The world lost a literary great last month. Swede Maj Sjowall, an icon of Nordic Noir, passed away.
My first Nordic murder mystery was “The Girl With the Dragon
Tattoo” when it was released and immediately a best seller in 2008. A good
friend then introduced me to the series that started the genre, the Martin Beck
stories by Sjowall and husband, Per Wahloo, who wrote 10 books between 1965 and
1975.
Detective Beck of the Stockholm Murder Squad is a gloomy, unhappily
married man trying to navigate a Sweden undergoing social upheaval while
catching killers and bringing them to justice. In addition to presenting a
fast-paced, riveting plot, Wahloo and Sjowall’s books also critique Sweden’s
systemic dysfunction.
Sweden’s dark, frigid winters and sunlight filled summer
nights create an other-worldly setting that reflects the emotional lostness of
the characters in the Martin Beck stories as well as many other series that it
inspired.
Although the protagonist of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium
series is a journalist, not a detective, he shares the melancholy and personal
demons that characterize the detectives of Nordic Noir. However, many readers
consider Lisbeth Salander the hero and main character of “The Girl” books.
Her entire life has been a garbage fire, including sexual
and physical abuse, retaliation against her antagonists, commitment to mental
institutions, and foster care. In the first book, “The Girl With the Dragon
Tattoo,” Lisbeth gains her freedom from her abuser and state “care.”
Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series is most like the
Martin Beck books. Wallander is a murder detective in Ystad, Sweden. He is just
as morose as Martin Beck as his personal life devolves with a broken marriage,
an estranged daughter, and an ailing parent. However, Wallander’s skills at
solving seemingly unsolvable crimes is not affected by his depression and
alcoholism.
A couple of novels offer Wallander an emotional reprieve,
such as “The Dogs of Riga” in which he falls in love with a Latvian woman. Some
of the best in the series are “Sidetracked” and “Faceless Killers.” Many of the
novels have been turned into TV series in both the UK and Sweden.
Amazon was offering Asa Larsson’s “The Second Deadly Sin”
ebook for only $4.99, comparing her books to the Martin Beck stories. Of course
I bought it. Since I prefer to read series in order, I also bought the first
two books, “Sun Storm” and “The Blood Spilt.” In “Sun Storm,” Larsson’s
protagonist is lawyer Rebecka Martinsson, who takes time off from her corporate
firm to help a childhood friend that’s been accused of murder.
It is unputdownable. Quite a bit longer than a Wahloo-Sjowall
book, it is fast-paced and scary. However, “The Blood Spilt” was a bit
disappointing. Still traumatized by her experiences in the first book,
Martinsson takes some time away from work and, of course, ends up in the middle
a community with ugly secrets. Her whininess and self-pity get a bit tiresome.
Another popular series is the Harry Hole (pronounced “Holy”
and spelled that way for the benefit of the English-language readers) including
“The Snowman,” which spawned a popular movie adaptation. In “The Bat,” the
first of the series, Oslo police detective Hole (or Holy) is sent to Sydney,
Australia to observe the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian national.
Of course, Holy does more investigating than observing and throughout the book
Holy’s tragic back story emerges.
Holy seems not to be the typical Nordic detective character,
morose and lonely. Instead, he seems easy-going and friendly. Until things
start to go terribly wrong. Then Harry’s spirits and behavior take a serious
nosedive.
Although not as prolific as others, another interesting
Nordic writer is Camille Grebe, who has two detective series. “After She’s
Gone” is book 2 of the Hanne Lagerlind-Schon books. Lagerlind-Schon is the
victim in this novel instead of the detective. The story alternates between two
present-tense narrations, of the lead detective and a witness, and the
past-tense diary of Lagerlind-Schon, who can’t remember the crime that left her
partner dead and her injured. The story is tense and fast-paced, and the plot
structure is particularly effective at moving the story forward.
Finally, for a series that is a little bit lighter, Jussi
Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series, set in Denmark, offers some comic relief to
accompany its damaged detective. Carl Morck survives a shooting that leaves one
partner dead and the other paralyzed. Of course, he blames himself. Just
recovered from his injuries, his boss “promotes” him to lead Department Q,
which focuses on cold cases that other detectives have given up on.
Actually, his boss and colleagues just wanted to get him out
of the murder squad because of his surliness. He’s assigned an assistant, a
Syrian refugee, Assad. Assad turns out to be quite good at not only running
down leads and doing research, but also putting the pieces together. His
affable and accommodating personality make him appear the genial immigrant
stereotype. Think of a combination between Clouseau’s Cato and Dr. Watson.
However, Morck discovers that even Assad has secrets.
Book 8 of the series, “Victim 2117,” was released in March
to positive reviews. As is convention for Nordic Noir, this one explores the
plight of vulnerable people and the social and political failures to protect
them from crime and exploitation, and in this book those are refugees.
