The Laughing Policeman Audiobook By Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö cover art

The Laughing Policeman

A Martin Beck Police Mystery

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Laughing Policeman

By: Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.56

Buy for $15.56

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin. The press, anxious for an explanation for the seemingly random crime, quickly dubs him a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad suspects otherwise. This apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck's best detectives - and he, surely, would not have been riding that lethal bus without a reason.©1998 Random House (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Crime Thrillers Fiction International Mystery & Crime Police Procedural Thriller Mystery Suspense
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Editorial reviews

Sweden in November, 1967. Freezing rains howl, while blackness blots out Stockholm by three in the afternoon. Superintendent Martin Beck slogs through another murder investigation with clammy socks and lashing stomach ulcer, conditions "not improved by his drinking cocoa in the kitchen with his daughter".

Despite grim bones, The Laughing Policeman mostly tracks as an acidically funny, chewy tangle of suspense framed by moral decrees on nymphomania, corruption, Ritalina pep pills, and the Vietnam War. Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjöwall are the husband and wife crime novelists behind the 10-volume Martin Beck series. The Laughing Policeman is audiobook four. No need to download sequentially though. These are sturdy enough to stand alone as individually realized thrillers.

in this installment, homicide detectives Beck and Lennart Kollberg puzzle out why nine strangers, including an ambitious rookie from their own squad, were gunned down on a red double-decker bus in Stockholm. Neither Beck nor cynical, plump Kollberg are reverential about the gumshoe grind, which lends The Laughing Policeman authentic hum as a police procedural. Wahlöö and Sjöwall reveal ingenuity in plotting both old and new murders. Their quirky gang is orderly and methodical in chasing leads; ruling out suspects; exposing long-buried secrets; and generally picking away at clues until, finally, a hunch pays off.

The Laughing Policeman is atmospheric and briny as narrated by Tom Weiner, who deftly shifts between regional Swedish dialects without plunging into farce. Beck's interior weariness can strain Weiner. At times he cakes on a ragged fatigue, transmitting Beck as Hamlet. Weiner also lumbers as Åsa Torell, the brittle fiancée of the murdered rookie. He waters down her moody rages of dialogue into a whispery purr, so when Åsa shrieks at Kollberg, "Go to the devil!", it's like he's sucking a caramel. The shadowy Kollberg is Weiner's sweet spot, and he teases out the newlywed detective's lust for his wife, Gun, with a pleading, gravelly tug in his throat. Välkommen to love, Aquavit, and moody vapors. Nita Rao

Critic reviews

  • Edgar Award, Best Novel, 1971

"I've read The Laughing Policeman six or eight times. Each time I reach the final twist on the final page, I shiver afresh." (Jonathan Franzen)
"A tantalizing, intricate tale." (New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Laughing Policeman

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    185
  • 4 Stars
    137
  • 3 Stars
    75
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    158
  • 4 Stars
    82
  • 3 Stars
    54
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    163
  • 4 Stars
    85
  • 3 Stars
    48
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall