  An American senator is visiting Stockholm and Martin Beck must lead a team to protect him from an international gang of terrorists. However, in the midst of the fervor created by the diplomatic visit, a young, peace-loving woman is accused of robbing a bank. Beck is determined to prove her innocence, but gets trapped in the maze of police bureaucracy. To complicate matters a millionaire pornographer has been bludgeoned to death in his own bathtub. Filled with the twists and turns and the pulse pounding excitement that are the hallmarks of the Martin Beck novels, The Terrorists is the stunning conclusion to the incredible series that changed crime fiction forever.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The masterful first novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, finds Beck hunting for the murderer of a lonely traveler.On a July afternoon, a young woman''s body is dredged from Sweden''s beautiful Lake Vattern. With no clues Beck begins an investigation not only to uncover a murderer but also to discover who the victim was. Three months later, all Beck knows is that her name was Roseanna and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people on a cruise. As the melancholic Beck narrows the list of suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for casual sex, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive--indeed, terrifying--sense of propriety..From the Trade Paperback edition.

The stunning eighth installment in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö is a masterful take on a classic locked room mystery.A young blonde in sunglasses robs a bank and kills a hapless citizen. Across town, a corpse with a bullet shot through its heart is found in a locked room–with no gun at the scene. The crimes seem disparate, but to Martin Beck they are two pieces of the same puzzle, and solving it becomes the one way he can escape the pains of his failed marriage and the lingering effects of a near-fatal bullet wound. Exploring the ramifications of egotism and intellect, luck and accident, this tour de force of detection bears the unmistakable substance and gravity of real life.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The striking seventh novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, 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.

Band 1: Eine Tote, die niemand vermisst und keiner kenntEine Leiche wird aus dem Götakanal geborgen. Sie kann nur wenige Tage im Schlamm des Schleusenbeckens gelegen haben – noch immer erkennt man, dass die junge Frau dunkelhaarig und hübsch war. Wie die Obduktion ergibt, wurde sie vor ihrem Tod misshandelt. Tatort: unbekannt. Die Kriminalbeamten stehen vor einem absoluten Rätsel, weil niemand die Frau zu vermissen scheint. Nicht einmal ihr Name kann ermittelt werden. Aber Kommissar Martin Beck gibt nicht auf. Und allmählich erwacht die Tote zum Leben….Dies ist der erste Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Henning Mankell.

Band 2: Hinter dem Eisernen VorhangDer schwedische Reporter Alf Matsson verschwindet auf einer Reise nach Ungarn spurlos. Gepäck und Pass hat er im Hotel zurückgelassen, doch von ihm fehlt jede Spur. Die ungarische Polizei tappt im Dunkeln. Kommissar Martin Beck von der Stockholmer Kriminalpolizei reist inoffiziell nach Budapest, um den rätselhaften Fall aufzuklären. Doch kaum angekommen, wird er von Unbekannten brutal zusammengeschlagen. Jemand versucht mit allen Mitteln zu verhindern, dass die Wahrheit ans Licht kommt...Dies ist der zweite Band der weltberühmten Krimiserie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck von Maj Sjöwall und Per Wahlöö. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Anders Roslund und Börge Hellström entführt Der Mann, der sich in Luft auflöste die Leser in die Welt des Kalten Krieges und hinter den Eisernen Vorhang. Ein spannender Kriminalroman voller Intrigen und Wendungen, der Einblicke in eine längst vergangene Epoche gewährt.

Band 3: Ein ganz unauffälliger Mädchen-MörderBereits zwei kleine Mädchen wurden in die Parkanlagen gelockt und ermordet. Die Stockholmer Polizei fahndet auf Hochtouren nach dem Sexualstraftäter – doch der Erfolg bleibt aus. Um dem Mörder auf die Spur zu kommen, müssen sich Kommissar Martin Beck und seine Kollegen auf die Hilfe eines Handtaschendiebs verlassen, der in der Nähe des Tatorts eine Frau überfallen und den Triebtäter möglicherweise gesehen hat. Tatsächlich liefert der Mann eine Beschreibung, aber die trifft auf Tausende von Stockholmer Bürgern zu...Dies ist der dritte Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Jo Nesbø.

