The Man on the Balcony by
Maj Per Sjowall
pbk out January 07
(Harper Perennial)
at £6.99
The latest in this welcome series of reissues of the Martin Beck books is introduced
by Andrew Taylor, who points out – quite persuasively – that the stories have dated
hardly at all: 'only the smoking sticks out.' He attributes this in part to the fact that
urban society has not changed that much over the past forty years (debatable, perhaps)
but also, and this is surely the key issue, to the writers' gift for creating believable
characters. This is a more chilling book than the first two entries in the series. The
man on the balcony is watching a young girl in a short skirt, and girls are being
attacked and murdered in the parks of Stockholm. The writing is concise and intensely
readable, and the mystery soundly composed.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
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The Man on the Balcony by
Maj Per Sjowall 
