THE MAN ON THE BALCONY - Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

Harper Perennial have recently started republishing the Martin Beck series by Sjowall and Wahloo - originally written between 1965 and 1975. (The full series as at this book, is outlined below.) These books are often included in lists of the great classics of crime fiction. They integrate a wide range of social and cultural issues alongside their crime fiction base, making some very pointed observations and statements about Swedish society at the time that they were written. Even allowing for the way that they mirror society, as seen through the author's joint eyes at that time, they also stand up incredibly well in current day terms - there is no sense that they have become dated or antiquated in any way and the message is as relevant and pointed today as it was when they were written.

THE MAN ON THE BALCONY is the fourth in the series being released by Harper, and it covers the confrontational subject matter of the violation and murder of a number of very young girls. Their bodies are found in the parks of Stockholm, and Police Superintendent Martin Beck and his team have only two possible witnesses - one is a 3 year old boy and the other is a mugger who has to be identified, and then made to talk. Stockholm society is becoming increasingly tense, the police are increasing unable to identify any possible suspects, and the investigation drags until a lucky coincidence is recognised for what it is.

Alongside some very caustic social observation in THE MAN IN THE BALCONY, is a team of police that grate up against each other when the pressure is on - their own lives exist in and around their jobs. The effect of the murder of young children affects each one of them in a different way depending upon their own life experience. The effect of the murders on the parents, and on the families of their friends is subtly different for each person encountered, but equally raw and illustrative. The great thing about this team is that they are all human - with problems at home, problems in adjusting to changes in their own lives, problems handling the reactions of the people affected by the murders and problems handling their own reactions. They are also able to put all of that aside and pull together when they finally have a direction in the investigation.

THE MAN ON THE BALCONY reminds the reader that it is possible to bring a multi-layered, character driven, soundly plotted book in a short package. There's also a willingness to use a different style of resolution - in THE MAN ON THE BALCONY the police get lucky and a coincidental comment leads them in the right direction.

Each of the Harper Perennial titles incorporates an introduction written by a well known Crime writer of current times - THE MAN ON THE BALCONY is introduced by Andrew Taylor. He discusses the effect that the books of Sjowall and Wahloo had on his own writing career and that adds an extra layer to the book. Combine that with a PS section at the end including further analysis, and interview with Maj Sjowall, a summary of the next titles in the series and a "If You Liked This...." section and this is a wonderful (and greatly overdue) repackaging of one of the all time great Crime Fiction series.

Full list of titles available from Harper Perennial:

Roseanna

The Man Who Went Up in Smoke

The Man on the Balcony

The Laughing Policeman

The Fire Engine that Disappeared (June 2007)

Murder at the Savoy (June 2007)