Band 4: Letzte Station: TodIn Stockholm prallt ein Bus kurz vor der Endstation gegen einen Zaun. Doch der Busfahrer und seine acht Insassen waren schon vorher tot. Ihre Körper sind durch Maschinengewehrschüsse bis zur Unkenntlichkeit entstellt. Nur bei einem Opfer kann die Identität sofort geklärt werden: Es ist der junge Kriminalbeamte Åke Stenström. War Stenström der Lösung eines alten, längst zu den Akten gelegten Falls zu nahe gekommen? Und wenn ja, um welchen Fall handelt es sich?Endstation für neun ist der vierte Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. Maj Sjöwall und Per Wahlöö gelingt es meisterhaft, einen fesselnden Kriminalfall mit einer intensiven Charakterstudie des Protagonisten zu verbinden. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Kjell Ola Dahl lädt dieser Klassiker der skandinavischen Kriminalliteratur zu einer spannenden Ermittlung in die Abgründe Stockholms ein.

Band 5: Explosiver Einsatz für Kommissar Beck Ein Mann erschießt sich. Neben dem Selbstmörder liegt ein Zettel mit dem Namen "Martin Beck". Kurz darauf gerät in der Sköldgatan ein Haus durch eine Explosion in Brand. Die meisten Bewohner können gerettet werden, da die Polizei einen der Mieter beschattete: Den Autodieb Göran Malm, der in den Flammen ums Leben kommt. Die Obduktion ergibt, dass Malm den Gashahn in seiner Wohnung öffnete. Ein weiterer Selbstmord also. Doch dann entdecken die Experten vom Branddezernat Reste eines Zeitzünders in Malms Matratze, und auf Kommissar Beck und seine Kollegen wartet plötzlich eine Menge Arbeit…Dies ist der fünfte Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Leif GW Persson.

Band 6: Schmutzige Geschäfte – doch Kommissar Beck jagt auch die Bosse In einem Hotel in Malmö wird der Konzernchef eines großen Unternehmens vor den Augen der anderen Gäste erschossen. Viktor Palmgren war zu einem Geschäftsessen dort, der Täter kann unbehelligt entkommen. Zunächst verhört die Stockholmer Polizei die Gäste des "Savoy". Doch niemand hat den Mörder erkannt oder vermag ihn genau zu beschreiben. Also muss Martin Beck die Ermittlungen übernehmen...Dies ist der sechste Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Arne Dahl (Stummer Schrei, Kaltes Fieber).

Band 7: Der Tote war Polizist. Ausbilder. Ein Schinder der übelsten Sorte.Martin Beck und seine Kollegen haben schon viele Tote gesehen, doch der Anblick des ermordeten Stig Nyman ist ein Schock: Der todkranke Kommissar wurde in seinem Krankenzimmer auf geradezu bestialische Weise abgeschlachtet. Wer hat den weithin geschätzten Kollegen so sehr gehasst? Und warum? Bei seinen Nachforschungen lernt Martin Beck den Verstorbenen von einer ganz anderen Seite kennen…Dies ist der siebte Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Unni Lindell.

Band 8: Verschlossen und verriegelt? Das Verbrechen findet immer einen Weg 15 Monate nach einer schweren Schussverletzung kehrt Martin Beck lustlos in den Polizeidienst zurück. Er hat viel Zeit gehabt, über sein Leben und die Arbeit nachzudenken – und muss jetzt feststellen, dass er mit beidem unzufrieden ist. Um ihn zu schonen, betraut man Kommissar Beck mit einem scheinbar eindeutigen Fall: Ein Frührentner hat sich erschossen. Doch in der Wohnung des Toten findet sich keine Waffe. Hat der Mann nach dem Schuss noch Gelegenheit gefunden, die Waffe zu beseitigen? Oder war es die Tat eines anderen? Aber wie soll ein Mörder die von innen verschlossene und verriegelte Wohnung verlassen haben?Dies ist der achte Band der weltberühmten Serie um den schwedischen Kommissar Martin Beck. In neuer Übersetzung und mit einem Vorwort von Håkan Nesser.