It's a nice short crime novel. First published in 1965, it felt like a time machine, transporting me to a time when international telephone connections were not reliable, and detectives had to send letters and replies took days. Beck's character is not a Sherlock Holmes. He's got problems, but it's interesting to see how he studies the clues and the suspects. The murder, the investigation, and the whole story were gripping. I couldn't put the book down.
This edition came with an introduction by Henning Mankell, who confeses his admiration for Sjowall and Wahloo. Mankell explains how the couple "broke with the hopelessly stereotyped character descriptions that were so prevalent. They showed people evolving right before the reader's eyes."
No comments:
Post a Comment