Roseanna (Martin Beck, #1) in Scandinavian Mysteries

Nov 03, 2009 Paul Patterson rated it really liked it

Shelves: scandinavian-mysteries

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Roseanna is a story about a less than perfect victim and a killer whose humanity takes up as much novel space as his villany. Someone on Goodreads mentioned that the Sjowall & Wahloo team set out to write mysteries with a social conscience. This first in a series of ten certainly does so. Unlike American noir or the cool British mystery the Swedes have produce a humane police procedural that speaks of the dark side in the context of its ambiguity.

The protagonist detective Martin Beck lives a le ...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Judi rated it liked it · review of another edition

My only experience with Scandinavian authors (Swedish, specifically) until now has been Henning Mankell, who wrote the foreword to this edition of Roseanna. I certainly see similarities between Sjowall/Wahloo and Mankell, but couldn't say if this is because Mankell was so influenced by S/W, or if this style of writing is endemic to all Swedish writers of "roman policiers". The book is austere in its descriptions, it is an ensemble piece (with Martin Beck as the protagonist here and Kurt Wallande ...more

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Apr 23, 2009 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries

ROSEANNA, the first of Maj Sjövall's Martin Beck series, is a procedural in the truest sense, moving at an almost excruciating pace as it follows the obsessive thoughts and actions of the detective Beck solving the murder of a young American young woman aboard a small Swedish cruise ship who without his efforts would have been a nameless victim. I'd wanted to read something by Sjövall because Detective Inspector Montalban was reading one in Andrea Camilleri's most recent mystery AUGUST HEAT. Cam ...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Jim Coughenour rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime4connoisseurs

Can't believe it took me so long to start this series. It's perfect that Henning Mankell wrote the introduction to this edition of Roseanna. I'm looking forward to the next nine. ...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Lindsay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense

I can't believe this book is from the 60s. This series must have been a huge influence on contemporary Scandinavian crime fiction/mystery writers of tooday. Good stuff, indeed. ...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Loving this series! Great ending. Deserves a more complete review than I have time for...ridiculous given the detective's success in this case is due entirely to exhaustive research and patience. ...more

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