Recently read: The Locked Room

This year's program to grind through the reading pile has been relaxed. Traditionally, at this time, I make a concerted effort to wade through a host of books. This year, I decided not to lay on this extra stress.

But I'm still grinding through books. The first one finished during the vacation is Sjowall and Wahloo's "The Locked Room", one of the Martin Beck police procedurals. Quite good, and better, I think, than "The Laughing Policeman", the other of the Beck mysteries that I have on my shelf. I see that Vintage has decided to (more sensibly) continue their reprints of the Beck mysteries by starting at the beginning of the series. I'll pick them up at some point, as I like them enough that I'd like to have the set.

As seems typical with this school of Swedish crime fiction, the actual crime and detection details are a backdrop for the interior life of the main characters, along with commentary on the quality of life in Sweden. It's easy to see that Sjowall and Wahloo were major influences on the subsequent generation of writers, Mankell principal among them.

"The Locked Room" is quite recommended; however, as one of the hallmarks of the series is the gradual changes and developments in the lives of Beck and those around him, I suspect you're better advised to read the series in order, if you haven't come to any of these books yet.

Next on the pile: Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road", Engel's "Murder on Location", Perez-Reverte's "Purity In Blood", and Coetzee's "In The Heart Of The Country".

Recently read: The Locked Room

This year's program to grind through the reading pile has been relaxed. Traditionally, at this time, I make a concerted effort to wade through a host of books. This year, I decided not to lay on this extra stress.

But I'm still grinding through books. The first one finished during the vacation is Sjowall and Wahloo's "The Locked Room", one of the Martin Beck police procedurals. Quite good, and better, I think, than "The Laughing Policeman", the other of the Beck mysteries that I have on my shelf. I see that Vintage has decided to (more sensibly) continue their reprints of the Beck mysteries by starting at the beginning of the series. I'll pick them up at some point, as I like them enough that I'd like to have the set.

As seems typical with this school of Swedish crime fiction, the actual crime and detection details are a backdrop for the interior life of the main characters, along with commentary on the quality of life in Sweden. It's easy to see that Sjowall and Wahloo were major influences on the subsequent generation of writers, Mankell principal among them.

"The Locked Room" is quite recommended; however, as one of the hallmarks of the series is the gradual changes and developments in the lives of Beck and those around him, I suspect you're better advised to read the series in order, if you haven't come to any of these books yet.

Next on the pile: Chabon's "Gentlemen of the Road", Engel's "Murder on Location", Perez-Reverte's "Purity In Blood", and Coetzee's "In The Heart Of The Country".