by Maj Sjöwall
Part of Martin Beck
First published 1977
An American senator arrives in Stockholm for an official visit. Martin Beck leads the security detail tasked with keeping the diplomat alive. An international terrorist organization has marked the senator for assassination. The terrorists also target Beck himself when they realize he stands in their way. Beck must navigate the threat while managing two other cases that complicate his work. A wealthy pornography producer turns up beaten to death in his bathtub. A young Swedish woman gets entangled in police red tape after falling into the hippie scene. Beck works to solve the murder while protecting his charge from the terrorist plot. The three storylines weave together as Beck races to prevent the assassination. The cases converge in ways Beck never anticipates, testing his skills as both detective and protector in this final chapter of his career.
Genres: 20th-century, suspense, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, gritty, suspenseful, tense
Tropes: converging-storylines, protection-detail, race-against-time
Setting: Stockholm, Sweden
Period: 20th-century
324 pages · Paperback · Vintage Books
Content warnings: murder, violence