by Maj Sjöwall
Part of Martin Beck
First published 2007
Police officer Nyland lies dead in his hospital bed, killed by bayonet wounds in what appears to be a brutal execution. Detective Inspector Martin Beck arrives at the scene to find a victim with no shortage of enemies. Nyland was the type of high-ranking officer who made adversaries throughout his career, leaving Beck with an overwhelming number of potential suspects rather than too few. Each person with motive seems as likely as the next to have wanted Nyland dead. Beck must sift through the long list of those who had reason to hate the murdered officer. The investigation forces Beck to confront the darker side of police work, where corruption and abuse of power create victims who might seek their own justice. As Beck narrows his focus, he discovers that solving this case means understanding not just who killed Nyland, but why someone felt compelled to destroy him so violently.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, gritty, morally-complex, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: detective-investigation, justice-vs-revenge, unreliable-institutions
Setting: Sweden
Period: 20th century
216 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial
Content warnings: abuse, murder, violence