The Locked Room
 First English edition | |
| Author | Sjöwall and Wahlöö |
|---|---|
| Original title | Det slutna rummet |
| Translator | Paul Britten Austin[1] |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
| Series | Martin Beck series |
| Publisher |
Norstedts Förlag (Swedish) Pantheon Books (English) |
Publication date | 1972 |
Published in English | 1973 |
| Pages | 291 pp |
| ISBN | 91-1-725301-2 |
| OCLC | 11577021 |
| LC Class | PT9876.29.J63 S54 |
| Preceded by | The Abominable Man |
| Followed by | Cop Killer |
The Locked Room (1972) is a novel by Sjöwall and Wahlöö in their detective series revolving around Martin Beck and his team. (Original Swedish title: Det slutna rummet.)
Plot
The Locked Room has two plots running simultaneously. Larsson and Kollberg are extremely reluctantly part of a special task force that needs to solve a spree of bank robberies. Martin Beck is given a pity job after recovering from being shot at the conclusion of The Abominable Man; he needs to solve a classic situation of the genre: the locked room mystery.
The incompetence of the Swedish police force has spread to the point that all three detectives are severely hindered in their work. One criminal walks free for a heinous crime he did commit, then gets to do hard time for a crime he did not.
Synopsis
The story begins with Beck recovered after his injury sustained at the end of the previous book and returns to the National Police Bureau, he discovers that the police force still is amateurish and unprofessional for the most part, which he was accustomed previously. Patrolmen found a highly decomposed corpse (as it turns out later, a dead man) found in a locked from inside apartment. A detective had the case shelved as suicide. No one had noticed that the weapon had not been found in the apartment.
The novel now has two storylines: the locked room and the bank robbery specialists.
The latter take by accident the petty criminals Mauritzon, a mate of Malmstrom and Mohren, and accuse him of a bank robbery in which a bank customer was shot. At the same time Martin Beck solved the locked room mystery- the gun was shot from outside by Maurtizon, when the windows was open. The window had fallen that the latch had closed by itself.
Since the evidence collected by Martin Beck is insufficient, Mauritzon is acquitted for murder; but for the non-committed bank robbery whose evidence he can not refute, he is sentenced to manslaughter with lifetime imprisonment.
The bank robbers pursued by Attorney Olsson manages to fool the police (the robbery does not occur in Stockholm, but in Malmö instead).
During the investigation, Beck meets a woman named Rhea Nielsen in a depressive phase of his life and he finds new courage which in the following novels plays an important role.
Characters and their development
Beck meets Rhea Nielsen, and it is love at first sight, sort of, in slow motion. Contrary to his ex-wife, she is a no-nonsense left-wing type of person and his intellectual equal.
Criminal mastermind Werner Roos and bank robbers Malmström and Mohrén are introduced, as is their ineffectual but successful Nemesis, public prosecutor 'Bulldozer' Olsson.
Police officer Kenneth Kvastmo is introduced to replace Kurt Kvant as Police officer Karl Kristianssons partner.
Film adaptation
The book was adapted by Dutch filmmaker Jacob Bijl as De gesloten kamer in 1993. In this film, the action is set in Antwerp and Beck is played by famous Belgian actor Jan Decleir. Most of the other characters were renamed to match the new setting; for instance, the name of Beck's assistant Kolberg was changed to Colbert.
References
| Preceded by The Abominable Man |
"Martin Beck" timeline, part 8 of 10 | Succeeded by Cop Killer |
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