Reading order · 10 books · 1965 to 1975 · Set in Stockholm
Martin Beck Books in Order
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö wrote ten novels about detective Martin Beck and his colleagues in Stockholm, planned as one long story of crime that used the police procedural to look critically at Swedish society. The founding books of Nordic crime fiction.
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Series facts
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 1965 to 1975
- First book
- Roseanna
- Latest
- The Terrorists (1975)
- Setting
- Set in Stockholm
The reading order
Every Martin Beck book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
10 books · Set in Stockholm
- 1Roseanna1965With Martin BeckIn 1964, the body of a young woman is dredged from a Swedish canal, and Martin Beck spends months trying to discover who she was and who killed her.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Man Who Went Up in Smoke1966With Martin BeckBeck is called back from his holiday to find a Swedish journalist who has vanished in Budapest.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Man on the Balcony1967With Martin BeckA killer is attacking young girls in Stockholm’s parks, and a mugger may be the only witness.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Laughing Policeman1968With Martin BeckNine people are shot dead on a Stockholm bus, among them a young detective from Beck’s team.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Fire Engine That Disappeared1969With Martin BeckA man under police surveillance dies when his apartment building explodes in flames.Buy on Amazon
- 6Murder at the Savoy1970With Martin BeckA wealthy industrialist is shot during a dinner at the Savoy Hotel in Malmö.Buy on Amazon
- 7The Abominable Man1971With Martin BeckA police inspector is brutally murdered in his hospital bed, and the killer is not finished.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Locked Room1972With Martin BeckBeck is given a case of a man found shot in a room locked from the inside, while his colleagues chase a gang of bank robbers.Buy on Amazon
- 9Cop Killer1974With Martin BeckA woman goes missing in a small town in southern Sweden, and a man Beck once arrested is the obvious suspect.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Terrorists1975With Martin BeckBeck is put in charge of security for a visiting American senator, as an international terrorist group arrives in Stockholm.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read in order, starting with Roseanna, to follow the characters and the authors’ portrait of Sweden.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Martin Beck | Fredrik Melander | Einar Rönn | Lennart Kollberg | Gunvald Larsson | Rhea Nielsen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Roseanna | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | ||
| 2 The Man Who Went Up in Smoke | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | ||
| 3 The Man on the Balcony | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 4 The Laughing Policeman | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 5 The Fire Engine That Disappeared | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 6 Murder at the Savoy | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 7 The Abominable Man | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 8 The Locked Room | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor |
| 9 Cop Killer | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | ·Minor |
| 10 The Terrorists | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor |
Characters in the Martin Beck books
6 characters from Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö’s chart, with the number of Martin Beck books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Martin BeckDetective, later head of the National Homicide Squad | 10 | Roseanna 1965 |
| Fredrik MelanderDetective with a perfect memory | 10 | Roseanna 1965 |
| Einar RönnQuiet detective from the north | 10 | Roseanna 1965 |
| Lennart KollbergBeck's closest colleague | 9 | Roseanna 1965 |
| Gunvald LarssonAbrasive, wealthy-born detective | 8 | The Man on the Balcony 1967 |
| Rhea NielsenLandlady who becomes Beck's partner | 3 | The Locked Room 1972 |