The Man on the Balcony

See also The Man on the Balcony (film) for the film with the same name.

The Man on the Balcony
1st edition (Swedish)
Author(s)	Sjöwall and Wahlöö
Original title	Mannen på balkongen
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Series	Martin Beck series
Publisher	Norstedts Förlag
Publication date	1967
Pages	199 pp
Preceded by	The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
Followed by	The Laughing Policeman

The Man on the Balcony is the third novel in the detective series revolving around Swedish police detective Martin Beck, and was written by Sjöwall and Wahlöö and originally published as Mannen på balkongen in 1967.

Plot summary

Martin Beck and his team realize that a pedosexual murderer may have been seen by an unidentified serial robber who was watching for prey in the area, at the time. The pressure is turned up when more child murders begin to occur.

Characters and their development

The boorish detective Gunvald Larsson is introduced, as is Einar Rönn, who comes from a rural part of the country and likes his life quiet. Larsson was Sjöwall's favourite character, whereas Rönn was Wahlöö's.^{[citation needed]} Also, two regular street cops are introduced, Kristiansson and Kvant, who will provide some of the comic relief throughout the rest of the series.

Film

On November 26, 1993 the film with the same name premiered at theatres/cinema in Sweden. The film starred Gösta Ekman as Martin Beck and Rolf Lassgård as Gunvald Larsson and was a great success. The film won the Swedish film prize Guldbaggen for Best Actor (Gösta Ekman), Best Screenplay (Daniel Alfredson & Jonas Cornell) and Best Film (Hans Lönnerheden, producer).

Preceded by The Man Who Went Up in Smoke

"Martin Beck" timeline, part 3 of 10

Succeeded by The Laughing Policeman