Roseanna

by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

I discovered this mystery series while watching a really interesting documentary on PBS: Lone Wolves and Dragon Tattoos: How Scandinavian Crime Fiction Conquered the World.

In recent years, Scandinavian crime fiction has become really hot. Long before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hit the bestseller list, there was the Martin Beck series. Martin Beck is a First Detective Inspector with the National Police. He has worked with the Homicide Bureau for eight years. There is nothing special or unique about Beck. Like the author’s style of writing, Beck is a very straightforward figure.

The mystery presented to readers is not very complicated. While a lake is being dredged, a dead body is discovered. Unfortunately, no one reported to be missing even remotely resembles the body found. Who is this woman? How and where was she killed? And, of course, who killed her?

As a part of a team, Beck slowly unravels the mysterious death of Roseanna McGraw. Beck is quiet and thoughtful and relies upon his instincts. Of course, he is successful with this method.

I liked this Swedish police procedural from the ‘60s. I enjoyed the authors’ straightforward approach to mystery writing. With such clear and spare style, the authors present a decent mystery with a likable sleuth. 

6/19/13