Roseanna: A Martin Beck Police Mystery (1) (Martin Beck Police Mystery Series)

Is this the best police procedural whodunnit I've ever read? Probably yes. This book is long considered as the first big thing that emerged from the now-phenomenon Scandinavian/Nordic thriller factory. And rightly so. The plot, the atmosphere, and the character development is so nuanced and standalone that even almost after 5 decades this book holds its temperament intact. I'll certainly read the other nine books written by the author duo. But they are not easily available even on Amazon, so that is the concern. Anyway, anyone loves to read police procedurals or books which unfolds its storyline in a step-by-step leisurely manner, and without any haste or speed of the usual "page-turners", you must read this gem of a thriller.

This book is the first of a series of ten. I've read all of them. Of course, this book is also the oldest of the series. Like most of them, it's set in Sweden. All of the people's names and all of the place names are in Swedish, but the rest is in English. It's a good mystery story, showing the slow and tedious collecting of clues that lead to identification of the killer. The story never drags and never becomes boring.

This is the first in the 'Martin Beck' crime novel series. Author giants like Henning Mankell have written about how Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö changed the crime novel genre with this series of books. Roseanna is the first in the series. For my money these books have held up extremely well (as literature does). I love everything Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö have written. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to reading them...

Henning Mankell wrote the intro and credits Söjwall and Mahlöö as influences. He, and a number of others call the Martin Beck series a game changer in European crime fiction. The cases, especially this one, which takes around six months to solve, are agonizingly slow sometimes, for the investigators anyway. Beck and his team are not Supermen, but more regular guys who stumble, get up and try again in all aspects of their lives. They have hangovers, bad stomachs and bad backs. They are not rogue lawmen who antagonize everyone around them, but plods kind of, though each with distinct gifts and personalities, who do what they can to get at the truth.One of the main characters in the novel is the Swedish landscape and how it changes with the passing of the seasons, which adds another layer to the novel. The context is the sixties, with the loosening of social mores, widening of women's experience, experimentation and risk-taking forming the backdrop for both the action and the crime.The translation is charming, kind of with a Swedish accent, but ultimately a bit wooden.

Read this classic and really enjoyed it. It gives one a sense how difficult some cases are to resolve when the clues are hard to come by. Quite suspenseful by the end. Everything I enjoy in a good mystery.

After reading the Mankel series I wanted to continue with something similar. There is no disappointment here.