The Laughing Policeman

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö is a Swedish mystery novel published in Sweden in 1968 and translated into English for American audiences in 1970. It is the fourth of ten novels by the duo to follow Detective Beck. The novel begins with the shooting of a number of passengers on a bus, eight of whom die, including the acclaimed Detective Åke Stenström. Beck and his team investigate the motivation behind the crime, ultimately uncovering that the entire incident was likely intended to target Stenström, who was in the midst of investigating a cold case against a Portuguese prostitute.

The book opens with an interesting scene of an anti-Vietnam war protest, in which police are enlisted to end the demonstration by arresting young girls, including a thirteen-year-old girl on her birthday. The protest is absurd and is countered by an introduction to protagonists Beck and his assistant, Kollberg, who are playing chess on a rainy night, having learned long ago how to avoid the dirty work of beating up hippies in demonstrations by avoiding the draft to help. Kollberg is babysitting on this particular night, and Beck has joined him to keep him company. The two men pass the time playing chess.

Later that night, however, the men are interrupted when a mass shooting is called in. Using a sub-machine gun, a man has killed eight passengers on a late-night bus, including Detective Åke Stenström, a long-time member of the force. Beck and Kollberg are deeply disturbed by the death of their colleague, and the seemingly random act of violence that killed seven others and put dozens of people in the hospital. They immediately begin the work of investigating the crime, trying to uncover a motive for the mystery shooter.



Beck and Kollberg's investigation takes place in 1968; the book is very much a period piece for contemporary readers, who will be struck by the lack of DNA evidence and the old-fashioned forensics strategies that often read like the solving of a puzzle. This particular puzzle leads Beck and Kollberg back to their colleague Stenström as they struggle to determine why Stenström was on the late night bus in the first place, and why he was sitting next to a young nurse, who seems to be a stranger.

Finally, Beck and Kollberg uncover a possible truth – that Stenström was in the midst of investigating another crime, off the books and unbeknownst to the police department. It was a cold case from sixteen years prior involving the murder of a Portuguese prostitute; it appears that Stenström was attempting to solve the case to bring justice to the girl and make a name for himself among his superiors on the force. Believing the gunman was, in fact, targeting Stenström because of his involvement in the cold case, Beck and Kollberg realize that to find the identity of the gunman, they would have to solve Stenström's case themselves.

Step-by-step, the two detectives complete Stenström's investigation using his notes and following in his steps during the last days of his life. A number of other policemen contribute to the team's work, creating a motley cast of characters who bring their own unique strengths to the investigation. Readers experience the struggle loved ones have over the death of their family members during the shooting, particularly the grief of Stenström's girlfriend.



The book is named after a record that Beck's daughter sends him in the mail, which he doesn't truly understand or appreciate until he and Kollberg finally solve the case, feeling some satisfaction and vindication over solving the death of their colleague. At the end of the novel, Beck finally laughs.

Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are the writing team responsible for the ten mystery novels that make up the Story of a Crime series, otherwise known as the Martin Beck novels. The first in the series is the novel Roseanna (1965) and the final novel is The Terrorists (1975). Every one of the novels has been adapted into film – between 1997 and 2018, thirty-eight films, some made-for-TV and others feature length, were created based on the series. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö wrote the novels together, conducting collaborative research and writing alternating chapters. They also have solo careers as novelists.