The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (Martin Beck, #2) in Scandinavian Mysteries

Dec 11, 2009 Paul Patterson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavian-mysteries

I am hoping to make my way through the whole canon of Maj and Per. I think I made a bit of an error listening to the audiobook rather than actually reading this volume. The trouble was that the reader was interpreting this as a Raymond Chandler sort of story and used the diction of noir America. There seems to me to be just too much humanism in these early police procedurals to class them as noir per se.

As for the book itself Martin Beck's character has compassionate understanding and has the ab ...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Judi rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed the first one, Roseanna. Based on this progression, I would like to read more of the Sjowall/Wahloo Martin Beck books. I note that The Laughing Policeman, possibly the fourth book, was made into a movie in 1973 with Walter Matthau as the protagonist (not named Martin Beck, however). Might look for that on Netflix.

A quote that made me chuckle: [following the description of a young woman:] "Not beautiful in the conventional sense of the word, but a highly fu ...more

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May 23, 2009 Liz rated it liked it · review of another edition

After noticing that my review of a Wallander book by Henning Mankell described his characters as ordinary, with an implied yawn, I realized I've said the same thing about Sjowall's detectives in the Martin Beck mysteries. So why do I like the Beck mysteries so much? Not sure why, but they're better. Do your own comparison and see if you agree. ...more

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Apr 01, 2014 Doreen Dalesandro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Genre: mystery
Rating: 3.5
I listened to this book.

Wasn't drawn in as much as I have been with other Martin Beck stories.

Tom Weiner does a great job narrating. ...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Jim Coughenour rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime4connoisseurs

Solid, dry, satisfying. A sly title, and a perfect last sentence. Eight more of these paperback treasures to go.

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Nov 23, 2009 Jeffrey Bumiller rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ok, this is the first time this has ever happened to me: I marked this book as having read it in 2009. I have no recollection of that. Usually I'm pretty good about that. Anyway, I read it today, apparently for the second time. It's a very satisfying mystery, exactly the distraction I was looking for today. ...more

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