Murder at the Savoy

For the film with the same name, see Murder at the Savoy (film).

Murder at the Savoy
1st edition (Swedish)
Author(s)	Sjöwall and Wahlöö
Original title	Polis, polis, potatismos!
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Series	Martin Beck series
Publisher	Norstedts Förlag
Publication date	1970
Published in English	1971
Pages	231 pp
Preceded by	The Fire Engine That Disappeared
Followed by	The Abominable Man

Murder at the Savoy (Polis, polis, potatismos! literally Police, Police, Mashed Potatoes!) is a Swedish crime novel and the sixth book out of ten in the 'Martin Beck' detective series by Sjöwall and Wahlöö revolving around police detective Martin Beck.

Title

"Murder at the Savoy" is the English title of the novel. The Swedish title of the book, meaning "Police, police, mashed potatoes", is explained in a scene where Gunvald Larsson is telling off the miserably lazy policemen Kristiansson and Kvant. The two policemen had, instead of obeying their orders to arrest a suspect at Arlanda Airport, been arguing with a man whose 3-year-old son had shouted "Police, police, mashed potatoes" at the two policemen while they were eating Hot Dog with mashed potatoes at a grill bar. This refers to the common rhyme "polis polis potatisgris" ("police, police, potato pig").

Plot

Martin Beck has to search through a high powered business man's many enemies when the business man is shot in front of a dozen witnesses at a high-end restaurant.

Film

The 1979 Russian film "Nezakonchennyy Uzhin," directed by Jānis Streičs, was based on the book.

The book was made into a film in 1993 by director Pelle Berglund.

Preceded by The Fire Engine That Disappeared

"Martin Beck" timeline, part 6 of 10

Succeeded by The Abominable Man