Mystery Review: Roseanna is the first of the Martin Beck mysteries written by the writing team of Maj Sjöwall and her partner Per Wahlöö, and an early example of what's sometimes called in English "Nordic noir." The plot is both plain and simple: after a tourist is found dead the police investigate capably, methodically, and deliberately. This novel also proceeds capably, methodically, and deliberately, written in a deadpan, stripped-down, just-the-facts style. Details are amply supplied. I found the slow, calculated reveal of information, page by page, to be irresistible, like eating potato chips. I needed another page because the previous one was not enough. Part of that is due to our dour and depressed detective in Roseanna. Martin Beck is perpetually miserable: feels unwell, sleeps poorly, eats rarely, and is in a marriage that has more walls than windows. The mystery itself, the crime, is secondary to the character development and the gray setting. There are no tricks, nothing fancy, little breaks the steady drip, drip, drip as the plot proceeds at its own pace, as the suspense patiently builds. That pace reflects the often boring, shoe-leather approach of everyday police work. Realism. It's intelligent with no condescension, nothing is added for shock value or to look clever, there's no witty banter meant to impress. There is little hard-boiled here, no gratuitous violence or posturing. Just the patient, silent civil servants of the police force. Roseanna and Martin Beck don't work to be likable, they are what they are. If you like that sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you will like. I liked it a lot. [4★]
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