Martin Beck Audiobooks on MP3 and CD from AudioGO

Martin Beck: Roseanna

Dramatisation

Listen to a sample Author: Maj Sjöwall Reader: Neil Pearson Running Time: 1hrs 13min

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Steven Mackintosh stars as Martin Beck, with Neil Pearson as Lennart Kollberg, in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Roseanna. The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, the series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working alongside his colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In Roseanna, adapted from the first book in the series, the body of an attractive young woman is dredged from the Gota Canal. Beck and his team have to narrow down the list of suspects from 85 cruise passengers, in an investigation that ends with a risky and frightening sting... Translated by Lois Roth and dramatised by Jennifer Howarth.

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Martin Beck: The Man Who Went Up In Smoke

Dramatisation

Listen to a sample Author: Maj Sjöwall Reader: Neil Pearson Running Time: 1hrs 14min

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Steven Mackintosh stars as Martin Beck, with Neil Pearson as Lennart Kollberg, in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of The Man Who Went Up in Smoke. The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, the series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working alongside his colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In The Man Who Went Up in Smoke, adapted from the second book, a journalist has vanished in Budapest. When Beck arrives in the city to investigate, he is drawn into the Eastern European underworld. Before long his team back in Sweden begin to make some connections... Translated by Joan Tate and dramatised by Katie Hims.

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Martin Beck: The Man On The Balcony

Dramatisation

Listen to a sample Author: Maj Sjöwall Reader: Neil Pearson Running Time: 58 minutes

(5 ratings)

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Steven Mackintosh stars as Martin Beck, with Neil Pearson as Lennart Kollberg, in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of The Man on the Balcony. The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, the series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working alongside his colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In The Man on the Balcony, adapted from the third book, someone is killing young girls in the parks of Stockholm. Beck has two witnesses, a mugger who won't say much and a three-year-old boy who can't say much can he solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? Translated by Alan Blair and dramatised by Katie Hims.

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Martin Beck: The Laughing Policeman

Dramatisation

Listen to a sample Author: Maj Sjöwall Reader: Neil Pearson Running Time: 57 minutes

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Steven Mackintosh stars as Martin Beck, with Neil Pearson as Lennart Kollberg, in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of The Laughing Policeman. The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, the series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working alongside his colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In The Laughing Policeman, adapted from the fourth book in the series, the killing of 9 passengers on a Stockholm bus (including one of Beck's most promising young detectives) sets off a murder hunt that leads Beck and his team back to an unsolved case in the past. Translated by Alan Blair and dramatised by Jennifer Howarth.

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Martin Beck: The Fire Engine That Disappeared

Dramatisation

Listen to a sample Author: Maj Sjöwall Reader: Neil Pearson Running Time: 57 minutes

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Steven Mackintosh stars as Martin Beck, with Neil Pearson as Lennart Kollberg, in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of The Fire Engine that Disappeared. The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, the series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working alongside his colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In The Fire Engine that Disappeared, adapted from the fifth book, the apartment of a suspect being staked out by Beck's team explodes, killing 3 people. Arson and murder isn't at first suspected, but it soon becomes clear that the fire was started on purpose... Translated by Joan Tate and dramatised by Katie Hims.

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The Martin Beck series

This BBC dramatisation of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo's series features detective Martin Beck (played by Steven Mackintosh) and his colleagues (played by Neil Pearson, Russell Boulter, Adrian Scarborough and Ralph Ineson) in Stockholm’s National Police Homicide Department.

Download this thrilling Scandinavian crime series, originally aired on BBC Radio 4 on MP3 from AudioGO or buy on CD. The Martin Beck series of audiobooks is a must for any fan of crime fiction and thrillers.

The husband-and-wife team have been acknowledged as some of the best European crime writers and inspiration to a number of authors. For the Martin Beck series, they plotted and researched each book together, then wrote alternate chapters.

The first in this Scandinavian crime series of audio dramatisations is Roseanna, written in 1965. A young woman’s body is found in a canal and nobody can identify her until, through a stroke of luck: through Interpol, her identity is ascertained. Beck and his team have to narrow down the list of suspects from 85 cruise passengers.

Second is the series is The Man Who Went Up In Smoke (1966), in which a journalist vanishes in Budapest. When Beck investigates, he is quickly drawn into an Eastern European underworld and his team back in Sweden begin to make connections.

In The Man on the Balcony, written in 1967 follows Beck and his team as they investigate the killing of young girls in the parks of Stockholm with only two witnesses, a mugger who won’t say a lot and a three-year-old boy who can’t say a lot.

The Laughing Policeman (1968) is adapted from the fourth book in series. Nine passengers on a Stockholm bus are killed and the case leads Beck and his team to an unsolved mystery from the past.

Fifth in the Martin Beck series is The Fire Engine that Disappeared which was written in 1969. The apartment of a suspect being staked out by Beck's team explodes, killing 3 people. Arson and murder isn't at first suspected, but it soon becomes clear that the fire was started on purpose.

Martin Beck

The Martin Beck Collection

The Martin Beck stories have become some of the most influential of crime dramas, inspiring many readers and writers with their understated Scandinavian melodrama and characters that sit outside of the stereotypical detective tropes. This series of dramatisations, starring Steven Mackintosh and Neil Pearson as two of the fallible, unkempt and weary detectives of the fictional Stockholm National Police Homicide Department, are the cornerstone of the BBC's Foreign Bodies season on BBC4 and BBC Radio 4.

The characters that Martin Beck works with, eschewing the lone-wolf model of detective fiction, plus the relentless grind of reality in their investigations make for a genuine audio experience and set the template for many successful detective heroes to come.

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