by Maj Sjöwall
Part of Martin Beck
First published 2007
Detective Gunvald Larsson sits in the cold Stockholm night, watching a suspect's apartment building. He checks his watch at eleven minutes past nine when the entire structure explodes. The blast kills three people and leaves Larsson stunned. Chief Inspector Martin Beck arrives to investigate what appears to be a tragic accident. The police find no initial signs of foul play in the rubble and debris. Then they uncover an odd detail that changes everything. The same day as the explosion, a man committed suicide elsewhere in the city. His final message contained only two words written on paper: Martin Beck. The connection between the dead man and the detective creates a puzzle that transforms a building collapse into something far more sinister. Beck must determine why someone would target him specifically and whether the explosion was planned murder disguised as an accident.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, gritty, suspenseful
Tropes: detective-investigation, mystery-puzzle, unreliable-circumstances
Setting: Stockholm
Period: 20th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial
Content warnings: death, murder, suicide