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The Man on the Balcony: A Martin Beck Police Mystery Audiobook
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(3.01) - 1,264 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Someone is killing young girls in the once peaceful parks of Stockholm—killing them after “having his way” with them. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won’t say much and a three-year-old boy who can’t say much. The dedicated work of the police force seems to be leading nowhere, and with each passing day, the likelihood of another murder grows. But then Beck remembers someone—or something—he overheard…
A quietly relentless thriller, The Man on the Balcony juxtaposes the most inhuman of crimes with the humanity of the men who must solve it—their perseverance, frustration, and horror—resulting in a police procedural that is as moving and credible as it is enthralling.
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"I'm finding these Martin Beck books fascinating. On the one hand, the language is so crisp (at least in translation) that they seem thoroughly modern, as if they were written today as period pieces of life in Sweden in 1960s. On the other hand, they are like time capsules of a life without cellphones, where computers are just starting to arrive on the scene, where it's ok to smoke on an airplane. The only real crime is that there is only 10 of these gems."
— Andrew (5 out of 5 stars)
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“Hauntingly effective storytelling.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Written 40 years ago by husband-and-wife team Sjöwall and Wahlöö, this third in the Martin Beck mystery series remains timely and relevant. Tom Weiner recounts the gruesome crimes in this canny police procedural without making them sensational. Weiner’s rendition of Beck and his assortment of overworked, underpaid colleagues is colorful and understated. His intelligent, objective narration details the seemingly disparate puzzle pieces until they make a terrible sense. A real treat for mystery lovers.”
— AudioFile -
“A superb speciment of the roman policier at its relentless best.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“A masterpiece: the society formed by the people of the town and the police force is almost a single character—insignificant events are interconnected so that when pieced together in a dovetailed whole, everything makes perfect sense.”
— Eurocrime.co.uk -
“[The Man on the Balcony] is a book that succeeds on every parameter a crime fiction novel can be measured upon.”
— ScandanavianCrimeFiction.wordpress.com
Awards
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Edgar Allan Poe Award
The Man on the Balcony Listener Reviews
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" A satisfactory novel, rather short. Satisfactory... Yes, that word suits it quite well. "
— Bart, 2/6/2014 -
" A beautifully written detective/murder mystery. The Swedish setting adds to the uniqueness of this story. "
— Lyn, 1/28/2014 -
" Martin Beck is growing on me. He's a difficult man to like but somehow you feel like you're right in side his thoughts and you begin to understand why he is and does what he does. A man totally dedicated to police work. The books stand alone though he did make reference to past murders and victims but not to the point that it would have detracted if you'd not read the previous books. An excellent collaboration "
— Sharon, 1/21/2014 -
" Third in the series and maybe my favorite so far "
— Kate, 1/15/2014 -
" Happily moving on to the next in the series... "
— Stuart, 1/5/2014 -
" Not the best book in the Martin Beck series, but pretty engaging nonetheless. "
— Matthew, 12/25/2013 -
" I'm just enjoying making my way through this series! "
— Hollis, 12/7/2013 -
" Great police procedural set in Stockholm. Read more of theirs. "
— Karla, 10/16/2013 -
" 3rd in the series and was wonderful. They capture the frustrations and the smaller details of police investigations so well. "
— Sue, 9/16/2013 -
" Grimly fascinating, this one is not exactly a mystery since so much is revealed at the outset. One must be careful starting one of this series; they're so hard to put down--it's easy to let oneself get pulled away from other things one should be doing. "
— Lisbeth, 4/5/2013 -
" Didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Maybe because it wasn't the first novel in the series, so who was who was a little confusing, but also because I felt the story didn't particularly flow, and it ended quite abruptly. It wouldn't inspire me to read the rest of the series. "
— Julie, 1/31/2013 -
" This is the third book in the series and was solidly well written. "
— chrisa, 7/4/2012 -
" This was a pretty good book. Even though a lot of the police procedures are changed, with cell phones, and computers. It showed how Martin Beck knew in his gut what happened. "
— Kenneth, 4/11/2012 -
" excellent entry in the martin beck series, but also profoundly depressing. "
— Jenn, 11/14/2011 -
" Still imploring others to give this 1970s Swedish police procedural series a try. This case involves a child murderer who haunts Stockholm for a few weeks of a hot summer as Martin Beck and his fellow squad are baffled and rebuted at every turn. Yes, you can. "
— Sonya, 7/11/2011 -
" I am very glad is stumbled into these authors. The prose is very simple but powerful. You find them in the mystery section but they could be in the literature section as well. Martin Beck would be comfortable working with the police of the 878th Precinct.<br/><br/> "
— John, 3/9/2011 -
" For me, this fell apart a bit at the end. But most of the story was fairly interesting and gripping. "
— Elizabeth, 2/22/2011 -
" Grimly fascinating, this one is not exactly a mystery since so much is revealed at the outset. One must be careful starting one of this series; they're so hard to put down--it's easy to let oneself get pulled away from other things one should be doing. "
— Lisbeth, 2/19/2011
About the Authors
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, wife and husband team, wrote ten Martin Beck mysteries, virtually creating the modern police procedural. In addition to the many short stories and novels he wrote, Mr. Wahlöö, who died in 1975, wrote numerous radio and television plays and was a reporter for several Swedish newspapers and magazines. Maj Sjöwall is also a journalist and poet. She lives in Sweden.
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
About Tom Weiner
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and is an Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.