Book description
The eighth classic instalment in this genre-changing series of novels
starring Detective Inspector Martin Beck. This new edition has an
introduction by Michael Connolly.
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.
Praise for 'Roseanna':
'The writing is elegant and surprisingly humorous - if you haven't come
across Beck before, you're in for a treat.' Guardian
'I have never read a finer police story.' Los Angeles Times
'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 inspired by them in one way or another.' Henning Mankell
'If you haven't read Sjowall/Wahloo, start now.' Sunday Telegraph
'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 Per Wahlöö was born in Göteborg,
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 a poet. She lives in Sweden.
